Armed with a stunning piece of sprintcar weaponry Andrew Wright set about putting on a brilliant performance in the season opener at Tyre Power Parramatta City Raceway last Saturday night until an “A” Feature incident saw Andrew get taken out in spectacular fashion.
58 combatants assembled on a crisp Spring evening to contest the running of the 410 Spring Nationals on the 460m clay way and right out of the truck Crew Chief Jason Oakes and Andrew had the Wright Racing Maxim on the pace.
Hot Laps
With the track seemingly having plenty of water on board Andrew spent the hot lap session getting re-acquainted with life in the fast lane. With track conditions being wet slick (the track was greasy) it was difficult to get any decent drive. Having said that the set up in the car had Andrew looking right at home as he completed the hot lap session
Time Trials
As the time trail session rolled around the track was still reasonably wet slick and it would certainly be a big advantage to draw a late number to run against the clock. However Andrew was drawn in one of the first groups and even with the track not offering as much drive as it did later in the session, Andrew reeled off a respectable 12.742 sec lap. Clocking an average speed of 129.96 Klm/h it was good enough to place us 22nd quick out of the 58car field.
Our Heat
With the standard TPCR format in use, it would see the top six in each heat being inverted meaning that Andrew would start from pole position. Starting in the third heat of the night, Andrew & Jason gave the set up a slight tweak and all was in readiness for the 8 lap journey.
As they thundered of turn four, the green was waved and Andrew wasted no time in claiming the lead heading into turn one. With the track by now in a fast condition, Andrew was able to get every ounce out of the in-house prepared Gearte power plant to the ground and at this point we would like to thank “Bowditch & Partners” along with “Osborn's Transports Services” for there support in supplying the new Hoosier racing tyres. Four laps in and Andrew was running the cushion and showing a clean pair of heels to the rest of the field when a caution was thrown for a spun car. At the re-start Andrew again exerted his authority and put in a stunning drive to claim his first heat win of the season.
The post race interview which was beamed live around the country over the net gave Andrew a chance to thank our sponsors and at that point of the evening you just started to sense that the team were going to have a big say on the outcome of the nights racing.
The Dash
The points haul from the heat race win moved Andrew up to 16th on points over all which afforded him a start in the dash races. Andrew was drawn in the first dash which would decide the starting positions for the inside row of the “A” Main. Being in the toughest of the two dashes he would have to contend with Trevor Green, Marty Perovich, Max Dumsney and Troy Little just to name a few so you can understand his delight when he was drawn to start from position 4.
As the field formed up for the 8 lap journey an air of excitement descended over the TPCR complex as for the first time this season the heavy hitters got together to duke it out for an “A” main starting spot. At the green Andrew got a brilliant start and stayed up high on the ever-increasing cushion. Side by side into turn one the car speed coming out of the Wright Racing Maxim was impressive to say the least, powering out of turn two the first time through Andrew secured third spot as the pace intensified. With Max Dumsney making a charge from the back of the pack he soon loomed up to Andrew but with Andrew churning out some blistering laps it would be difficult to pass. Across the strike to commence lap 5 and Andrew got a heap of drive of the cushion mid corner that un-settled the car a tad and that was all it took for Dumsney to sneak into third.
Not to be out done Andrew driving extremely well was determined to fight back and he did just that. With two laps to run and getting some powerful drive of turn 4, he edged closer to the tail tank of Dumsney and was now in striking distance. Moving onto the tail tank of Dumsney's car down the back straight the last lap was going to be a screamer. Into turn one for the last time and Andrew ranged up alongside Dumsney but was unable to execute the pass coming of two. Dumsney held a good line into turn 3 and was able to hold out the fast finishing #78N thus Andrew had to be content with 4th.
The “A”
Starting out of position 7 in the 24 car “A” main field and the track starting to slicken off, Andrew & Jason set about tightening car up to suit the track conditions. A rear bar change was made (putting a stiffer suspension bar in the rear of the car) along with taking out some stagger (putting a larger left rear tyre on the car). With Crewmembers Kerry McKinlay and Ian Hallett adding their prowess to the cars preparation, the fuel tank was filled with 90 litres methanol for the 30-lap journey and we were good to go.
As the 24 starters formed up for the traditional 4 wide salute the engrossed crowd on hand stood and cheered in readiness for the 30 lap thrill ride of a life time. At the green Andrew went straight to the top and went high wide & handsome sticking his right rear in the cushion entering turn one. The car was very tight for track conditions at the start but as the laps wore down and the track started to slicken of more & more, the set up the boys had put in the car was coming to fruition. With 10 laps in the record books and holding down a solid 7th spot the car speed was starting to increase relative to those around him but coming of turn 4 the car got some serious left rear drive which certainly hindered the cars ability to get into turn one on the cushion, above the cushion in the heavy clay isn't where you need to be but that's where we found ourselves and at that point we dropped from 7th down to 21st spot.
Rejoining the racing line Andrew remained composed and set about regaining the lost positions and my friends it was brilliant to watch. Whilst most had started to run the bottom of the track in the corners, Andrew was screaming around the cushion carrying some impressive car speed as he forged his way toward the front.
That is until mid race distance and in a matter of a hand full of laps he had clawed his way back to 13th position when entering turn 3 and looking to claim 11th spot an altercation between the 11th & 12th cars running the bottom of the track saw one of the cars go up track and nail the pristine Wright Racing Maxim sending it and Andrew on one of the most scary, spectacular rides on the wild side ever witnessed at the venue.
In a credit to Andrews's supreme fitness and his toughness, to see him emerge from the teams now destroyed Maxim under his own steam was feat in itself. I can tell you an eerie silence had descended on the speedway as crash crew attended the scene but the cheer that he received after getting out of the car was nothing short of phenomenal.
Much has been said about the incident in the media and over the net so at this point I invite you to click on the link attached to this Email and view the crash in its entirety and people can make up their own minds
After being checked out by paramedic Dave Higgins at the scene who is with out a doubt one of this countries finest in his profession, Andrew sat bewildered in the truck pondering the thought that the team had just suffered a costly set back in their racing endeavours for the season. It was hard to hide the disappointment on the teams faces and even though crashing is a part of our sport, getting sent out of the ball park when being an innocent party makes things just that bit tougher to take.
It wasn't till several hours later that the full effects of the sickening impact took their toll on Andrew and he attended Westmead Hospital after some giddy spells and vomiting. After a night of tests the team made it home to their Muswellbrook base where Andrew is at the time of this release yet to return to work.
Being in a world of hurt Andrew, the Wright family & the Wright Racing Sprintcar Team would like to very much pass on their thanks and gratitude to all those supporters & race fans that have called & left messages enquiring about Andrews well being and to pass on their support.
The team would like to let all their fans know that they will be back better than ever as the construction of another car will hopefully begin soon. Lord only knows a sprintcar meeting without Andrew Wright in the thick of the action will be missing one very talented and highly skilled competitor.
Sprintcar Racing
There is truly nothing else like it.
Division of Sprintcar1.net