Once again a great interview and a wonderful story. Congratulations on the championship!| Terri Sander, Australian Drag Racing Champion |
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| Tuesday, 03 August 2010 08:30 |
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I had the privilege of interviewing her for Girlracer Magazine late last year in what turned out to be an insightful and inspiring interview. Little did I know that six months later she’d be wrapping up her first ANDRA (Australian National Drag Racing Association) Championship for Super Street at the biggest event on the Australian drag racing calendar, the Castrol EDGE Winternationals. After the event I had the opportunity to speak to Terri about this event, winning her first Australian Championship and preparations for the new season. How would you sum up your 2010 Winternationals? This four-day drag racing season finale was just the best! It began for us on the Wednesday as we unloaded the race car and set up our chairs, tables and anything we needed to make our days at the track as comfortable as possible. We had all three qualifying passes on the Thursday and two rounds of racing on the Friday. Then we had an early rise Saturday morning for the third round. The excitement was building after each round win and I was feeling relaxed and confident going into the final three rounds on Sunday. I went into this event in fourth place and 60 points shy of the leader and after winning the fourth round Warren knew the day before that if I’d won this race I then had the bye run into the final and had the Australian Championship wrapped up. He managed to keep this fact to himself on the Saturday though, knowing full well you take on one race at a time and never think ahead. I still had to front for the semi-final and final and only needed the runner-up position to confirm the championship win. I claimed the Runner-up placing and only lost by one thousandths of a second. Nerves don’t come into the equation anymore but the excitement and adrenalin still run through my veins and it’s an awesome feeling be able to compete in front of such an enormous crowd. Our days were also made extra special with the presence of not only our two children being there supporting us, we also had the thrill of having our two beautiful little grandchildren with us at the track, one six years of age and the other 20 months. On the completion of racing all finalists come back up the track to the presentation dais at the start line. While waiting to be called up many people approached me giving congratulations and as I stepped forward to accept our third ANDRA gold Christmas Tree trophy this was when the reality of it all set in. I was smiling from ear to ear… I had become an Australian Champion. How do you feel about winning your first Australian Drag Racing Championship? To become the Super Street Australian Champion had been a goal I set for myself and one of our crewmembers actually said to me early on in the year that he felt like this was to be our year for success. I’m very proud and pleased to have won this title at the age of 54 and being a wife, mother and grandmother. I’m over the moon with Was it particularly satisfying given the adversity you’ve had to overcome to achieve it? Yes, it was an extremely satisfying achievement given the fact that I have to race against people young and old, male and female. My husband was actually amazed at how I managed to keep my concentration up over this four day period especially as I went into this event having a slight body malfunction with bulging discs in my back (that I’ve had for a while) and Sciatica in my left leg causing constant pain. I was determined to push through this in order to do my very best in racing and believe we can do anything we set our minds upon. Racing is my passion and I have always believed you should have fun first with your chosen sport and if success comes your way then that’s an added bonus. I understand that you’ve put a new engine in ‘Mama’s Toy’, how’s it going? Yes, my husband Warren worked hard assembling another Chev 350 and J&L Race Engines did the machining, balancing of the engine, flowing of the heads and gave technical input with the selection of parts. The plan was after the seasons’ finale, in June, the old motor was to come out and this one in as soon as possible to give us enough time to set it up correctly before the commencement of the new racing season in September. After three test days at Willowbank Raceway and only a few minor changes, being made so far, like jets sizes, squirters and power valve, we are very pleased with her performance already. The car has run a best elapsed time of 11.20/121.44mph over the quarter mile and because we race dial-your-own (this being a self-nominated time you think your car will run over the quarter mile) consistency is vital for racing success. The Rover’s last three passes have been 11.226, 11.225 and 11.225. Very consistent! You travelled across the country to attend events last season, what was that like? Will you be doing the same this season? We have intentions of travelling once again to Palmyra Dragway at Mackay as this seems to be a happy hunting ground for us. In the six years of competing at Palmyra we claimed the runner-up position on our first visit, a semi-final appearance another year, had a rained-out meeting and last season we came up trumps with a win. Again we will compete at Benaraby Raceway in Gladstone as we did last year. Here we also claimed the runner-up position! I love being at the tracks but don’t really enjoy travelling all that much. The opportunity to travel and race at the Perth Motorplex came about last season when another racer was looking for company. Our group ended up being about 14 people in total. Not all came on the trip with us though as some flew over! I wouldn’t think we’d do this journey again anytime in the near future. It was such a long road haul! We had lots of mishaps along the way like 11 flat tyres these being either on the transporter that was carrying the racecars or the bus we were in or on the trailer we were towing. We had a blown headlight, leaking brake cylinders, blown fuses in the transporter, battery terminal problems and would you believe the bus door blew off and lots more. It was one hell of a ride but we did enjoy it and made some good friendships on the way. Even when things started turning pear-shaped everyone tried to make light of the situation with lots of raucous laughter. They were definitely a great bunch of characters to travel with across our country. I found the track at the Perth Motorplex to be superb and the officials very friendly and helpful. Something I hadn’t seen in my 17 years of racing was a grudge run at a major event. The whole meeting was run so smoothly that they had time for these grudges and they were most welcome with having the opportunity to race at night in front of the many spectators. As someone who has done literally thousands of passes, what do you think the key ingredients to a successful pass are? I liken it to a great recipe… you can leave out some of the ingredients but must use the main ingredients for success. I’ve now made 2733 passes down a drag strip (but who’s counting) and still can’t get enough of this great motor sport. I believe to have a successful pass in competition and in the ‘dial-your-own’ racing first you must have a race vehicle that is predictable and reliable to enable you to get the dial-in correct. Then you have to be switched on yourself on the day of racing and be able to maintain concentration even when distractions may occur. An example of this is when you’re lined up ready to go into the burnout pad and there’s a hold-up happening, this may Key ingredients in a nutshell: predictable and reliable race vehicle; right frame of mind; concentration; and awareness Is there anything else you’d like to say? Once again I’d like to thank Girlracer for this exposure of our racing achievements and Chelsea Woods for the interview. Thank you to my wonderful husband Warren who’s always been there for me and without him I would not be where I am today. Thanks to our crew member John Mackay and other family members and friends for their hard work and support over the past 17 years of my racing career. I’d like to say to all you girls out there in this big wide world of ours…reach for the stars and make your dream a reality…and if you don’t have a goal then create one.
Chelsea Woods Girlracer magazine / Related Article > Worth checking - Motorsport news - F1 news - Chelsea Woods
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