TBR hopes to settle score in Adelaide
Victor and Ben Bray are sitting on 1 win each at Adelaide International Raceway (Photo courtesy Joe Maday)
Team Bray Racing's Victor and Ben Bray will be on track at Adelaide International Raceway later this month for the Spring Nationals - the first ANDRA Top Doorslammer National Championship Round ever held at the venue since 2000.
The Spring Nationals comes after two exhibition events for the category at the South Australia venue, held in November of 2011 and November of 2012. Both occasions resulted in a Bray versus Bray finale, with the father and son team now holding a win apiece.
"The first time we visited AIR for the Top Doorslammer category was in November of 2011, with Ben taking the win from an all-Bray finale in front of thousands of delighted fans," said six-time back-to-back Top Doorslammer champion Victor Bray.
"Twelve months later I snatched back the SA bragging rights by emerging triumphant from another father versus son final at a very special event where I was honoured to pay tribute to a loyal fan who had passed, by carrying his ashes in my Chevy throughout the weekend.
"Bragging rights are an important thing in the TBR workshop, so you can be assured that with one Adelaide victory each both Benny and I will be looking to make it another all-Bray finale in front of what is expected to be a great crowd of fans later this month."
While family rivalry may add some interesting spice to race weekends for TBR, for Bray Senior the ANDRA title will also be something to consider in Adelaide as the drag racing veteran is still in reach of his seventh Top Doorslammer national championship.
"I am 130 points behind my good mate Peter Kapiris in the Top Doorslammer standings at the moment, and with 118 points on offer from each of the remaining two rounds of the championship I am certainly still in the hunt for the title," said Victor Bray.
"Having said that though, Peter has been on fire lately and will have to endure some pretty big stumbles for that to happen, and John Zappia is also nipping at Peter's heels in second place after gaining some additional points through a court challenge, so we will just have to see how things pan out."
The Spring Nationals – the penultimate round for the Top Doorslammer ANDRA title chase - will be run across the 1000 foot distance.
"Everyone at TBR has been very excited to see the amount of work Rino D'Alfonso of Racing Onn Promotions has been putting into the Adelaide International Raceway facility and its track surface since taking over the lease," said three-time national champion Ben Bray.
"While we are running over the 1000 foot distance the fans should still expect plenty of amazing performances on-track as the championship nears its conclusion.
"For me, it will be an exciting outing as it may be the very last event for my 'all black' Monaro, with a new livery in the works which will be unveiled at the season finale in Sydney this November."
While Ben is excited to get on track with the Top Doorslammer field in Adelaide, he will be disappointed to miss out on the popular Brisbane Jamboree which is being held the same weekend at the team's home track of Willowbank Raceway.
"While Sport Compact racing is definitely a hobby of mine - albeit a world-record taking hobby - Top Doorslammer racing is most certainly my passion!" said Ben Bray.
"I would have loved to get on track at the Jamboree in my Nissan, however I couldn't turn down a round of the Top Doorslammer title and another chance to get on track for the fans in Adelaide."
The Spring Nationals at Adelaide International Raceway will be held across Friday 20 and Saturday 21 September 2013, with two qualifying rounds for Top Doorslammer being held on Friday evening (approximately 6.30pm and 9.00pm) with a third and final qualifying round expected to be held at 4.00pm on Saturday ahead of eliminations racing from 7.00pm Saturday evening. For full event information, go to www.racingonn.com.au or www.teambrayracing.com.au
Spring Nationals ANDRA Top Doorslammer entry list:
- Victor Bray - Chev 57
- Ben Bray - Holden Monaro
- Peter Kapiris - Dodge 1979
- John Zappia - Holden 71 Monaro
- Stuart Bishop - Chev 1967
- Pat Carbone - Chev 68 Camaro
- Marty Dack - Ford BA Falcon
- Murray O'Connor - Ford XM Falcon
- Maurice Fabietti - Holden Monaro
