Hero to Zero and Back Again, For The Ford Guy
Magilton Racing had a tough
Saturday night on the high banks of Premier Speedway in their bid
for the ' $10,000 big ones' that were up for grabs. It was one up
and down bumpy ride for Dave in his Ford powered v26 Maxim.
The Magilton Racing team headed to Premier Speedway for the ANZ $10,000 Shootout after having finished fifth at the fall of the chequers at Redline Speedway the prior fortnight, this had given them plenty of confidence that they could put in a solid performance on the high banks of Premier Speedway.
Earlier in the week prior to the shootout the team weren’t even sure if they were going to make the event with Dave having a severe corneal ulcer in 2/3rds of his right eye (an infected eye) which occurred sometime after the Redline show, luckily for Dave he got that fixed up quick smart. If he had not acted fast Dave would have been permanently blinded in that eye and would now not be racing at all.
The Ford Guy started his first heat out of grid position two and jumped away to an early lead and was building a considerable gap for himself. Then, just after half race distance things started to go pear shaped for Dave as his front wing was starting to work its way loose. Then his left rear rim parted company, from its wheel centre, with the centre remaining firmly bolted to the axle. It all happened in a matter of seconds. Dave, who was leading the heat comfortably, flipped himself over, as his left rear axle dug into the clay, launching him over, fortunately landing rubber side down. At the ensuing red light Dave walked forlornly, with his rim in hand, across the infield and at the same time the crew bolted across the infield to the stricken racer. The team thrashed on the car for a couple of minutes and remarkably fixed the damage to enable Dave to restart at the back of the bus. Dave finally brought the stricken car home in eighth position. Which certainly wasn't the best way to start the night!
The second heat for the team saw Dave starting the grid in ninth position he moved forward to finish seventh. Once back in the pits, the crew discovered that the rhs head was profusely leaking water, which helped explain to the embattled crew why the big Ford was not as quick as it appeared in the earlier heat. The engine was apparently suffering from some over-heating, a quick patch attempt involving 'heaps' of silicon and 'chemiweld' helped goop up the Ford and limp it on thru to the next heat.
It must be noted that Dave has his Ford motor mounted in the standard Maxim front chassis position as per his chev counterparts, but he has his motor mounted directly off its heads with a set of custom made alloy mounts. Unlike the chevs which mount of the block at the front. One of the unfortunate side affects of his earlier heat race tip over was one of the two bolts used on the RHS head/chassis mount goes thru into a water jacket and it was only this bolt that had loosened itself off, just enough for the head to leak profusely thru the ensuing race...bugger!
Then once again, as per the previous heat, Dave's crew worked feverishly in the pits trying to rectify the leaking head bolt, again affecting a quick patch. Dave started his third heat from position eight and he duly moved forward to finish sixth. These certainly were not the best round of heats Dave has ever had and this was going to put him back into a B main start.
The Ford Guy started out of grid position five in the last chance B Main. Dave, who is one driver with a 'never say die attitude' put in a great drive to advance forward by passing Ian Smith v57 on the low side with a mere lap and a half to the chequer, to finish second and take the last transfer spot to the all important main event, the A Main!
Dave was clearly rapt to make the A Main, which was a goal he had set for himself prior to the start of night. He also wanted to finish the 30 lap race without damage to the race car, or for that matter his beloved Ford powered, albeit now water leaking engine. Well that wasn’t to be the case, not this time round! With a mere dozen laps into the main event, with the engine water and oil temps staying in the respectable zone. The Ford Guy found himself being lapped by the front of the freight train; Dave was busily racing away doing some tidy laps, but moving forward within the race from his 18th starting position on the grid, but doing nothing extraordinary. But, that was all about to change for the hapless racer when Phil March washed high towards the fence, then appeared to try and correct himself, by proceeding to dive low down the track and in the ensuing process ran over the inside front steer wheel of The Ford Guy's Maxim Sprintcar, which smashed out the front axle, which finished the night there and then on lap 12 of the 30 journey for the v26 David Falk & Co. p/l Ford powered Maxim. Clearly not what Magilton had hoped for prior to the commencement of the race.
It would be fair enough for one to assume that Dave would not have been a happy racer after the incident involving March & his racecar, but the easy-going hapless racer had a quiet laugh afterwards down in the pits quipping - “Phil March was being Phil March.”
When asked of his thoughts regarding his efforts for the night he stated -
“We struggled with the car after the tip over and we had a lot of bad luck.”
“The first heat was good until we had a little tip over,” laughed the Timboon Dairy Farmer.
“Then it was a fight for the rest of the night just to get back to the A, but we got the last transfer spot so we were lucky there.”
And the rest is now history for the Magilton Racing team...
Magilton Racing would like to thank their sponsors -
David Falk & Co. P/L
Passlow Ford
Vogels Motors
Western Herd Improvement
Pre Race Engines
Cylinder Head Improvements
Hammonds Paints
Wiggys Speedway Spares
Timboon Takeaway
Stokesy Media
0400 912 581
stokesy@speedway.net.au
The Magilton Racing team headed to Premier Speedway for the ANZ $10,000 Shootout after having finished fifth at the fall of the chequers at Redline Speedway the prior fortnight, this had given them plenty of confidence that they could put in a solid performance on the high banks of Premier Speedway.
Earlier in the week prior to the shootout the team weren’t even sure if they were going to make the event with Dave having a severe corneal ulcer in 2/3rds of his right eye (an infected eye) which occurred sometime after the Redline show, luckily for Dave he got that fixed up quick smart. If he had not acted fast Dave would have been permanently blinded in that eye and would now not be racing at all.
The Ford Guy started his first heat out of grid position two and jumped away to an early lead and was building a considerable gap for himself. Then, just after half race distance things started to go pear shaped for Dave as his front wing was starting to work its way loose. Then his left rear rim parted company, from its wheel centre, with the centre remaining firmly bolted to the axle. It all happened in a matter of seconds. Dave, who was leading the heat comfortably, flipped himself over, as his left rear axle dug into the clay, launching him over, fortunately landing rubber side down. At the ensuing red light Dave walked forlornly, with his rim in hand, across the infield and at the same time the crew bolted across the infield to the stricken racer. The team thrashed on the car for a couple of minutes and remarkably fixed the damage to enable Dave to restart at the back of the bus. Dave finally brought the stricken car home in eighth position. Which certainly wasn't the best way to start the night!
The second heat for the team saw Dave starting the grid in ninth position he moved forward to finish seventh. Once back in the pits, the crew discovered that the rhs head was profusely leaking water, which helped explain to the embattled crew why the big Ford was not as quick as it appeared in the earlier heat. The engine was apparently suffering from some over-heating, a quick patch attempt involving 'heaps' of silicon and 'chemiweld' helped goop up the Ford and limp it on thru to the next heat.
It must be noted that Dave has his Ford motor mounted in the standard Maxim front chassis position as per his chev counterparts, but he has his motor mounted directly off its heads with a set of custom made alloy mounts. Unlike the chevs which mount of the block at the front. One of the unfortunate side affects of his earlier heat race tip over was one of the two bolts used on the RHS head/chassis mount goes thru into a water jacket and it was only this bolt that had loosened itself off, just enough for the head to leak profusely thru the ensuing race...bugger!
Then once again, as per the previous heat, Dave's crew worked feverishly in the pits trying to rectify the leaking head bolt, again affecting a quick patch. Dave started his third heat from position eight and he duly moved forward to finish sixth. These certainly were not the best round of heats Dave has ever had and this was going to put him back into a B main start.
The Ford Guy started out of grid position five in the last chance B Main. Dave, who is one driver with a 'never say die attitude' put in a great drive to advance forward by passing Ian Smith v57 on the low side with a mere lap and a half to the chequer, to finish second and take the last transfer spot to the all important main event, the A Main!
Dave was clearly rapt to make the A Main, which was a goal he had set for himself prior to the start of night. He also wanted to finish the 30 lap race without damage to the race car, or for that matter his beloved Ford powered, albeit now water leaking engine. Well that wasn’t to be the case, not this time round! With a mere dozen laps into the main event, with the engine water and oil temps staying in the respectable zone. The Ford Guy found himself being lapped by the front of the freight train; Dave was busily racing away doing some tidy laps, but moving forward within the race from his 18th starting position on the grid, but doing nothing extraordinary. But, that was all about to change for the hapless racer when Phil March washed high towards the fence, then appeared to try and correct himself, by proceeding to dive low down the track and in the ensuing process ran over the inside front steer wheel of The Ford Guy's Maxim Sprintcar, which smashed out the front axle, which finished the night there and then on lap 12 of the 30 journey for the v26 David Falk & Co. p/l Ford powered Maxim. Clearly not what Magilton had hoped for prior to the commencement of the race.
It would be fair enough for one to assume that Dave would not have been a happy racer after the incident involving March & his racecar, but the easy-going hapless racer had a quiet laugh afterwards down in the pits quipping - “Phil March was being Phil March.”
When asked of his thoughts regarding his efforts for the night he stated -
“We struggled with the car after the tip over and we had a lot of bad luck.”
“The first heat was good until we had a little tip over,” laughed the Timboon Dairy Farmer.
“Then it was a fight for the rest of the night just to get back to the A, but we got the last transfer spot so we were lucky there.”
And the rest is now history for the Magilton Racing team...
Magilton Racing would like to thank their sponsors -
David Falk & Co. P/L
Passlow Ford
Vogels Motors
Western Herd Improvement
Pre Race Engines
Cylinder Head Improvements
Hammonds Paints
Wiggys Speedway Spares
Timboon Takeaway
Stokesy Media
0400 912 581
stokesy@speedway.net.au