Exciting Racing at Jamwest Speedway ! Part 2 of 2

Raceday

Racing began in earnest after the drivers meeting ended. Rhonda with her usual ‘energizer bunny,’ animated, but successful type of administration, got the cars moving rather quickly to the line.

A few heavy hitters were left scratching their heads as their usual dominant machines were either eliminated or withdrawn in the early rounds. ‘Haggi’,’ Spoon’ and Seymour are three of the biggest names at the races and they all had a terrible day. Haggi was spotted leaving the grounds very early after he was eliminated from the 11 seconds class. With the door closed on the usual suspects, others were allowed their time in the spotlight.

Mad Machines

Machines which impressed include :

1. Grey CRX, which has not gone the now popular route, of forced induction. With a tuned Type R motor and an ample shot of nitrous it was shifted to an impressive 12.6 seconds pass.
2. The B MULL AUTO sponsored Nissan Pulsar, built by ‘Lizard’ from Mandeville, which gave the Nissan fans a lot to cheer about
3. The silver Evo VIII. A street car –full interior, but ripping 10 seconds passes (suggested to be the quickest street Evo in Jamaica)
4. The burgundy Camaro SS (from Kirk Lee’s camp). In the hands of an accomplished racer, the SS was taken to within inches from the wall and brought back under a heavy right foot, the driver did not flinch when power was required to confirm victory.
5. Brinn Morgan’s project –the Camaro with the gigantic turbo. Slow on the launch, but a crowd favorite nonetheless, with burnouts which continued almost to mid- track.
6. The red RX7.Another crowd pleaser with a 4 inch exhaust pipe (which resembled a sewer main), built with a sweet free revving engine, directed by what sounds like a sequential shifter.

The Cayman cars had some amount of mechanical issues this meet, but they were still able to show that they have what it takes to bring the fight to the locals.

Gregg Cross more popularly known as ‘Tallman,’ wore several hats on race day. He brought his recently acquired Evo and his sport-bike to the track, he donated parts from his car to fix the Cayman Evo and when entertainment was required to fill a gap he was summoned. Tallman defeated Dean Shaw twice /thrice (Shaw riding his boosted bike ),leaving him each time at the line, wondering -  how the hell Tall man reacted that quickly. If that was not enough, another biker who thought he was more than man enough to defeat Tallman, came to the line. His fate was sealed with a flash of the green light, it wasn’t even a contest. Last time I checked, the biker was still at Jamwest, searching for his deflated ego. Props to Tallman!

Vengeance III was held on a weekend laden with other events, but drag racing still has an irresistible appeal which attracts fans from all over the island and if the series continues to deliver intriguing and exciting racing as was seen on Sunday, the promoters can rest assured that even the most demanding of race fan will leave Jamwest a satisfied patron.

Cecil Munroe Jr. Gleaner On-line Writer