CMC SEASON WRAP

THE NAPA CENTRAL MUSCLE CARS SEASON WAS A NAIL-BITER FROM START TO FINISH, ONE YOU COULDN’T SCRIPT BETTER IF YOU TRIED THE CHAMPIONSHIP WAS DOING FLIPS AND SPINS

Many of you would fully understand how difficult it is to try to punch 900hp through a drivetrain, onto some rubber, and then down to the ground. It’s part of the joy of having a V8. But when you’re attempting to do it under pressure, repetitively, and with others trying to do the same thing right beside you — well, when things go wrong, the wrong can be very hard to stomach. This is what the teams and drivers deal with each time they head to the track to compete in the Napa Central Muscle Cars (CMC), and during the final two rounds of the 2021 season, some felt the pain more than others. But at the same time, some also received the most amazing feeling you can get from motorsport.

Across the season the Group 1B and Group 2 mobs had sorted themselves out, with Shane Johnson and Andrew Sinclair only needing to remain consistent. Their job was relatively simple: stay on the track, stay out of trouble, and finish races. Both did that, and both received the applicable championship rewards for their efforts, but in Group 1A, things were so close with results and points that it had become impossible to determine who had the leading form. Southerners Michael Wallace, Andy Knight, and Craig Boote were leading the championship heading into the final two rounds. Wallace was on top due to his superb consistency across earlier rounds. He had the ‘simple’ task of finishing the final eight races of the season, and from that he would receive the plaudits, but when his engine let go during the opening stanza of round five, the entire championship was turned upside down.

Then there was another smack. Andy Knight had a front suspension failure, and then he too was suddenly out of contention. Now it was Craig Boote leading the way with the 2020 champion, Dean Hansen, in hot pursuit — and, of course, Angus Fogg now had his name appearing near the top of the leader board.

Let’s take a moment to recap here an accident that took place during round one, race three: a massive crash between Boote and Fogg. Both cars looked in dire shape, and their championship chase

runs seemed over before they had begun, but neither wanted to end it there, and both cars were repaired and ready to go for round two. They were both on the back foot, but they knew that while misfortune happened to them, it could also happen to others — and it did. Don’t forget that Fogg had also lost an engine in round two, so his season was even more messed up at the start than anyone’s. Plenty of big names were falling away as the season continued — engines, gearboxes, diffs — and while that happened, Boote and Fogg were clocking steady points. To be realistic, at round two, both of those drivers were probably there to simply enjoy themselves, but as the season progressed, they could see that there was a small light at the end of the motorsport tunnel. Skip back to the final two rounds, and Fogg had clocked up massive points by this stage but was theoretically still too far away to launch a full campaign for the top spots, while somehow the motorsport gods had smiled on Craig Boote, and he was now leading the championship. It was the most topsy-turvy situation ever seen in the category.

So, aside from the breakdowns that turned round five on its head, the outing at Pukekohe was as normal as ever — that being high risk, nerves, and high-speed excitement. It was, however, round six that made the grade to become something special. It was no longer a top three held by the Southerners — Boote was ahead, Hansen had somehow found himself second, while Andy Knight was now third. It therefore came down to maths — the points differential between the drivers.

A driver gets 50 points for winning a race, 49 for second, 48 for third, and so on. What made this more exciting than normal was that points differential. Only 10 separated Boote from Hansen, and while there was clear air of sorts back to Knight in third, he was only

36 off Hansen, so, mathematically, if Hansen had any issues, Knight could pounce. Then there was Fogg.

He was only 11 points away from Knight, and all of this made things highly entertaining. But wait, there’s more. Michael Wallace had made a return after his 82-year-old father worked around the clock to rebuild the engine. Now, while the team were out of the championship hunt, they had the potential to steal points and get in between other drivers, therefore affecting the outcome.

Also, don’t discount the other drivers, who, while not fighting for a championship, were still looking for their own good results, and just like Wallace, would take points and also have an overall effect.

Knowing all this, it was a shocking start for Boote and Knight. Boote was ninth and fourth in practice and was highly concerned about his fortunes for the rest of the weekend. His team would need to work out why the Mustang was not performing as it should, and they only had a small window to sort it. Knight was in even more trouble. His engine let go during the opening practice, they immediately set to removing it, and then had to wait for one to arrive from Palmerston North. It would be a weekend of no practice and an untested power plant. When qualifying arrived, everyone was glued to the live timing — and immediately things went crazy.

Fogg took pole as expected, but Hansen made the biggest statement of all claiming second fastest, which put him on the front row for race one. Meanwhile, his closest rival and points leader Boote was in big trouble — eighth. Boote wasn’t helping his own cause, and with the likes of Andrew Porter, Michael Wallace, Tristan Teki, Matt Spratt, and Shannon Coker starting the first race in front of him, he had plenty of issues to deal with. But what about Knight? Well, he was still dealing with the engine issues. He would start at the back of the grid with his run for the championship seemingly gone. So now everyone could see how the championship was doing flips and spins before the first race — and by the end of that opening stanza, it had become even more insane.

It wasn’t because Fogg won, or because Hansen and Boote finished within two places of each other; it was because Andy Knight came from 18th to finish second. It was arguably the most outstanding drive of the season for two reasons. First, because it was just awesome, and, secondly, because it kept him well in the hunt.

As race two got underway, and to add pressure and drama, the points were shown to the drivers. Boote’s