WRECK-CREATION

By Pete McNae

It was the last super saloon race of the 2020-21 season at the Milestone Homes Top of the South Speedway and Isaac Russ was in two minds.

His car was performing better than ever and he was keeping its nose in front of some hard chargers. He felt it was all coming together for the first time in a brief career in the class. Should he drop to the pole line and let them race past or keep pushing out wide and see how long he could maintain his race pace?

“I heard the voices in my head telling me not to just give in and let them past. I had traction out wide, so I decided to give it 110 per cent,” Russ said.

It turns out that 110 per cent is fine but 112 is a pinch too far. Coming off turn two with plenty of momentum, a bit of Nelson track dust and a visor that was already scratched meant Russ momentarily lost sight of the wall. He'd brushed the concrete before, even ridden the barrier briefly, but this time the car tipped sideways, the front end dug in and he was off on the ride of his life.

“They say things slow down in an accident and that was how it was,” Russ said.

“First thing was I heard the engine on the rev limiter so I lifted my foot, then it was smacking hard on the rear end and I knew that the work I had planned to do there had been moved up the list a bit, then the front end hit and I wondered if it was going to hurt, as my helmet hit the head rest. At that point I wasn't sure how much more I was going to have to take.

“Eventually it stopped flipping over and I was just annoyed, it was my complete cock-up. I had wanted this opportunity for so long and I'd binned it.”

To everyone's relief, Russ, a 30-year-old father of four boys from one of Nelson speedway's most supportive families, clambered out of the wreck, smiling. He recalls now being happy with how the car was “humming” and how he'd come out basically unscathed, but one look at the bent bars and pile of panels confirmed that winter would be spent in the shed.

The result of that long rebuild should be on show this weekend when Russ, and the super saloon class, make their return to Nelson for the Dirt Masters Super Saloon Cup, presented by Specialised Structures. It'll be tight but, pre-Christmas, Russ had completed the structural rebuild and was down to plumbing and paint to get the car back out there.

Given the damage inflicted by the crash, his work to bring a very old car back to the grid is remarkable. He might be a diesel mechanic by trade but he's also taught himself engineering, fabrication, panel work. In fact, the whole rebuild – minus the man-hours – has cost about the same amount as a couple of shock absorbers on a front-running car.

“I've had this library of books on rear ends and suspension design and chassis building that I had been keen to put into practice,” Russ said. “The accident just moved the timeline up a bit. That instant disassembly sort of did me a favour and pushed me to do a few things I had been considering anyway.”

The car deserved to be rescued. It was a Graeme (Skinny) Colson original, probably the chassis that Colson used to claim the 1NZ in Nelson back in 1998-99. Parts of the car still have Colson's stamp engraved on them and read “NZ's Fastest Saloon 1998”. But 1998 is a generation ago and the car has seen a lot of service in subsequent seasons. While it might be old, Russ, who had raced ministocks, productions and derbies with his dad and brothers with great success, was thrilled when it was listed for sale by fellow Nelson competitor Dave Manera.

For a decade, Russ had been tinkering with his own super saloon build, a Subaru that morphed into a Ford when he purchased an XR6 Falcon motor -- but that project was going nowhere. Manera had purchased a Hypermac from Mark Osborne and listed the Colson car at a bargain basement price.

“I was looking and umming and ahhing and making excuses and [wife] Ruth dialled Dave's number and handed me the phone and said 'buy it'.

“When you have a long-term project in the shed, it's easy to find other things to do but actually owning a running car gives you motivation and I had always wanted this, wanted a super saloon for so long.”

The big wreck was a setback, of course, but Russ is hopeful that the changes he's made will help iron out some inconsistencies, while seat time for the driver will also help. It's hard to get many super saloon meetings locally these days and he doesn't have the budget to travel.

That's why one act of generosity really resonates with the largely unsponsored racer. Canterbury competitor Peter Schouten decided to convert his super saloon back to saloon rules and called Russ after the accident, offering three unopened drums of methanol which he couldn't use in his new class. That's around $1000 of race fuel donated to a fellow driver Schouten barely knew.

“Pete's a legend in my books, we had met once when we did the interprovincial teams racing and he called out of the blue after the crash with the offer of three drums of fuel. I was floored by that.”

Russ jokes that if, like pubs, you could only consume alcohol (methanol) from 18 years old onwards, his race car would be the only one to qualify for meetings, but he is happy to be about to get back on the track in his low-buck race car.

He's looked at the latest technology, especially what is happening around the rear end of the front-running supers but says, given the centre of the car is almost 25 years old, he'd perhaps become a menace to the field if his car started rear-steering. But it has a Russ-built design that should work fine on his home track while the front end, also destroyed in the crash, is significantly more modern than before. The engine is a serviceable 406 Chev driving through a Colson-built Powerglide transmission.

“I'd looked at converting to a Bert box but there's this Powerglide with Skinny-built imprinted on it so I'm keeping that, it's a link to the car's history.”

Saturday's Super Saloon Cup meeting should attract a field of 10 cars, testament to the hard work of Karen Carey versus divided views on current affairs among some drivers. Russ is aiming to find his way all over again in a car that will behave differently with its helping of home-brewed design and technology. He's looking for reliability first and to lower his lap times as he goes.

“I finally have the car I dreamed of – it's not new but it has new bits and I've had the chance to chop and change it to get some of my theories in there. I'm not sure I'd say the crash was a blessing but it certainly speeded up that process.”

Sponsors are hard to come by but Isaac appreciates help from Morton Truck Wreckers, JD and LM Russ, Burnett Auto Electrical in Motueka, Dean's Truck Services, DC Concreting, Peter Schouten and Caleb Russ. In the 11th hour push to make it to Saturday's meeting, Russ was grateful for the hours put in by dad, Murray Russ and "absolute weapon" Shannon Marr.

• Saturday's meeting will operate under the Covid-19 protection framework meaning spectators must show a vaccination pass to enter the facility.

Photos: Rebecca Connor Maling, BM Photography, Russ family

Article added: Wednesday,  5 January 2022