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Gary’s 25th Picnic
17-18 May
Shakespeare County Raceway
Stratford Upon Avon
Words by - Mark Ashman
 The
week leading up to Gary’s Picnic for me was full of trepidation,
on two counts really. Firstly the weather forecast, at best
looked a little damp, and secondly would (after more than
a few let downs) our new 30ft American Nandralone induced
caravan be delivered to the racetrack?
We arrived Friday and just as Michael Fish had promised, it
was raining, and just as Yvonne and I had feared, we had no
caravan to sleep in , oh it turned up alright - we just weren’t
expecting a 30ft urinal (just don’t ask!)
But as far as sleeping arrangements went, all was not lost,
along came the onsite Guardian Angels, Janet and John, who
dragged over a caravan of their own for us to use, thanks
guys - you really did save the day.
So with a roof over our heads sorted, it was time to visit
the bar with Disco supplied by the Blacktops. Even with persistent
rain outside, nothing was going to spoil the fun of these
hardened Drag racers and everyone having a ball into the early
hours.
We awoke Saturday to more of that wet stuff, so no one bothered
getting up very early, but after a slow wet start to the day,
all of a sudden this big yellow thing appeared from between
the clouds, and in no time the track was dry enough to get
nearly 3 hours of racing in, before the wet stuff came back.
Saturday night entertainment was again held together by the
Blacktop Disco and topped off
by two sets from the fantastic Reservoir
Cats Rock n Roll band.
Sunday I awoke with a bit of a shock, it wasn’t raining!
So up went the NASC stand and all the cars that appeared overnight,
along with the weekenders, made their way to the pit lanes.
There were some damn quick times put in - with 12 cars running
in the 10’s.
Ray Irish stormed to
10.1 second ET on his last run to secure Fastest Street
Legal Car of the weekend, and £500 prize money sponsored
by Gary Healey of Gary’s Shack,
the man who started this event 25 years ago. Mick
Rodgers took fastest 4 cylinder with an 11.75
and Ian Walley took
fastest 6 cylinder with an 11.94 ET.
So despite the weather doing its best to spoil the weekend,
a good time was had by all, with a bar that stayed open late,
a Disco, a Rock n Roll Band and fast road cars, life don’t
get much better.
See ya next year!
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