Events

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YORK RACEWAY 3RD 4TH JULY

Myself, Ben, Dennis, and Kev went to this meet last year along with Dave, Harley and Richard (Surrey Muscle) and Jeff, Paul and Darren (Essex Boys)  and we said that because we had such a good time that we would be back in force this year. This was not to be as broken cars, holidays and money have played a big part in this years quiet meetings

But never the less myself and Ben decided to take the two Fiats up to York with Adam, Kev and Brian as support and also Paul and Darren from the Essex Gang came along to  make the Southern numbers up. We drove up on Friday afternoon and arived at York about 7pm to a very empty track, we set up and got stuck into the cool box of Buds, a little while later Brian's friend Andrew turned up with his circuit racing Rover powered MGB so at least we had three cars in our camp.

We were greeted with a nice sunny Saturday morning so it was straight out racing. Last year I found it difficult to get any traction off the start line so I didn't bother to put my wheelie bars on. Big mistake! As a big wheelie and a hard landing on the first run, so it was straight back to the pits to install the bars; and check out the front suspension.  All was OK.

The next run was a 10.5, and the next an amazing 10.19. I say this because I have only run a best of 10.15 at Santa Pod so thanks to the crew of York Raceway for a good track

It wasn't just me having a good day as Ben ran a new Personal Best of 13.1, this was enough to win his Pocket Rocket class.  And to collect his first trophy. Well Done Ben! Also Andrew's son Chris who had never raced the MGB down a track ran a best of 14.04, I think he now has the racing bug so Andrew needs to start tuning that Rover engine!

I entered the Saturday evening shoot out. Which is good fun but you have to race and come straight around to the start and be ready to go again and because there weren't many cars it meant I had five runs one after the other which puts a lot on the car, ie running hot. Still I made it to the final only to have my gearbox overheat and pump out all the fluid half way down the track thus letting Andy Murton from the Outlaw Street take the win, well done Andy!

Anyway a good time was had by all and we WILL be back in force next year!

ALL AT TAZ RACING WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL OUR FREINDS AND COLLEAGES A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 

HOT ROD DRAGS

The Hot Rod Drags were attended by Chris, Mark and Ben with Brian, Rachel  and Adam as support crew. Our good freind Ray Irish also turned up with a new stroker 434 engine in his Devon Pickup. As always the Surrey Muscle and the Crow Lane posses were out in force. Our relationship with these 2 groups has got stronger  over the last few years and I can predict some freindly grudge racing with them next year. Chris and Mark cruised down the chinese take-away just to show everyone that they are street cars. Driving from the back seat with tinted windows in the dark was an experience to say the least.

All 3 Fiats signed on but as seems to be normal for this year Marks car was suffering from low oil pressure after 1 run.I think a brand new motor will have to be sourced as this is becoming a right pain.

Chris ran a best of 10.5 no gas and 9.7 with a bit of sniff. Ben managed a best of 13.9 Ray had a few issues with steering (always good to have)and oil leaks ( not so good to have) so didnt really try the new motor out.

Chris reports he has been to the hot rod drags for 12 years and has never seen it this busy. Well done to the NSRA.

The only downside to the meet is that some prick decided to key Marks car in the pits. If the arse is ever found he will be castrated with a rusty scalpel.

SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL

This is our last meeting of the year and with half our cars either broke or being rebuilt we did not have the best turnout. Chris, Ben and Lee managed to uphold the Taz showing . Mark ,Lucy, Kev, Adam and Brian were there as support crew. Den journey was curtailed by a broken distributor drive and he was towed off the motorway and relayed home. Den is going to the AA Christmas party as he knows them so well!! Dutton Dave was there in his yeah you guessed it Dutton and Ricky came up in the Anglia.

Lee had 4 good runs in the Capri all in the high 9s so he went home knowing he had no real work to do on the car over the winter which is just as well knowing the speed at which Lee works. A oil change and a set of plugs would have meant the Capri would not have surfaced till June!! Ben was running a little slow but had no real problems. This car is crying out for a whiff of gas but unless he starts selling kidneys on the black market to finance it this will have to wait.

Chris changed the torque convertor in the Fiat and rewarded by a NPB of 10.14 134mph no gas, and we never heard the end of it.

There will be much building and fettling going on in the Taz camp over the winter with Brian rebuilding his big block with a few mods, Kev totally rebuilding his whole truck with the addition of twin turbos, a totally new Fiat being built for Chris,s daughter Lucy, a totally new altered being built for Kev,s 2 daughters Bex and Harry, and of course a sort out of Marks problematic motor.

See you all next year for some quarter mile fun and frolics

Kev 

THE MOPARS

Last weekend we all descended on Santa Pod Raceway for what is arguably the best meeting of the Run-What-You-Brung calender, the Mopar Nats. All the Taz cars were there except mine which is the best showing this year so far. Mark,Ben and Adam went up early on Friday to try and save some space for all the cars and vans but didnt get to race as it rained all day. Me Chris and Den followed accompanied by our better halfs and Brian,Colin and  Rachel came a bit later. Lee, Carey and Lucy came up on Saturday to complete the team. Most of the Surrey Muscle cars were present and we agreed to our normal match-up on Saturday afternoon. All the Taz cars performed OK all day until the orange Fiat lost oil pressure taking him out of the competition. Mad dog who races with Surrey Muscle had starting problems which counted him out as well. So we ended up with 6 races. Chris, Den and Lee won for Taz and Bryn, Dave A and Roger won for S+M making it 3 each. This contest is so close now we have given the S+M a few years to catch up but I guess its time  for the Taz boys to turn up the burner. Joking aside we would like to say a massive thank you to the S+M guys for their support for our charity. Thanks again. We would also like to thank the Mopar organisers for letting us have our little piece of fun. What we would not like to thank them for is that excuse for a band on Saturday night.... they really were shit!!

Sunday was pretty unevently except Lucy Skinner running a 13 in her dads car and Den running a NPB in the Corvette. He is now down to 10.79 which is pretty amazing in a basically standard car. OK its got a inzy bit ogf gas. About 25 hp Den ses.

Last but not least is the news that if you dont tighten oil pipe pressure gauge unions and they subsiquently leak like a stuck pig the gauge may not read as high as it might do. You would think wih 5 bananas for fingers nothing would ever be loose!!

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YORK RACEWAY -Ultimate Road Car Challenge.

The boys of Taz Racing finally after much procrastination decided to haul our arses up to York Raceway. We have been promising to go for some years but have never got round to it. Numbers were a bit low due to family committments holidays etc but me Chris,Ben and Den made the journey with 2 Fiats and the Corvette. We were joined by friends from Surrey Muscle ( Dave Harley Rich and for just the day MAD-DOG) and also our mates from the Essex posse ( Geoff Paul and Darren). The track is interesting in places and the pit crew sometimes have to decide whether to glue the track or mow it! Its alot easier going than the Pod or Shakey and the only real crititism is that when the commentator decides not to chat you have no idea how fast the cars were actually running(no score board) but apart from that we thoroughly enjoyed our weekend. Geoff in the Mustang won the fastest Ford of the meet and quickest 0-60mph. Dave Arnold should have won this but ran after the cut-off time or something. With a bit more forethought from ourselves we should have entered one or other of the many competitions that were going on over the weekend as I think all our cars would have been eligible for something. Maybe next time. I would like to say thanks to everyone at York who welcomed the Southern softies to your track and be warned ..........next year we are coming in numbers!!

CYSTIC FIBROSIS WALK, DOVER 

Destination reached! 

The final stretch! 

EVENT-GARYS PICNIC

We have been going to Garys Picnic for a good few years  now so we decided to go to this years event at Shakespeare County Raceway rather than go to the run what you brung event at Santa Pod which was on the same weekend.  We are still a bit thin on the ground with regards to cars raceworthy enough to compete so for this meeting we had the Fiats of Chris and Ben and newly out for this year the Capri of Lee (lazy Taz) Denham. Chris was hoping to complete a meeting without having to tear the motor down at the end of it and luckily it was to prove reliable and the oil pressure stayed good all weekend. He ran mid 10s all Saturday and was quick enough to be asked to race in the competition on Sunday. He was to race Craig (Surrey Muscle) in the matt black Nova. Craig was running low 10s so Chris decided to put the gas on. Chris then decided to shift into neutral half way through the fun and Craig kicked his arse. Chris ran again and ran a 9.8 which proves all is well in the red Fiat camp. Ben had a niggling electrical problem that plagued his weekend but he had a good few runs and ran mid 13s. This little car is proving real fun as a first race car for Ben and people who look at it in the pits are really impressed. Lee came for a play this weekend after Lee had changed the torque convertor for one with a slightly lower stall. It proved a good move as the Capri is now launching as it used to. This car has run low 1.4 60ft times on an original Capri leaf springs but with so much stall was just spinning the tyres. Lee ran a no nitrous best of 10.5.

A good weekend with beautiful weather but me and Mark are now really starting to miss our cars!! 

EVENT-WHEELS USA

On the weekend of 1st -4th May we decided to visit the Wheels USA meet at Santa Pod. We chose this meeting as King of Europe was under subscribed massively and it was at Santa Pod where we visit regularly. This may have been a mistake as with a meet going on at Shaky at the same Santa Pod was the quietest I have ever seen for a long long time. It was also another meeting of bad luck for the TAZ boys. Chris noticed low oil pressure in the red Fiat after a couple of runs an decided not to run for the rest of the weekend.( On inspection when he got the car home it was found that the engine had knocked the bottom end out. This is a bit of a mystery as this engine has been very reliable in the past years. We can only surmise that he may have have used the wrong harmonic balancer.)

 Den got to the line in the ROAD GOING corvette and went for a hard launch only to leave most of the rear axle on the line. On inspection the damage was all 4 UJs a shocker  and other odds and sods. Den vows he will never race the corvette again. Or is that just Cazs idea?

Ben had a good weekend with many runs under his belt. Right at the end of Sunday he sprang a leak in the water pump which ended his racing but £30 will put him back ready for next time.

Brian also had a good weekend for reliability. The black Anglia(if you are wondering why you have no specific specs on this car it is because Brian is either too lazy or too fucking lazy to write it.) He has not yet sorted his nitrous out properly but did manage a 9.9. He couldnt decide whether that was his N.P.B or not but it is very close.

The Surrey Muscle boys were out in force at this meeting hoping to thrash us after the three years of absolute arse kicking we gave them in previous races. Now they have such serious cars all looking to redress the balance we are making excuses as quick as we can think of them. We are running the engines without oil and using liquorice for UJs just so we have a valid excuse, and I have had to make some ridiculous story up about twin turbos. Ha Ha !!

Seriously though the boys from the south had some good track time and some N.P.B were achieved. When  I receive the exact times I will post them. If any of the Surrey Muscle guys read this go on the forum or phone me on 07818412357.

The essex crowd had mixed fortunes at the meet. Darren has put on new parts in the form of bigger turbo etc and then put a hole in the block. Bad luck mate. Geoff in the Mustang ran down in the 9s but got pipped by Brian to the fastest Ford of the event trophy. Although that must be like winning the prize for having the biggest spot on your arse!! Terry is running quicker and quicker in the ultra clean pickup( arnt pickups soooo coool) and I am sure Paul must win something for entering the most competitions. Didnt catch the name of the guy with the perfect Nova but I did hear he put a rod through the block. Ouch! I think it was his sons car to add insult to injury. Paul post on the forum exact times etc if you want. Paul has since been in touch and himself  ran a best of 12.1. Darren ran a best of 11.1 on tyres and 10.5 on slicks and Geoff ran 10.0 on tyres and 9.99 on slicks. Terry ran a 10.28 best and the guy with the Nova ,who I now know as Ashley, ran a 9.58 until he nuked the engine. Thanks for getting in touch Paul. Still waiting for info from the Surrey Muscle boys.

Kev Preston (Grumpy Taz)

EVENT-RS owners club meet at Santa Pod.

On Sunday 19th April me Chris,Adam and Ben took the three Fiats to Santa Pod for the R.S. meet. We got there about 9 went in the gates and the place was mobbed, we had to queeue from the entrance right round to the pits. Once we got past this we found a spot and set up we went down and immediately signed on. Chris was trying out his new engine,so it was going to be interestingto see how it would run.First run for him was a 10.3 on the motor. which is a N.P.B. Good start. Ben went out next and ran a 13.2 also a N.P.B. Then it was my turn and I ran a 10.6 which was not to bad, but I was hoping to get nearer the 10.4 which I have achieved. The next few runs were much the same Chris running 10.4 and 10.3 which was great without gas. Ben ran a couple more 13.4s and I ran a 11.0 and 10.9 but on the last run noticed the oil pressure was low. On further inspection when we returned home the motor has spun 2 rod bearings which means another engine tear down and rebuild.

LIFE IS A DRAG

MARK SKINNER. 

The next meetings the TAZ boys will be attending are the Ford Rs show at Santa Pod on the the 18/19 April although Brian will probably be going to Avon Park the same weekend for the Old Skool Ford meet.

FEBRUARY 21st SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL

The first meeting of the year for the Taz Racing Team was only attended by Chris, Mark and Ben in the three Fiats due to the other members being in various stages of repair and rebuild.

The meeting was a Run What You Brung at Santa Pod and racing was to be allowed till 9pm and it was a nice sunny day which was good for Feb. After a breakfast at the track cafe signing on was completed as Mark was eager to race as he hadnt been out since the Mopar Nats where he had the misfortune to break a half shaft which then did major damage to the diff. 

Although the track was prepped Mark was having trouble with traction which may have been due to him dieting and losing 1 1/2 stone, and after four runs had a best of 10.8. On his last run going flat out through the line he noticed that he had no oil pressure and turned the engine off immediately to save too much damage to the engine. The end of racing for Fiat number 1

Chris was having a slightly better day, and ran a series of consistent 10.6's until doing a smokey burn-out there was a large bang and the engine stopped dead. The end of the racing for Fiat number 2

"I don't think I have done myself any favours by boasting all through the winter to the other guys that they had broken various parts of their cars and mine had been running perfect all year, me and my big mouth!" said Chris.

Ben on the other hand had a very good day having eleven runs and running a new personal best of 13.43 at 97mph. The car didn't miss a beat all day, racing against alot newer and more powerful hot hatches.  

After Marks engine was stripped down it was found that the oil pump drive had snapped causing the rapid loss of oil pressure. Turning the engine off so quickly saved any major damage with only a crank grind and a new set of bearings being necessary to have Mark racing again in the near future.

Chris's engine troubles however was a little more serious with number 6 piston totaly disintergrating punching a hole in the block and on its journey round the rest of the engine, making scrap of most of it. He did manage to salvage the heads however. A new 400 block from Peter Knight Racing and with a few spare parts , gleaned from Kev Prestons hoard of engine parts, he is well on the way to building another engine and should be racing in May.

We can only hope that the season will progress without any more woes. 

FORD RS SHOW

Well the first meeting of the year was attended by just one Taz Racing car, namely me in my Fiat 126.

On sunday the 18th of april myself, Mark , Adam and Brian went to the Ford RS show at Santapod, its a good meet for racing as most of the cars are there for show, so the track was very quiet.

Jeff from the Essex boys was also there in his powder blue Mustang, but that was it, no other cars like ours.

Neither Jeff nor I could get any decent 60 foot times so ETs were slow, my best 10.42, Jeffs 10.10

Although these times were quick enough to win me 200 quid for the fastest street legal non ford and Jeff 200 quid for the fastest rear wheel drive ford, so it was well worth it.

I would recommend this meeting as you get a big crowd watching and plenty of track time and it is open to any makeof car.

Hopefully there will be more of us at the next meeting.

ALL AMERICAN SHOW

This was our first weekend meet  with myself, Ben, Lee and Den taking our cars. Ben and I went early Saturday morning. To get a good spot in the pits, which as it turned out was a waste of time as there weren't that many racers turning up early. Maybe because it was a three day event and the weather forcast predicted a shit weekend. So that might have put people off, but as it turned out on Saturday the sun shone all day, just goes to show you always have to take the chance as nine times out of ten the forcasters are half-wits and get it wrong.

Lee and Den turned up mid morning with their cars and Mark and Adam also came as crew. Thoughout the day the queue was never more that twenty or so cars long so we had quite a few runs. Myself and Lee mid tens without gas and high nines with. Ben 13.3 just equalling his fastest time, but Den having his best meeting with NPB'S of 10.6, 10.5 and finally 10.4.  At about 5 o'clock me and Lee went into beer mode, but Den wanted just one more run! Which we were against, but he had to have it and you guessed it, a broken half shaft was the outcome (Den you should listen to your mates!).

Anyway a good night of beer drinking and banter with our mates the Surrey muscle and Essex boys was had.

The rain had started about 8.30 that evening and didn't stop all through the night so we decided to pack up and go home Sunday morning, Den phoned his mates in the AA who turned up and transported him home. We weren't far behind him.

After we had left the rain cleared and they started racing, they then ran the fastest 16 car shootout in which Jeff came second, Darren third and Dave Arnold forth, Well done boys! 

NORTH WEALD 9TH MAY

It's been a while since we attended a North Weald event, but on the 9th of May myself, Ben, Brian and Adam crewing, traveled around the M25 to the air strip, the good thing is it's only a 40 mile journey so it doesn't take long to get there.

We arrived at about 8.50 to a very long signing on queue but after that it was a very laid back event.  The main reason for me to go to this event was to see how my car would perform on a air strip surface, as this is what we will be racing on when we go to Germany later this year. The rules of the King of Germany also stated no wheelie bars which on a preped Santapod track would be quite entertaining. But as it happened it was no problem at North Weald as I could ot get any traction off the line even with big burn outs. Still it was the same for all the cars there, it just means everyong is equal and we all run slower.

So at the end of the day a best of 10.93 at 137mph was achieved which was one of the fastest car times of the day. Bens car ran well all day, I don't think it martters what the track iis like this car still runs mid 13's all day long.

So now its clean the cars up, check them over ready for the King of Germany!

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