Mario James, Gleaner Writer

(Left) Richard 'Puffy' Nicholas... stands alongside what is arguably the fastest 5EFE-engined Starlet in the island. It clocked 10.90 seconds at more than 130 mph.

(Right)Keroy Scott: Might makes right. That's the credo which built this 500 hp 1JZ-powered giant killer. Driven by owner/driver Keroy Scott, it ran 10.30s at better than 140 mph. - Photos by Mario James

Last week's drag fix at Old Hope, Negril's JamWest raceway, was supposed to be filled with keen competition; aficionados of the sport now having a place to play revived all of the old rivalries that we hot-blooded Jamaicans have kindled over the years. Stories were circulating about who was going to bring what and how fast they were, and it led to a pretty big buzz.

There was better access to vehicular traffic, and the racing promised to be good, as everyone had some new formula under the bonnet to improve on the last meet's times. Competitors who ran 14s in May were looking to enter the 13 second class, and so on. It was shaping up to be the mother of all meets, and if the number of cars entered was any indication (over 200 cars registered for qualifying) then the spectator turnout should have been spectacular.

Qualifying day

Qualifying day proceeded without a hitch, but the sheer number of competitors and no-shows mandated that the ladders could not be filled in a single day. Some classes were very light (there was no nine second class this time around) while 40 cars would line up for a single class. The 13 second class had almost 25 entrants. It is not easy to build a car in this class, and expensive. Yet, here they were.

Bryn Morgan and his Chevy big block-powered rail was the most notable of the no-shows on Saturday. Qualifying did proceed in an orderly fashion, with the yellow Kidd Camaro running high 10s along with Craig Lue's Honda Civic, and that beastly Keroy Scott-owned 1JZ-engined Corolla DX wagon.

Sydney Knott was also there with his gassed '70 Camaro. His car not only laid down the numbers, it launched arrow straight every time it went down the 1320, which made for consistent runs.

With the exception of Morgan's rail, no other vehicle this writer saw had the manners under power that Knott's ride had. It was immaculately tuned.

impressive second class

The 11 second class was equally impressive. Craig Lue had served up warning that his Blue Evo was bad to the bone with a low 11 second run on Saturday. He had all the best parts, and excellent preparation. But waiting in the wings was a special Starlet built by Richard 'Puffy' Nicholas, a combination built by the school of hard knocks and experience.

Slowly coming up the ranks, Nicholas was an 11 second contender from the last meet, reaching the final in his class but losing out to Shaun Smith in that final. He had realised that he had already dialled in the engine; traction was his problem, so for this meet he decided to rebuild his aging 5EFE and fabricate wheelie bars for his front driver.

While his first pass at Jamwest was not impressive, missing two gears during that run and netting a low 13 second pass, his next two passes were in the 11s. Kingsley Depass' MR2 was also a favourite, ending up with an 11.509 that evening.

running down the track

Qualifying went over to Sunday morning, with Bryn Morgan and Dean 'the Matador' Shaw, finally running down the track. They ended up being the only two competitors in the eight second class. At about 12:15 the races started, the 16 second class lining up first. A winner for this class was declared; Leroy Alleyne went through the ladders, his time in the final being 16.000 seconds; the perfect run. Then Murphy's Law struck, and the meet fizzled.

The lights and timing equipment developed a fault that stalled the meet for hours. Disgruntled patrons started throwing debris on the track in disgust. People fell asleep in the sun. A meeting between the drivers and the promoting team threw out the solution of completing the race since the qualifiers were already identified.

However, that was vetoed by the competitors, who decided to share class prize-money among the qualifiers and run grudge matches to appease the crowd.

By the time this decision had been reached, the good-sized crowd was already thinning out, and the spectators that were left were becoming more and more vocal about their disapproval.

Then, the sounds of Lue's Evo hitting its limiter brought some semblance of hope to patrons, and the grudge matches began.

outstanding races

Two races stand out. Sydney Knott versus Keroy Scott was like Bill Gates taking on Shaquille O'Neal. The turbine-like turboed ferocity of Scott's 1JZ motored Corolla DX against the high winding (7,000 rpm) gassed and carburetted Chevy small block. By this time the lights were working again, but the promoters were still in grudge match mode.

On the burn-out, the DX immediately made a lunge for the near side wall. But Keroy's experience in this chassis has no equal, and even though under power he bridled the car's errant ways and put it back on the straight and narrow. The light went green almost as soon as both cars were staged, but both drivers were very alert and reacted instantly. The huge bottom swell of torque available from the V8 would not be denied; Knott shot out of the hole like a bullet from a gun, seemingly having treed his opponent. But Keroy's mount had gone into tyre shake, and he pedalled the DX, and got traction. The DX chased the Camaro down like a hawk going after a pigeon, passing the Camaro in the eyes and winning by about 0.5 sec.

taking strides

The other race to see was that between Nicholas and Lue. Lue had qualified with a 11.008 earlier that morning, but the 5EFE was just getting into its stride, posting an impressive 11.071. Nicholas went into wheel spin at the start, Lue having got the better of his opponent at the tree.

But the Nicholas-engineered wheelie bars worked, the Auto Source built Starlet got the traction it needed just after the 60-foot mark and dug in, reeling in the Evo and posting the quickest time of its career, a 10.9. This just might be the fastest Starlet in the Caribbean.

Once again, the unforeseen problems with the venue let the promoters down. While understandable, not many more mistakes will be tolerated by fans before the venue comes good.

mario.james@gleanerjm.com