Neil Fry

Finally got round to watching the full interview. I have a lot of time for the Cowley family, all good people and it's good to hear they are all getting back to full health. Great interview (as always)....genuinely laughing out loud at the "weeing from the bus" story!! Chris.....I still have copies of the letters regarding the Darren Summers incident!! Thanks again to all involved

He's an entertaining guy both on and off track, in fact I have a lot of time for the whole family - nice people.

It's a shame....I had my first win on a stock car track at Belle Vue! No real surprise I suppose, I always thought there was more chance of reprieving Coventry than Belle Vue, but an offer is on the table.....let's see if that 1% chance turns into anything. I won't be holding my breath, but you gotta be in it to win it!!

If anyone has any results from what is being referred to as the "black hole years"..... 1994, 1995 and 1996 I would be very grateful. They seem to be very difficult to come by for some reason??!!

Hi Roy, thanks for your response. I'm in possession of some 1993 information at the moment, but as yet haven't had time to go through it. Once I have, could I contact you with a list of what's missing and see if you can fill the gaps? Once again, thank you for the offer Neil

I'm in touch with Andy, he has been very helpful.....sending me a load of info and has already supplied great info on both himself and Glynn. Neil

Thanks Carlton.....I'm fully aware of the task ahead! Help can be difficult to come by, loads of folk are probably sitting on the info you require, but few can be bothered to actually find and supply it. That said, those who have so far answered the call have been brilliant and will (of course) get a mention in whatever form the final outcome takes. As for tearing my hair out, it's obvious we have never met as ......I'm bald as a coot so no worries there!! Neil

Not having a go Nigel.....just thought we might have stumbled upon some new info! I have seen footage of the Hotstox around Baarlo, but from a teams point of view, how did they cope and what changes did you have to make to setup/gearing etc??

I'm afraid I don't know CC.....as I said, it's not my picture, sorry. Some of the more travelled members might be able to nail it?

The Hotstox raced the Isle of Man for a number of seasons.....hardly the continent though is it Mr Hesketh?? 😁😁

Bomber's first name was Keith and he raced as #199. Here's a picture (not mine) and if that's him in the drivers seat, he does look like a large chap. I'm assuming his sponsor is THE Fred Mitchell?? The picture looks to be the correct period as we can see Hotstox #12 Sion Poyser in the background. What colour is Bomber's roof in this pic....looks gold to me?? but I know little of the Spedeworth V8's/F1's other than their couple of hook ups with the Hotstox.

Hi, many thanks for those results Nigel.....another gap filled! With regard to the other stuff you mention, I have the results of the Wisbech meeting on 8/7/89, but thanks anyway. The Dutch racing you mentioned looks like it was 1993, not '92 when they raced at Gendt and Baarlo and Pete Morris did indeed win the final at Baarlo. '93 is the only record I have of the Hotstox racing on the continent.....unless you know different? in which case I'm all ears! Anything else you may come across would be gratefully received.....thank you for taking the time to find them. Neil

That's great Mick, thank you. I know all the info I require is out there somewhere, and I am very appreciative of anyone who puts themselves out to try to supply it. Thank you again Neil

Thanks Adam, how do you find their archive please, it may be of use to me to confirm whether certain meetings actually took place?

Cheers Carl, a little confusing as I had 81 Matt Smith as heat 2 winner, not 159 Carl Radforth......but as Carl seems to have won it AND got 3rd place, I'm going to stick with my original information and give the win to Matt and 3rd to Carl. If anyone knows who the smudge in 6th in the final is, that would be gratefully received??

Not strictly F1, so may get deleted.....but remember a number of top F1 drivers cut their teeth in the formula....I am looking for assistance with V8 Hotstox results. I have taken it on myself to try to collate the history of the formula as it approaches it's 40th anniversary, from drivers over the years to results, championship winners and pictures of as many drivers as possible. I have so far managed to get quite s few results in place, even more race winners (without full results) and a list of the top final winners in the formula (I think this is the first time this has been done?). It's quite a large project and I'm sure folk have no concept of the amount of time needed for something like this, but I'm running out of research sources. As far as the results are concerned we are doing ok having completed '89, '97, '98' 99, '00, '03, '05, '08, '11 and '14 to date. There are several years where we are looking for just a few results to complete....'13, '12, '10, '09, '07, '06, '04, '01 and '88. The remainder of the years are pretty sparse with regard to full results. I have had some great help from several sources in getting as far as we have, but those sources have now exhausted their information and I'm looking for any help from the wider stock car community. Please have a look at the attached list of results we're looking for and if you can help, even with a single set of results, please get in touch.....please don't just skim past this if you think you have some info that might help, I need people to put themselves out a little for the bigger picture......trust me, the time it takes you to supply a couple of results/info is not a patch on the time it's taking to try to collate it all! Please message me if you have ANYTHING you can add to the project, thank you. Looking for the following results 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987 – Most results required 1988 – Wimbledon 6/11 - Wisbech 23/4 - Scunthorpe 25/6 - Crewe 2/7 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996 – Most results required 2000 – Numerous results required 2001 – Skegness 12/5 and 13/5 - Buxton 20/5 and 10/6 - Coventry 2/6 - Stoke 29/9 and Swindon 4/11 (British Championship) 2002 - All results required 2004 – Belle Vue 18/7 - Coventry 4/9 - Barford 3/10 – need confirmation this meeting took place - Northampton 31/10 – again, need confirmation this meeting took place 2006 – Belle Vue 1/5 - Birmingham 13/5 - Coventry 28/7 2007 – Standlake 22/7 - Barford 19/8 - Belle Vue 30/9 – need confirmation that all of these meetings took place 2009 – Coventry 1/8 and 7/11 - Skegness 13/8 2010 – Northampton 3/5 - Coventry 15/5 and 17/7 - Buxton 11/7 - Skegness 22/7 2012 – Buxton 8/7 2013 – Skegness 26/5, 27/5, 15/8 and 18/8 - Birmingham 19/10

Agree 100%

Do you know something the rest of us don't CC? I know who it isn't!

Superb, I have a lot of time for Stuart, he is a modest and very likeable guy and this was a couple of hours well spent in my opinion. Having said that I guess I could be accused of bias, but this interview merely emphasises what a massive loss to the sport Stuart was. Don't get me wrong, no man is bigger than the sport itself, it survived the retirement of his dad and brother for example, but he was just getting to a pretty special level before his accident and the future was looking very interesting....would Tom have been so dominant with Stuart at that level for the past couple of years? I know there is still one to come (and I know there are "plans"), but I would like to thank and congratulate the BSCDA and Johnathan for these interviews, they have been great. Stuart touched on it at the end, that the BSCDA have been very active promoting the sport with the likes of these interviews and the "Back in the Day" articles etc. during this extraordinary year and they should be commended. Folk are swift to condemn their inactivity when little is forthcoming in the way of promotion, and these have been a very welcome turnaround and (I think?) universally well received, so good on you BSCDA, Johnathan Abbott and all involved with the production, thank you.

Don't jump the gun CC.....I believe Jonathan said it's the penultimate interview., not the ultimate.....so there should be one left (I'm assuming the second part of this isn't classed as a separate interview?) Agree that it was a terrific interview (so far). I am one of those who believe that Stuart was at the beginning of the very best period of his career when it was all cruelly snatched away by his accident. He was showing signs of the 6th sense that the very top drivers have to be able to avoid trouble and come through melees on track that others get sucked into, I call it "track craft". Ironic, I suppose, that it was a track incident that was virtually unavoidable that ended his career. As a lifelong fan of the Smith family, I have always taken a keen interest in how the brothers got on....especially so with Stuart as we started our V8 Hotstox careers together. Obviously our careers went in quite different directions - his was stellar while I continued to be a nobody. With his shortened career, I guess many will always rate Stuart below Andrew in a better driver scenario....it's a shame he didn't get the chance to prove that that is not necessarily the case. Let this interview also be a warning to those who wear tight fitting sunglasses in periods of sunny weather!! (Sorry Stuart, but it was pretty noticeable!)

Carl is probably your man....try and contact admin, they're the ones who can probably help

Always thought you would know the answer.....so do I now I have checked up on your brilliant site! (wouldn't have got it without a sneaky peek though!) BTW.....might be a good idea to change the address on your profile to the new one??

Brilliant....Kev's enthusiasm is still very evident and, certainly from my point of view, he approached his racing with the right attitude....primarily it had to be fun, and as soon as it wasn't he went. As something of a "luddite" myself, I agree with his thoughts on the direction of the sport during his "heyday" and the way he dealt with it without doubt contributed to the spectacle of the sport during that time. We need more Kev Smith's!!

Enjoy these interviews, and Peter's was no exception. I agree with much of his outlook, but disagree with certain aspects though this matters not, it's good to get other peoples perspectives....especially those who can influence things.

I always used to do the place counting thing when on the grid, and during race suspensions....I think all it achieved was to put extra pressure on!!