The printed word
6th November 2011

I have a space in the bottom of a wardrobe that is filled up with oval racing paraphernalia, nearly all the programmes from meetings I have attended stretching back to 1988, majority of those with the results filled in as well. The bulk of space however is taken over by Short Circuit magazines.

Before the internet was popular the magazine was awesome, full results and reports, pictures, news, it had it all. However the interactive media was able to update immediately and the demand slumped, added to that the content was also suffering as the unique features and interviews disappeared. The last copy I read was brought out after the Spedeweekend and concentrated on April/May, I had my suspicions it was game over for the publication and the recent announcement has backed that up.

Although the internet has it advantages there are still people that like to hold something to read, they aren’t always logging on daily. I felt Short Circuit should have condensed the race reports and filled the magazine with features that are not time critical. My opinions are perhaps irrelevant and the decision has been made. The website will continue (but for how long?) with classified adverts. With 35 years of stories I think some of the older stuff should be added to the website to continue to draw in visitors, eg back in the mid-90’s Group A Hot Rods started to go through a boom period, now the class is set to become Stock Rods, all you need a little bit of reformatting no typing. Forums are littered with comments on how long Lightning Rods will last for, Deane Wood dropping them, BMW’s being the future; I’m sure there’s multiple articles on the class that are not time relevant. For more promotional ideas, just ask me!

I may have been able to predict the magazine on a downward spiral but on the other hand it has had some great moments, the magazine first printed my work on oval racing, back when I was 15 years old in fact, they even credited my dad’s pictures to me in a golden oldies sections (Mark we would them pictures back though!), those 1976 snaps were several years before my birth.

The press release for the end of the magazine has confused me slightly, it has became obvious that the web has killed the market for the market and the final line uses a phrase from an unnamed person on a internet forum. To me that’s like using the murder to write an obituary for the deceased.

So is the printed word dead? No way, Wheelspin has upped their game but still concentrates on their own tracks. There 2 more magazines are moving ahead:

Stock car and hot rod heritage magazine is being run by Richard John Neil, unlike previous attempts of classic oval magazines, it will not be released periodically just as and when material is ready and stay away from results that are time specific - shrewd move RJN.

Oval Racing News, makes it third attempt to hit the market. Originally larger that A3, it reappeared late last year and is set for another revamp. I have sent in material, lets see if Dave decides to use it.

I have personally wanted to have a magazine for years, I think if I won the lottery I would assemble one alongside the stock car and hot rod museum. The website was an easy to set-up option to get my opinions and knowledge out to the masses, Facebook has made this a whole lot easier though. So how to connect the two ideas? Each month I will put everything I have wrote or received (contributions are welcome) into a single PDF document that can be printed off. I fear that the internet is always about current information that interesting material from several months previous will disappear forever so I want readers to be able to keep this. Plus people like my father who struggle to switch on a computer can have this to read at their lunch-breaks.

Tweet
19th August 2011

When I put together this website a few years back I was able to get news across to the public quicker than magazines like Short Circuit, however social sites have enabled instant information. What I have decided is to put Twitter onto the site so I can get results and news when I am at a track. It will sit on the front page so you don't even need to log on Twitter to read the snippets or follow me if you are on Twitter.

Spy-watch
15th February 2011

Travelling around the motorway network in the UK is a common chore many workers and I have noticed a few lorries that come up again and again. Eddie Stobbart is the king but there’s plenty that have oval connects. I remember as a paperboy seeing a bright green Steward brick and block haulage and feeling slightly excited. Recently I’ve seen a few more but not as many as the Hadfield Transport fleet, there’s a lot of yellow and white trucks about. The oval racing community is closely linked to the haulage sector and probably every other hot rod has transport sponsorship on the car.

Through the week days whenever I clock a name that I’ve seen on a hot rod it does make me think (especially at this time of the year) when I’m going to get my next racing fix. Perhaps this is verging towards the eye-spy books that give points for spotting certain objects a racing car will get extra points. In the past I’ve seen Irish drivers heading across England on Friday in preparation for an international meeting, half built stock cars, ELMS cars and bangers. Going back a few weeks I noticed an old Grimer lorry dying in a field a few miles from site of a Superstock.

Head to race day and regardless if you are watching racing you will spot a race car if travelling on a main road. I reckon I see more travelling in the opposite direction no matter where I’m going. Even on a back road I’ve seen a RTS Euro Rod on the back of trailer in near identical places yet different times on a weekend. Last Sunday for example I noticed a 1300 Stock Car on the way to Wimbledon. I can usually suss out where a car is heading to but the second car I spotted got me wondering, the ex-Blackman/Oliver 205 was on the road (Hainault through Marks Gate and off to Chadwell Heath if you want more specification information) and there was no hot rod racing in the area last Sunday. Maybe the car has been sold on, there’s plenty of decent hot rodders in the area…… Pete Winstone, Pat Kiely, Barry Lee……I’ll let you do the thinking and perhaps the forums will explode with outrageous ideas.

Driver of the decade
26th December 2010

Previous years I have put together the driver of the year and it has been decided solely by me, a little change this time, I'll pick the nominations and let the public do the picking, just like the BBC sports personality of the year. However there is one driver who will not be in the running for that title, however I do think he deserves the title of driver of the decade - that is for legend that is Carl Boardley.

In the lifespan of National Hot Rod racing, there has been a few drivers that have gone beyond just winning the World title and won it multiple times back to back. Barry Lee won the title 4 times in the 1970's he was able to add a real professionalism to the sport; Ormond Christie changed the sport by moving away from traditional British cars and his experiments worked. After a break away from the sport he returned winning his fourth and fifth titles 15 years after his first one. At this stage in the mid-90's the cars were becoming very similar but Colin White put in the hard work and effort to become the first man to win 3 in a row. In the days of 40+ qualifying rounds Colin White was able to do all of them, something you will never see again in National Hot Rods. Fast forward a few years and new talent was emerging: Carl Boardley.

After one season in National Hot Rods moved himself into the elite group, the old guard of White, Jeff Simpson and John Steward were moving on and the gap needed to be filled. To win the first World title may have taken several years but in those years he made the Vauxhall Tigra the car to have in the class and although other shapes have been used as a replacement the original shape Tigra is still being produced as the car to have.

The Peugeot 206 was a good car it took Carl to his first two National Championships (2001 and '03), when the Vauxhall Tigra took over there was a few sceptics, Malcolm Blackman and Clive Richardson moved to a Tigra but reverted to 206's. The first World final with the Tigra saw a retirement after the first lap pile-up, the sister car of Andy Holtby was out as well. That year Boardley hadn't qualified well after refusing to let his car be scrutineered in the previous world final he finished 16th in the points and back in group 4.

From 2006 the dominance began, the first English points title was won, then the Thunder 500 (ahead of Andy Steward) and then the World title - all in the space of one month. However winning the race through a stewards decision didn't please everyone, but Boardley was able to put his critics right the following year and continued to win a record breaking 4 in a row, in 2010 he picked up damage whilst leading the race coming close to making it 5 on the trot.

To describe Carl Boardley in one word would be very difficult but it seems that no-one in this current generation of racers has been so consistently quick. His lap times at the World final show the picture, he has averaged 14.68 as a best in all his attempts, he worst time of 14.85 was still the best that year (due to poor track conditions). He has started from pole in the last 5 years which has been behind the wheel of the same Vauxhall Tigra. Although National Hot Rods can be any shape as the panels are just hung onto the car to mimic the road silhouette the original Tigra shape has been the one they all want since Boardley proved it works. In 2005 there was 2 in the race, by 2007 it was up to 9 in the race. In qualifying 5 filled the top 8 places, of those 3 without 2 have since bought a Tigra to keep up. Ludlow Motorsport must be very proud of the performance Carl Boardley has got out of the car.

He wasn't just quick at the Spedeweekend, in 11 attempts at qualifying (barring the year of being banned for half of it) he always finished in the top 3 of the English points championship. 6 podium finishes in the National Championship including 4 wins; 4 podiums in the European including 1 win. The only title that eluded him was the British as he rarely ventured to Northern Ireland, his most successful trip was a second place behind John Christie in 2008 in the Irish Open.

If Carl had won this year's World final there was a small chance he would stay with National Hot Rods, the class hasn't suffered since his department as the existing bunch of drivers are all hungry for glory, the rumour-mill is still churning out ideas of where his car has gone and ludicrous amounts of money that was paid for it. His name is never far away from the sport. One day he may return and take more titles but for the younger fans of the sport they can finally wear their rose-tinted glasses to oppose the supporters of the golden years and talk of the times when a fluorescent yellow hair-dressers car effortlessly eased into the distance leaving everyone wondering how to beat him.

NEC Show
17th January 2010

For those that have been asking if I have any pictures or know where to see pictures for the Short Circuit part of the Autosport show at the NEC unfortunately you've come to the wrong person. I didn't attend this year and I haven't been for a few years.

Going back a few years the Brentwood was good but that was back in the pre-internet days, you knew that Spedeworth would have a few cars there but not really know what they were. You could wander about collecting all your fixture lists for the forthcoming year and plan everything the following evening. Now everything is streamed through the world wide web. I personally can't see the appeal of driving 200+ miles to see the cars from the sport I love NOT RACING. I go to meetings for the racing not what the cars look like. I know there's the indoor arena but it's not the same, as value for money I don't think it matches any stock car/ hot rod meeting. I know some of you may disagree but hey we're all entitled to your own opinions. There is the other type of person the people that couldn't attend but wanted to be there, so for those I'm asking if you have some pictures from the show send them in or a link where your fellow fans can enjoy them.