16c Super Saloon............................................................. 61c Stockcar
LATEST NEWS UPDATE:
January 2010
Hi Everyone.
Hope everyone survived another Christmas and New Year.
Firstly my apologies for the lack of updates on the site, maybe I can finish the season off with a flurry!
Well its hard to think that half the season is pretty much gone already.
The 16c Super Saloon has been improving since the season began. A lot of it has been with my confidence growing every week, because to be fair it was rather dented early in the season after last seasons "incident", but I also put alot of it down to my pitcrew getting the car set-up spot on, the guys are back to their best so i'm sure we still have lots to come. Missing the Champion of Champions meeting was a bit of a let down, especially with my bruised ribs coming from playing touch, I thought it was non contact!! The Remembrance Champs meeting on Boxing Day has been my best yet, getting a win in race 1 was an awesome feeling, ended up finishing 4th equal overall. The South Island Champs are at Woodford Glen on the 13th of Feb so this is a meeting i'm hoping to do well at.
The 61c Stockcar has been there or there-abouts all season. The car has had a few minor dramas though, a broken rod end on one of the radius rods from the diff, snapped steering arm and a blown gearbox have all thrown a spanner in the works but i guess in a contact grade you have to expect breakages from time to time. Cory had to give the South Island Champs a miss this season, with it being scheduled so close to Christmas and being a family man now it was a bit too difficult to attend. Maybe next year!
Cory will be tearing around Woodford Glen this weekend at the New Zealand Modified Champs, The Super's next outing will be the 23rd of Jan so if your at the track come around for a yak.
Ben
13 October 2009
Hi Race fans,
Well the start of another season is upon us and things in the ART workshop have been flat tack (especially with the 16c Super!). Sorry for the lack of updates, must get onto doing some more regular ones.
So heres an update on how each car is shaping up: 61c Stockcar:
Cory has had not a whole lot to do to the car over the off season, just the usual tidy up, new bumpers and side rails etc. Also a new body with some new look graphics to spice it up a little, Thanks to Paul from Lay Asphalt Contracting! He has made an awesome job of it, get to the track on opening night to check it out, I'ill get some new pics on here asap! The car also has a refreshed gearbox after lunching itself at Oxford over the winter, lets hope this one is strong.
Cory has been to all 3 practices at Woodford Glen and was going good so he's looking forward to the new season! 16c Super Saloon:
Well as you all know I have had plenty to do over the off season, and true to form, wasn't finished the car before things got busy at work! Massive thanks to Stephen "Shiney" Crowe from REC, the amount of hours he has put into this rebuild is phenomenal and without his help we would still be mucking around! But after countless hours in the workshop the car came together really well and was (and now is!!) looking sharp!
I took it to the 2nd practice and to be honest was pretty nervous about hopping back in but after a few laps was feeling good, the day after the 2nd practice Dad was racing at Oxford so i thought it would be a good opportunity to get some more laps in the seat. And i'm glad I did, a good day was had by all, its been a while since I have raced at Oxford, its a neat little track. Then came the 3rd practice which is fair to say was a bit of a disaster. The track was awesome surprisingly and the car was really going good in the first run, but after a couple of laps I caught up to a couple of A-Grades, buttoned right out of it going into turn one as they were two wide, and before I know it I had a car sideways in front of me, hard on the anchors but no where to go but straight into him! Result-wrecked front bumper, wrecked front skirt, a hole in the bonnet and a hole in the door. Not really what you want from a practice but hey! I was absolutely gutted afterwards, all that hard work and a bent car! The guy in the spun car is a nice fella who I get on with so hopefully no hard feelings!, racing goes on. Dad has been on a mission since then and has built an REC replica bumper and made an awesome job of it, Thanks Dad! So now I have just got to get my hands on a new front skirt and she will be as good as new again for meeting number 1! 59ox B-Grade:
Dad has had a couple of meetings at Oxford over the past few months with his driving getting better every time. The latest meeting was the Grant Fuller Memorial, the B-Grade Champs. Heat 1 was a very wet track, so the front skidders dominated, Dad lost a couple of spots but drove well considering. Heat 2 went well, but a spin in the last Heat cost him any chance of a podium finish. He then came out in the Feature race and cleaned the field up! Never mind bout the trophy Dad, there's always next year to get your name on it!
On the sponsor front Cory and I are real pleased that our sponsors have stayed with us for another year, so massive thanks to Dakota Tiles, Stu's Bobcat Services, Rangiora Exhaust Centre, and Pump It Kaikoura. And we are also pleased to announce that Lay Asphalt Contracting are supporting us this season too so if you need any Tiles, Digger/Bobcat work, A new exhaust for your car, some concrete pumped, or your driveway layed with asphalt these are the people you need to contact because without there support there would be no racing!!
Hope to see you all at the first meeting on Saturday night, should be good!
Until next time,
Ben
28 June 2009 New Wheels in the ART Stable!
Hi Race fans,
Yes its true, Dad (Stu) has shaken the dust off the racing overalls and got himself some new wheels!, he has gone back to his roots of the early Production Saloon days and got another Commodore to race in B-Grade out at Oxford Speedway. The new car is the ex 5c Commodore of Vaughn Childs and to be honest goes pretty well!. Dad has been talking about getting another Race car since his hip replacement a couple of years ago and to see him finally get back on the track was good fun.
That all happened at Oxford on the 21st of June, running off the back (supposedly to get his eye back in) of a big B-Grade field, Dad had 3 pretty good races. Passing a few cars and even getting a few battle scars on the flash paint work.
Cory also took the 61c Stockcar up for a run, had a couple of good runs but came in after the second race with something grumbling in the gearbox so it was back on the bus to avoid anymore damage and investigate at home. The theory is that it is just the front bearing? The car is now halfway pulled down for its winter birthday so Cory has a few nights in the workshop ahead of him.
We even have progress on the 16c Super Saloon, it arrived home from the sand blasters on Thursday. Dad got the chassis painted on Saturday so I was straight into it on Sunday, beginning the big jigsaw puzzle of putting it back together. Made some good progress though so all going well with this week on annual leave I should have the majority of it back together.
Check out the Gallery page for a few new pics.
Will keep you all posted on progress over the next few weeks.
Ben
1June 2009 2008/2009 Season Wrap Up
Hi Race fans,
Well another season bites the dust, it all wrapped up two weekends ago with the annual Woodford Glen prize giving evening. Another good night had by all.
Both Cory and I were lucky enough to pick up awards. Cory was voted the Most Improved Stockcar driver which he was stoked about, I was also luckily enough to be voted Most Improved Super Saloon driver, which was a massive surprise to me but never the less, trophy looks good!!. I also had the pleasure (if you want to call it that!) of taking home the Hard Luck award for my big smash in December, thanks alot jammed accelerator!!
Cory's Season Review
Cory started the season reasonably consistently. Finishing alot of races mid pack and having a win early on was good for the confidence, only to be fed into the wall next race bending the car pretty bad!. Had a few little niggles in the engine department in the ex 61c car for much of it too which we later figured out to be a dodgy fuel pump, but sorted that and the car went good. Ended up selling the 61c mid season and purchasing the ex 92p Rees chassis of Brett Lloyd. This proved to be a good move with Cory getting right up to the pointy end of the field. From memory I think Cory ran Fourth in the Canterbury Champs first meeting out in the new car. But the highlight of Cory's season came at the South Island Champs held at Woodford Glen, winning the final heat and coming home in Third overall. This meant Cory was handed an invite to the World of Stocks the following weekend in Rotorua. Unfortunately due to the short turn around and work commitments he had to decline. Finished off the season at the King of the Coast with another good meeting.
My season (or half season) I thought was pretty successful. Fifth overall in the Moller and Young trophy challenge was a good start. Canterbury Champs also was a good meeting for me, I think I finished Seventh or so but was awesome racing against some very strong opposition. The Super Saloon Champion of Champions was my highlight though, the car was strong, although lacking a bit of horsepower. I did enough in the heats to start off grid fifteen for the twenty five lap feature, and ended up finishing Seventh. The big smash at the start of December killed my season and I was bitterly disappointed to miss the NZ title but never mind, hopefully next season!!
Cory and I would both like to say a massive THANK-YOU to everyone who has helped us this season. Our sponsors, Dakota Tiles, Stus Bobcat Services, Pump It Kaikoura and Rangiora Exhaust Centre, without sponsors there is no way we would be racing. Pit crew who worked on both cars, Dad, Mum, Jemma, May, Uncle Mark, Cousin Simon, Dakota Mark, Nath, Steven Crowe for the set up help on the Super, you guys are like the sponsors, without you we wouldn't be racing.
The biggest thanks has to go to Dad though, Cory and I certainly wouldn't be racing without your help, from driving the bus, to fixing bits, scraping clay and everything in between, Thanks Dad.
Once again Thanks alot to everyone, if I haven't mentioned your name you know who you are, if you helped us CHEERS!!
Ben
21 March 2009 South Island Stockcar Champs
Hi Everyone,
Well what a weekend at Woodford Glen Speedway, The South Island Stockcar Champs and The Battle of the Stocks for the Superstocks. First off Congratulations to Malcolm Ngatai and Scott Hewson for the win, 34 Superstocks going hard surely is one of the best sites to see on the track!
Back to the Stockcars though and it was to be 40 odd cars fighting it out for a place in the 26 car field finals.
Cory was in what looked like the tougher of the two groups so qualifying was never going to be easy. We struggled with car set up all Friday night and Cory had some mixed results, a couple of spins but 3 race finishes so he had done better than alot of others meaning he qualified 11th in his group.
Onto Saturday and with some dodgy weather hanging around racing wasn't looking too good, but lucky for us it stopped raining mid afternoon.
Cory drew grid 26 for the finals meaning he was off the rear for the first race. We changed a couple of set up things in the car hoping to find something to better suit the very slick track conditions. When the green dropped Cory got straight into his work, being careful not to get tangled up in any incidents but passing other cars and making his way forwards. He finished the race 6th, passing 20 cars which was an awesome start to the championship. The car went really well and looked alot better to drive than on Friday night which was real good.
Race 2 Cory started mid pack and got off to a flyer, getting up inside the top 10 in the first lap, but entered turn 1 on lap 2 with a bit much pace on and done a big doughnut! He re-fired the car and made his way back up to 11th position which I reckon after the doughnut, was the best he drove all weekend.
After 2 heats it was still anyone's title to win, Cory was in 7th position but with 3 cars in the top 7 without a C beside their number things were certain to change, and change they did!!
Race 3 Cory was off grid 1, he got off to a good start and settled in 2nd position behind the hard charging 28e car. Meanwhile World War 3 was breaking out down the order. Points leader 196e was held to a stand still at the start and anything else without a C was being attacked. Cory sat in 2nd for about 10-12 laps before the 28e was dealt to meaning he inherited the race lead. I don't know whether he knew he was leading or not but those last few laps seemed to go on forever and I was only watching! Cory was absolutely stoked to get a win and so were we, and to top it off we were also told that Cory had done enough to grab 3rd place overall. An awesome effort considering this was only the second meeting in the new car, and being that this is the Ex Brett Lloyd 92p car means that the same car has been on the podium in both the North and South Island titles in the same season.
Big Congratulations also to Nick Sidaway 18c for the win and Ivan McPhail 24c for 2nd place. And also the Christchurch cars who slowed the visiting drivers down!!!
The other big prize for being in the top 3 for this title was an invitation to the World of Stocks in Rotorua this weekend, and getting put straight through to the finals alongside the North Island 1 2 3, NZ 1 2 3, NZGP 1 2, Some overseas drivers and 10 or so other qualifiers from Friday nights racing.
This would be almost a once in a life time invitation for Cory, to race alongside the big names of the Stockcar ranks would be something pretty special, but unfortunately with the meeting only 4 days away and the lack of dollars left on the money tree (Note to self"must add more fertiliser"!! )its looks like Cory may have to let this one go. But if we don't make it thanks anyway to the Rotorua Club for the invite, as I said it would have been something pretty special but never mind, good things come to those who wait!!
Thanks alot to everyone for all there support
Till next time
Ben
14 March 2009
Hi Race Fans,
Its been a while since I've put an update on so with both Cory and I being back in action last night I thought I had better put pen to paper, so to speak!!
As a lot of you have probably heard from the speedway rumour mill or seen with your own eyes, we have some new wheels in the ART stable. Recently we got ours hands on the ex 92p Stockcar of Brett Lloyd for Cory as a bit of a step up from the old 61c machine. The new car is a Rees chassis built new for the 07/08 season, it has a Holden V6 in it with a few fast bits so looks like it should do the business.
So now we have 2 Stockcars in the shed, which is 1 too many so the old 61c is for sale, $17500 ono and she's yours!! A good car with a strong engine means its a real good package, so if you wanna go Stockcar racing get in touch!!
The 16c Super Saloon is still a wee bit off being race ready so I wont be back in that until next season which is a bit of a let down but never mind, they say good things take time! The chassis is looking better but still a few hours for Steven Crowe and his team yet. Jason Fleck has completed the engine strip and rebuild and luckily enough everything internal was all good, so not too expensive under the bonnet! Colin Grey has the Diff at the moment and upon closer inspection to the inside of that, he found the pinion a little worse for wear so a rebuild inside there and I will be picking that up next week. So we have progress which is all good.
Back to the Stockcars, I was getting itchy feet not having a car to race so thought I would have a crack in the old 61c car. We have had a gremlin somewhere giving the engine a miss so the car needed a run to try a few more things anyway. So it was off with the 61c stickers and on with the 62c stickers!
Cory and I were both eager for a run in the cars so took them to Oxford Speedway last weekend for a run, certainly different to drive than the Super Saloon but I was still keen. Cory was happy with the new car so everything was set for the Canty Stockcar Champs.
I was a little nervous Saturday but thought surely it cant be that bad, and to make things even better when it came time to draw marbles for the grid draw I was the lucky bugger that drew grid 1!!! Cory drew grid 8. Having someone come up to me and say "I'll try not to get ya going into turn 1 but after that your fair game" is something I would never hear in the Super!(hopefully!!). So lining up at the start I was packing myself, but as the green dropped I put my foot down and got a bit of a gap going into the turn and never got touched!. First race was pretty good fun, had a couple of laps side by side with Cory which was a bit of nostalgia. The car took a bit of getting used to, and after getting turned, finished 12th. Cory finished 6th in the big 33 car field.
Race 2 we both started mid pack and both got away clean at the start. I got a big shunt from behind on the back straight which I felt pretty well and it disabled the electrics in the dash, killing the fan, temp gauge and rev counter. All of which I didn't notice until a couple of laps to go so the car got rather hot and on further inspection in the pits found we had a hole in the radiator which was my night done. Finished the race about 20th?? and Cory finished top ten I think, after a few attacks from other cars, he drove really well.
Going into the final heat Cory was 6th overall and I was 12th but the car was on the trailer along with alot of others. It was an action packed race with most of the top contenders being dealt too, Cory was in a few tangles himself finishing 6th to give him 6th overall which was pretty pleasing for the team considering it was his first real peddle in the car. He was pretty happy with how it went so roll on next weekend when the South Island Champs are to be held at Woodford Glen. I on the other hand had a bit of fun but you wont see me swapping the Super for a Stockcar in the near future!! The motor ran real good so we no longer have a miss!! Yay!
I will try to get some pics of the new car on here asap but otherwise come to the meeting next weekend and come and check it out and say Hi to us. Someone always happy to have a yak! Should be an awesome meeting with the Battle of the Stocks also being run, so get there early to get a good spot. 7:30 start on Friday and 7:00 start on Saturday.
See you all there,
Ben
15 December 2008
Seasons Greetings everyone.
Well with the silly season nearly upon us its getting to the busy time of the speedway season with NZ titles, GPs and the like making it a busy time for alot of speedway teams. But sadly this year ART will be missing out of the Super Saloon Champs after the unfortunate accident at Woodford Glen Speedway last weekend. A jammed accelerator is something I wouldn't wish on anyone as it was the scariest thing I have ever had happen to me!
For those of you who weren't there it all happened in the second race of the night on lap one down in turn three. I started in the middle of the pack and as the green dropped got into my work. From memory something happened to a car up the front causing a bit of a freight train effect of people getting hard on the brakes, I may have tagged the car in front of me which must have caused something to bend slightly under the bonnet because as I got to turn three, I got out of the gas and nothing happened. Normally the car needs just one stab on the brake to get it sideways and then back on the gas so I had minimal time to do anything and before I knew it the car was just metres away from the wall. So with the car travelling at around 110kph and 120kph things happened rather quickly. All I can remember is seeing the wall coming and the rest is history as I don't remember anything else!, hardly remember being taken home by my partner Jemma!
Someone sitting in turn three had a video camera so here is the clip:
Makes me crook in the guts watching it!!! So that means will miss a fair chunk of the season but hopefully will be back before February.
Myself, Cory and Mark from Dakota Tiles got the chassis all stripped out on Saturday so that's all ready to go to Shiney Crowes REC workshop for the repair job, I'm sure he will make her brand new again!
Dropped the motor off at Jason Flecks yesterday to get a check over because of the higher than normal revs it pulled so just got to get all the new suspension bits ordered from the states and play the waiting game.
I'm pretty disappointed to be missing the NZ title in Cromwell but will still be heading down to watch and enjoy a few cold ones! So good luck to all entered and lets hope we can get a C car with the big 1NZ on the side!
Moving on to other things Cory has been having a mixed run in the 61c Stocky. The engine still seems to have a bit of a miss but surely we are getting to the bottom of that. Cory has also been having a few issues with the gear shifter so him and Dad have made some alterations so hoping for some improvement on Boxing Day for the Remembrance Champs.
Thanks to everyone who has offered the team help with the Super after last weekend, thanks as well to Mark Grigor from Dakota Tiles for the help stripping the chassis down, I owe you a Speight's or ten for that mate!
From all of us at ART have a happy and safe Christmas and New Year, and we will see you all in 2009!
Cheers
Ben
PAST RACING ACHIEVEMENTS & AWARDS:
BEN ABERNETHY
2008/2009 Super Saloons
5th Trophy Challenge
Most Improved Driver
Hard Luck Award
2007/2008 A Grade Saloons
1st Remeberence Champs
Member of South Island A Grade Team
2006/2007 A Grade Saloons
2nd Easter Nationals
Most Improved A Grade Driver
2005/2006 Productions
4th Trophy Challenge
2004/2005 Productions
3rd Trophy Challenge
2nd Rememberence Champs
Most Improved Production Driver
Best Presented Car
CORY ABERNETHY
2008/2009 Stockcars
5th Trophy Challenge
3rd South Island Stockcar Champs
Most Improved Stockcar Driver
Numerous placings in B Grade Saloon Champs, North Canterbury Champs and South Island Champs.
Hopefully some to come in the future driving a Stockcar.
