Des Woolstencroft will be making his comeback to the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series next weekend for Mildura’s Sunset Strip Nationals – bringing to an end an 18-year absence.
The October 8/9 event will be only the second event the three-time Super Gas champion (1996, 1997, 1999) has contested in 18 years, with him first stretching his legs in the car at Mildura’s Easter Supercharged Shootouts event earlier this year.
As he gets ready to make his national racing return, the Warrnambool racer already has plans to contest as many rounds of the 2022/2023 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series as he can, with an eye on challenging for the title.
“I will be chasing the championship as hard as I can, I would like to shake them up if I can – they all keep bragging,” Woolstencroft laughed.
“I raced them all back in the late nineties including (the most recent champions) Graeme Spencer and Colin Griffin, I had three championships under my belt but then had nearly two decades out, so they have crept past me now so now I have to get back and beat them! Don’t get me wrong, we are all really good mates, but I want to beat them,” he chuckled.
The 64-year-old has been spending his time away racing with his son in Speedway.
“My young bloke has been racing a sprint car for the last 10 years, but it has just become too expensive, and I always kept my car, so we are coming back, and we have plans to have my son Jarrod getting in on the action in his own car next season also,” Woolstencroft said.
“You don’t have to do much to Super Gas cars to stay competitive, so while the car and I are a bit older now, not much has changed I don’t think and when we went to Mildura at Easter for the very first event, it went well. It sure was good to get back in the seat and I really enjoyed it.”
Woolstencroft’s car sports a Murray Anderson built chrome moly chassis which was built in 1996 when the VR bodyshape was brand-new off the line.
“Bob Jane had a deal with Ford and Holden to get bodyshapes that they wanted to run in Auscars, so I bought a bodykit proposed to race in Auscar at the Thunderdome, but I was never going to do that, I just turned it into a drag car!
“Before that I had a street Monaro HK Bathurst job which I wish I had now as it would be worth its weight in gold. Then I had a Gemini which I raced a lot, but once I got this car built by Murray Anderson, I was able to start winning races.
“It is a really good car, I won the championship in 1996 and 1997, and I had it in the bag in 1998 but I had electrical problems in the last race, so Colin Griffin won it that year.
“I got it back the following year. Then we had our time away, we have been trying to come back for a little while now, but COVID-19 got in the way, so it was great to get to the Easter event and to now be lining up for the Sunset Strip Nationals.”
Woolstencroft will be a part of a 19-strong Super Gas field at the SRESS event.
“It is a great field; I reckon made up of about half old racers like me and half new guys. The numbers are really good, and I think they are going to stay that way because it is a good class to race, it doesn’t cost a lot, and it is a really good bunch of racers – we are all really competitive and anyone can beat anyone at any given time, but we also have a lot of fun,” Woolstencroft said.
“It would be really great to win the meeting this weekend, after being away for 18-odd years to come back and win at the first meeting would be really something.
“Spencer is the one with the number one on his car this year, so he will have the pressure on him, not us. He has won four now so he is the biggest title holder in Super Gas, it would be really good to equal him.
“There are a lot of tough cars, a lot of ex-pro cars and they are all competitive. Reaction times will definitely be a big thing this weekend, and I don’t know how I will go there – everyone reckons I might be a bit slow being older now, but we will see. I have been warming up on the practice tree at home, but I get bored after about 10 goes. Maybe if my reaction times aren’t too good after the first few rounds, I can have some jelly beans and some Red Bull and get all fired up – I will probably go red then!” he laughed.
“Whatever happens, it is going to be great to get back into racing. I like having fun, I like being competitive, I can’t wait to see what we can do,” he concluded, while thanking his wife Heather and his son Jarrod for their support, as well as CabworX Kitchens and CabCoat 2 pak Painting.
The Sunset Strip Nationals at Mildura’s Sunset Strip will be held across October 8 and 9. It marks round three of the 2022/2023 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series. For more information, visit www.sunsetstrip.org.au and www.andra.com.au
