COROWA speedway racer Steve Milthorpe is banking on the extra 110 horsepower that has found its way under the bonnet of his V8 Dirt Modified racer to carry him to a win at Parramatta City Raceway tomorrow in round one of the six-round 2006 Summer Slam National Series.
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He also has his fingers crossed that he doesn’t have a repeat of a spectacular crash at Lismore at Easter that not only put him out of the race he was competing in but out of racing while he repaired the car for this weekend.
It also gave Albury engine builder Steve Bowdren time to work on the car’s new 360-cubic inch Chevy engine to find some more much-needed horsepower, which he has done with a new set of heads and camshafts.
The engine is now developing 595-horsepower and it is not as heavy as the old unit.
While Steve Bowdren was reworking the engine, Steve Milthorpe and his father Greg were building a new body in their Corowa workshop.
It replaced the one destroyed in the accident, which was Milthorpe’s worst in 10 years of racing.
“The right rear wheel broke and dug in, sending me end-over-end six times and almost putting me over the wall,” he said.
“It was the first time I had ever been over in a race car.
“The right-hand wheel just disintegrated and the next thing I knew it was being cart wheeled down the track and then it was 20-feet up the fence.
“I managed to restart it, but there was too much body and chassis damage for me to continue.”
Up until then Milthorpe, who is rated eighth in the top 10 in the category, had finished third in the NSW titles and had taken out several feature events.
With his car back in one piece and showing plenty of pace following a test day at Wangaratta recently, Milthorpe is keen to get back in the thick of the action.
“I have a couple of new sponsors in NTI, Detroit Diesel and Truck Art, plus those that have been with us for a long time such as Bowdren’s Car Care and Twin City Truck Centre, so the pressure is on me to get out there and do them justice,” he said.
“Dad has also put in a lot of very long hours into the car working in a new purpose-built workshop.
“Our aim is to finish within the top five this season but first would be even nicer,” Greg Milthorpe said.
The six round V8 Dirt Modifieds Summer Slam Series has a total prize pool of $55,000 and will be held at tracks at Parramatta, Avalon, Brisbane, Lismore and Murray Bridge before ending at Parramatta for the March 17 grand final.
