AEROFLOW RACE DIARY
Two years ago, we came back to New Zealand two weekends in a row and got nothing but rain, and, if I remember correctly, some of the country was in drought and hadn’t seen rain for weeks and weeks. This time, we set four rain days just in case, with the hope of not needing them. In the lead up to the event, there hadn’t been rain at Meremere Dragway in 40-odd days — it all started to seem way too familiar.
All the shipping and set-up had gone perfectly. It was Friday morning and the boys were all sweating, finishing up setting up as it was so hot. But, when you look at the forecast for Saturday, and it’s saying some 30-plus millimetres of rain in the exact period we are racing, it’s not a good feeling. The tough call had to be made to postpone until Sunday, and, let me tell you, it was a tough one to make when you’re standing in 36-degree heat, hardly a cloud in the sky, and you’re canceling a race the next day — it just seemed crazy. But we had to ensure that the fans would have time to rearrange travels and give us the best chance possible to put on the show we had all been waiting for. Making this kind of decision is just the start; there are so many things to change and rearrange. Schedules, advertising, food and drinks, accommodations, flights, transport, the list just goes on and on. Come Saturday morning, I was never so happy to see rain on a race day. All I could think was what would happen if we made the call and it was wrong? Thankfully, it turned out to be the right decision, so Sunday it was.
Sunday morning, I have to admit, was the most nervous I have been for a race meeting in a very long time. It was like it was my first time in the car. We have a pretty good crew with the series now, so set-up was nice and easy, but we could tell already that it was going to be a pretty big day. The pit party was an absolute hit, with the lines for drivers’ signatures and to sit in the cars incredible. To have home support was just unreal, and I don’t know how many hero cards I signed but I have definitely never signed so many in my life — it was really cool.
First round, we were up against the ‘Dark Horse’ Mustang. It’s a very quick car, so I was worried about this one. After seeing the first two pairings go straight down the race track, I was confident our set-up was going to be good. I was just hoping it was going to be fast enough, as I had put a let’sjust-get-to-the-other-end tune-up in it. A 5.75 at 250.4mph was enough to beat the tyre-spinning Mustang and give us the first-round victory. I had my awesome crew looking after my car for me so I could concentrate on the tune ups on ‘One Bad Kiwi’, ‘The Bandit’, and ‘King Kong’. Second round, we had to race fellow Kiwi
Karl Boniface. Although Karl hasn’t been as quick as the Aeroflow cars, he was close enough that any slip-up and he would be there to pounce, as he did in the first round against Emma Begley. Unfortunately for Karl, a fuel-pump failure in the burnout left us on a solo pass. Of the two pairings before us, one was a pedal fest and the other went straight down the track, so I was a little unsure if I had made the right decision on the tune-up. I shouldn’t have worried, as a 5.61 was the low ET of the event at 249.9mph, as I was off it a touch early. I was buzzing knowing that this had put us into the final on home soil. There was one problem with this, however, and this was that, once again, I would have to face the ‘Nitro Express’ tuned by
Graeme Cowin and driven by Rick Gauci in the final. GC has taught me everything I know about Nitro cars and is one of the best in the world, so it is a little intimidating racing him, and he has a habit of pulling out an incredible tune-up when he needs to. Between rounds, the pits were an absolute buzz. I couldn’t walk 2m without someone wishing us well or saying good luck. The third-round warm-up didn’t go so well, as we found the fuel shut-off O-rings had swelled and were causing the shut-off to seize up. Thankfully, the boys jumped on that, got the old one off, put a new one on, and we were good to go for the final. Now, Rick has been the guy that has beaten me in a few finals now, so I really wanted to get this one — not only to beat him but to do it on home soil. As we staged, it seemed to take forever for the lights to come down. I left with a good light, the car tried to spin the tyres at about quarter-track, but I managed to drive through it. I couldn’t see Rick out front of me, so I knew it was either close or I was in front. When I pulled the chutes, I knew the speed was going to be fast, as I got thrown forward into the seat belts. As I slowed down, I kept saying to myself, “Don’t get excited”, in case he had pipped me on the line. When I saw the black Chev roll past with its chutes still in, I knew we had done it. We had also set the top speed of the meet with 260.4mph. We had finally got that gold Rocket trophy, and to do it on home soil was just unreal. To have my friends and family there to watch, so many of who had helped or supported me over the years, was just incredible. I won’t even start to list the thanks just in case I miss someone. All I can say is that it felt like a fairytale. It took two years to get this event done, and, from the feedback we received, it was worth the wait.