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With Many Thanks to Stoxnets' Bill Stiggings for Providing It!
The return of Crasher407
An unexpectedly hot and sunny day greeted the Coventry faithful as they made their regular ‘first Saturday of the Month’ pilgrimage to Brandon Stadium on this auspicious 7/7/7 date. But it wasn’t just the suddenly-seasonal weather that was charging the atmosphere; there was a sense that something was stirring in the foothills of our great sport.
It may indeed have been Wimbledon Finals weekend; and Lewis Hamilton may just have qualified on pole for the British GP, but this weekend, there was an event that transcended all other sports – the return of Craig ‘Crasher407’ Smith to the BriSCA raceways.
This is a report of Crasher’s meeting.
-o0o-
I met Craig in the pits at around 6pm under an almost cloudless blue sky and asked how preparations were going. There had been a minor glitch in scrutineering when Craig’s helmet was failed, but fortunately Craig’s nephew, part car-owner/driver and, for the day, mechanic, Chris Stafford (157) had come to the rescue with the loan of his lid.
The car itself had sailed through the scrutineer’s checks and was looking in good shape; the big question, though, was what sort of shape was Craig in?
“To be honest, I’m ready to go now”, he said, between drags on a cigarette. “I’m a little bit nervous, but nowhere near as bad as I used to be; I just want to get out there and see how it feels. Fortunately, I’m in heat 1, which cuts down the waiting time”.
“And”, he added, with a grin, “it gives us more time to do any repairs ahead of the consi”.
The hot weather was bothering Craig, dressed in his flameproof underwear – and that’s something else that had changed from his last time out when a pair of boxers & overalls did the job. With an unfamiliar 24 hour’s worth of sobriety behind him, Craig was clearly itching to get stuck into the action.
Asked about the possibility that his reputation had preceded his return to the track, Craig mused that he was under more than normal scrutiny for a returning white-top. The message from the ‘powers that be’ was clear: Stock Car Racing isn’t quite the ‘Smash and Bash’ that it used to be. “That’s all very well, but I’m different now, too” said the recipient of this unnecessary and overbearing advice; “I’m older and wiser now. And I’m a father.”
“It’s still stock car racing though, isn’t it?” he added.
-o0o-
The next hour saw many visitors come and go – old acquaintances, well-wishers and the merely curious. One chap arrived with a small black notebook, in which he was filling the numbers, names & home towns of each of the drivers – probably as he had been doing for years. There was a gap next to his handwritten ‘407’, so he approached Craig and requested “Name and location please”.
“Craig Smith”
“Ah, same as before”
“Yeah, I’ve kept the same name”.
“Do you still live in Manchester?”
“No mate, Stourport – Stourport-on-Severn”.
The notebook duly filled in, the gentleman offered his best wishes and moved onto the next car.
-o0o-
The original car-share plan was for Chris to drive on the tarmac tracks and Craig on shale, but that may change, depending on circumstances.
I asked what changes had been made to the car since Chris’ outing at Skegness a week ago, not sure how different the two set-ups were and how easy they were to effect. Craig hitched a thumb towards his ‘co-driver’ and said “Chris has sorted that all out, haven’t you mate?”
“Well I’ve changed the tyres”, came the reply.
Time was moving on and so I left the team to make their final preparations and wished Craig all the best. He thanked me and added that he was hoping not to spin the car because he couldn’t see out of the back to reverse…
-o0o-
After the third of the F2 qualifying heats, the time was finally upon us. The F1 cars made their way onto an already-dusty track with the early evening sun now dropping in the sky and making visibility something of a problem. Shortly after 8pm, the grid had formed and we watched the slow rolling lap, waiting for the drop of the green flag that would formally signal the return of Craig Daniel Smith to BriSCA F1 stock car racing. For the record, the line-up was as follows:
white
194 481
407 326
yellow
136 19
189 462
411
Blue
257 323
185 322
73 51
Red
107 380
4 84
33
Superstar
53 335
Throughout the rolling lap, Craig was inching forward onto the Kevin Clare (194) bumper and hit the hammer as the green flag fluttered. He followed the front row across the start/finish line and passed Bill Morris (481) to move up to second after the first corner. Bill repaid the complement in turns 3 & 4, so Craig lined up a hit going into turn 1 on the following lap. And this is where things started to go wrong – the hit was well timed but the 481 car spun around and took itself and Craig into the fence on turn 2.
After one lap stuck in that position, Craig extricated himself (backwards – no visibility problems then!) and set off again. He spent the next two laps in the company of John Riley (323) and Lee Robinson (107), before getting embroiled in a battle with Kevin Clare that ended when Craig was pushed wide by the 194 machine. Something was obviously amiss and sure enough, the inside rear was flat and wobbling on the rim.
After struggling with the ill-handling machine for a few more laps, his race came to an end just after half distance when Craig crawled along the home straight and finally expired, ending up stranded in the middle of turn 2 To his credit, there were no ‘thumbs down’; he simply folded his arms across his chest and stuck it out to the end of the race. Lenny Smith (185) took the flag.
Back in the pits after the race, Craig took his first breath of ‘fresh air’ and I asked for his summary of the race. “Shit. The car wasn’t handling well and didn’t seem to have any grip going into the corners”, though how much of this was down to the deflating tyre remained to be seen. And the reason for the premature end? An ignition lead had come adrift.
-o0o-
The good news was that there was little reparation needed to the car and plenty of time until the consolation. The meeting continued through the gathering dust-fuelled gloom, though the sun had by now dropped below the horizon, bringing with it a drop in temperature and the track lights. And heat wins for Mick Harris (8) and Andy Smith (391).
At 9:15, the consolation grid was formed, with Craig taking up a position on the outside of row 2.
Third going into the first corner, Craig exited turn 2 ahead of the pack. Briefly second again by the end of the first lap, he was back in the lead on lap 2. The Coventry scoreboard proudly indicated position 1: 407. But how long would it last?
The car still seemed to be giving trouble in the middle of the corners – as Craig later confirmed – it was fast into the corner and had plenty of grip out of it, but seemed to be pushing on in the middle. Consequently, he was passed by Neil Scriven (11) and Chris Bonner (105) at the end of lap 4, but then came the moment when we knew that Crasher was back. Making full use of the bumper and with a well-time and hefty hit on Chris Bonner in turns 1/2, the 105 car was spun around, handing the place back to 407! Great stuff to watch and you had the feeling that the crowd’s attention was every bit focused on the front of this race as it was the rear. Which is where the 105 car now was, coincidentally..
As the race progressed, Craig was giving it his all; never yielding places; throwing the car into the corners (and the opposition) with great verve and he was obviously grinning inside the cab as much as we were on the terraces. Neil Scothern (152) and eventual race winner, John Lund (53), were onto Craig’s tail on only the sixth lap and quickly skirmished past, courtesy of the 152 bumper, but the 407 car was still there, mixing it with the likes of star graders Lee Robinson (107) and Daniel Johnson (4). Still in the top eight at the halfway point, a place in the final was yet on the cards.
Coming out of turn 4 on lap 10, Craig was confronted by a delayed Mark Peters (231) and so lined up a hit to clear the way. Unfortunately, this was to bring a premature end to his race, as the hit somehow dislodged the distributor cap in the 407 machine, allowing Craig no more than a slow roll past the starter before finally coming to rest by the fence just into turn 1. And just like that, it was over.
-o0o-
Back in the pits and out of the car, the dusty face was now wearing a big grin; the gloom of the first outing having been completely dispelled. Second time around, the car was “absolutely great to drive, the engine is really powerful”. The thrill was back – most importantly, everything had just clicked into place. Any fears that the years away might have dulled the reactions or the desire had been completely banished. More than anything, it was fun!
Although the car was loaded up to avoid the risk of damage in the GN, ahead of Chris’ proposed outing in the Under 25s Championship next weekend, Craig was already pondering some changes that would suit both himself and Chris – and planning his next outing. The fire had been re-lit!
And as the crowd prepared to watch an emotional final victory by John Lund, we all had time to realise that, now the man they call ‘Crasher’ is back, Stock Car racing itself is wearing a bigger grin on its face. Lewis Hamilton? Who’s that, then?
