PIC # 1 Carla and me at Brafield in 1984
PIC # 2 Chris Paxford and Mike Sharman in the fence at the Mendpis Raceway (1982)
PIC # 3 Hornshay Street was where Stock Car Racing started in the UK
PIC # 4 The site of the former New Cross Stadium next to the Charlton Athletic FC (1982)
PIC # 5 Truck Racing at Brafield
PIC # 6 Truck racing at Brafield
PIC # 7 Willie Harrison # 2 shows of his World Final Trophy at Brafield (1982)
PIC # 8 COLIN HERRIDGE PHOTO .That's me Chatting with Willie Harrison at Coventry (2004)
PIC # 9 PHIL LIBBY # USA 81 of Scarborough, Maine at the 1982 World Final at Belle Vue.
PIC # 10 Our cat 'Ginger' relaxing on the hood/bonnett of the stock car.
The release date for this edition of RICK @ the RACES 'RETRO' was purposely held back a few days, until December 8 , for a very special reason. It was on this date in 1982 at the Barratt Maternity Hospital , Northampton UK, that my lovely daughter Carla was born, and today she is 25 years old. This edition is dedicated to her �HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARLA�
First let me recap from �RETRO' # 19 ... Pat and I were married in March 1981 and later that year we moved to Maidford in Northamptonshire, where we both commuted to Milton Keynes each day for our jobs in the trucking industry. Even with all the changes in our life-style we still managed to go racing on a regular basis.
1982
The added expenses of buying our own house, meant that at the start of 1982 we kept most of our racing trips to the local tracks of Brafield and Coventry which were both less than half an hour drive from home. However , two 'long distance' events were attended during those early months.
One of those places was the Mendips Raceway near Bristol for their Easter Monday ( April 12) BriSCA F1 meeting. The other was the Crewe Stadium, in Cheshire ( May 29) which was a track I'd never visited before. It was running under the Mike Parker Promotions banner and was a recent addition to the BriSCA fold. The track , now defunct, was located right in the town center and the surface was shale (dirt). In all of the years I've been going racing, I saw something for the first time that night, which I now take for granted , when visiting the dirt tracks of North America. On entering the stadium I made my way to the start/finish straight by way of the third/fourth bend.
I was bemused to I notice, that some of the race fans were wearing industrial safety glasses ( and some were even wearing crash helmets with visors ! ) . Crewe was always regarded as one of the fastest 'shaleways' in the country and I soon discovered why all the protective eye-ware was being worn. As the mighty F1 Stockers powered around the bends, all sorts of dirt and rock debris was thrown their way. Now in the 2000's when I head out for my weekly races, I always try to remember to take a pair of safety glasses with me. Winner of the final that night was veteran driver Willie Harrison # 2 of Rotherham, Yorks.
Whilst on the subject of defunct tracks, I must mention another place I visited in 1982, during the course of my working day. I was now lorry/truck driving on contract to the UK's leading Freezer Food retailer and as well as delivering to their many stores, I often did pick ups from their suppliers. One of these , was located just off the Old Kent Road in South East London, right beside the site of the former New Cross Stadium.
This was the venue where the historic first ever UK stock car race took place on Good Friday 1954 ( I was about 2 months old at the time ! ) . The old stadium which sat next to the Millwall FC ground was located in Hornshay Street. ( My knowledge of London football clubs was starting to fade, and I couldn't remember if it was Millwall or Charleton Athletic ....... a quick e-mail to my buddy Colin Herridge confirmed it was located next to 'The Den' , home of Millwall FC ) . The old New Cross Stadium had now been demolished and turned into parkland, but the layout of the track could still be easily visualized by the grass bankings and the 'oval' like appearance.
I drove a Leyland Marathon with a sleeper-cab (bunk-truck) and sometimes my trips would involve nights away from home. On one such Thursday night, I happened to 'run out of hours' and be 'parked up' behind the companies store in the center of Aldershot. I can remember, getting a Taxi down to the stadium at Tongham, where I saw the evenings program of Spedeworth Superstox . Then after the meeting, I got a ride back to my truck ( by another race fan) where I slept the night. Our move further up-country to Maidford in Northamptonshire meant the visits to Spedeworth tracks now became a rarity.
As mentioned before, my old Beds & Herts club buddy Brian Bedford # 209 had quit racing and was now living in nearby Weedon. He had joined the staff at Brafield , our local track, where he helped caretaker and maintenance man 'Yorkie' Dry.
On racedays , Brian would be working on one of the tow trucks and I'd go along a give him a hand.
As part of the program for Brafield's BriSCA F1 European Championship on July 24 they staged a special novelty truck race. Not for small pick ups, but for big road going tractor-units.
Earlier in the year, Pat discovered she was pregnant , so we decided to miss out on our annual trip to Baarlo (Netherlands) for the F1 Stock Car Long Track World Final. The event took place on Aug 8 and was won by Rien Rutjens # 15 . This time, we preferred to stay nearer to home.
We'd bought a caravan and decided for our vacation, we'd spend a few days on the East Coast at Filey, Nr Scarborough and take in the mid week racing at the Owlerton Stadium in Sheffield. This was another eventful trip, when we suffered en-route car problems. On our way up the M1 Motorway close to the Crick exit, the king pin suddenly broke on our Austin Cambridge. Luckily, I managed to control things and get it safely on to the shoulder. Just like the previous year when we suffered an engine failure with the Capri on the M2, I had to walk across fields to reach a phone. I called my Dad who came out with his car so we could get the caravan home. Meanwhile the AA took care of towing the Cambridge. We set off again the next day to resume our holiday using Dad's Austin Princess to tow our caravan..
The 1982 BriSCA F1 World Final was held at Belle Vue , Manchester ( Sept 25) and of course I was there to see what turned out to be a 'fairy tale' result. Willie Harrison # 2 , had been a top driver since the sports begining in 1954 but had never been lucky in the 'big one' . This was his year, and the fans went wild when he took the checkers. Phil Libby from Maine, making his second UK appearance was joined by Wally Prescott of New Hampshire as the USA representatives. Willie has now retired from racing and his son Paul is now a top-line driver . When I returned to the UK in April 2004 for the Stock Car Racing Golden Jubilee celebrations I enjoyed a good chat with Willie when we met up at Coventry .
Spedeworth had opened up a new track at Cleethorpes on the North East Coast and chose to hold the 1982 Superstox World Final ( Aug 7) there. Neil Bee # 482 of Norfolk retained his gold top that day, as did Cornwall's Bill Batten # 667 at the BriSCA F2 World Final which was held at the Smeatharpe Stadium near Taunton ( Sept 12) . I never attended either of these events.
As mentioned at the start of this report , on December 8, Pat and I became the proud parents of a baby daughter.
Carla was not the only special gift I received that Christmas....
It had now been more than two years since I last raced a stock car and for quite a while I'd been getting 'itchy feet' to get back on the track . My old buddy Chris Pickup # 50 had now completed a full season with his Buick powered Austin Allegro racer , and his 'E' Type Jag powered car with the Triumph GT6 Spitfire body had been sitting idle for a while.
Pat struck a deal with Chris and I became the new owner. My winter months were spent preparing it for the 1983 season.
1983 to follow...
No comments:
Post a Comment