Debutant Conlon is taking Stock
AFTER taking a massive, but judged to be fair hit, at Arlington Raceway a couple of weeks ago, that left him with some severe bruising, Southern Bandits banger team captain, Keith Conlon, re-emerged on Sunday with a debut in the 1300 stock cars.
Indeed, ‘re-emerged’ does not do his appearance justice by any means .
For weeks, Conlon has spent his evenings and weekends building his new stock car, in addition to his usual banger racing commitments in the south.
With the Bandits on-track feud with multi-champions Rob Haines and Mark Pope continuing, something was bound to happen. So it did at Arlington, where Conlon required medical attention as a result of the hit he took.
With his ego as well as his body bruised, Conlon has sensibly heeded the medical advice and taken some time away from the track. Looking on the positive side, the enforced lay-off has allowed him more time to work on his new venture.
What a job he has done as well! Revealed for the first time, the crowd walking around the pits pre-meeting were suitably impressed with the workmanship and artwork of the car.
Before going out for the first race, when asked about the high standard of the livery, Conlon remarked, “The car looks good ….for now! A couple of scrapes against the wall, and no doubt it will soon be showing a few battle scars”.
So how did Conlon do first time out in his new charge? Not too bad actually.
In his first race of the day, he finished a solid fifth, and then he managed an incredible second place next time out. A great effort in the final, saw him cross the line third.
Conlon is known for his straight line speed in the bangers, but in the stock cars, how a driver handles the corners is critical.
“I only finished the car last night, and have not had time to set it up properly yet,” said Conlon. “The other guys out there have had months to adjust their engines and set ups. We’ll get there…but give it a few weeks,” he concluded.
Conlon and the rest of his Bandits are likely to figure prominently this Sunday at the Aldershot raceway, as the Domestic Bangers feature in round 9 of the Think Ford Banger League, as part of a four formula bill.
Racing starts at 1pm.