Australian Steve Ham to Race NHRA TAFC in 2015

Courtesy of Bennie Bishop

Reigning Australian Top Alcohol Champion, Steve Ham has sacrificed the chance to defend his
Australian Top Alcohol title by taking his racing to the United States in 2015.

“It all started after we were going to race selected rounds here and have a holiday in the USA. After seeing John Evanchuk’s package for sale, a few ideas were thrown around. I got in touch with one of our suppliers, Ken at Motorsports Unlimited, about how to base the car etc, and Ken was so keen to help, that now we have struck a partnership in the race operation.”

“Ken is fantastic and we feel very comfortable knowing he can help us with all the unknowns that come with being in another country. We’ve purchased the whole deal from Canadian John Evanchuk in Edmonton, Alberta. The car is a really nice Hadman with a Monte Carlo body in which John won an NHRA event in Seattle in 2012, plus pretty much the whole transporter and inventory and of course the golf cart!”

Ham is entering into the deal one step at a time, beginning his American campaign in bite sizes.

“We’ll leave Australia mid-June to prepare the car in time for the first of three full NHRA meetings at Norwalk on July 2 and then Chicago the next week, and then we go onto Columbus a fortnight later as part of the North-Central NHRA Division series as well.”

“We’re not going over with any stars in our eyes, but really just want to start by ticking off a massive bucket list item and get to see the country a little at the same time. We’ll do some testing as well which we’re really looking forward to.”

“All the boys are very keen but it’s a big deal to take a few months off work just to go racing, so we’re making it as easy as possible for them to come, but not applying any pressure. Ideally we’d love to have them all over but that may not be feasible for some of them. James (Rowland) is the most likely starter, as he will have finished his studies, as well as the reality that we have a great driver/tuner relationship that I think is one of the main reasons behind this year’s success.”

Ham conceded that it had been a tough decision to sacrifice his Australian Top Alcohol championship defense to head overseas, but he believes that the trip could teach them things that may give them an edge in the future when they return.

“It seems stupid to finally get the Australian championship and then run away but we want to be doing this for a long time and this opportunity is just too good to refuse. It just ticks all the boxes and we’re already very excited. I’ve already got my NHRA license after they gave us the nod based on our Australian timing cards and all the other requirements like medicals and the like, so we’re already counting down the days.”

Ham Secures Second in Championship

Courtesy of Bennie Bishop
Photo courtesy of Fred Dwyer

TSP Racing’s Steve Ham has boldly claimed the runner up spot in the ANDRA Top Alcohol Championship with a finals appearance at the series final in Sydney Dragway on Sunday.

Taking one step at a time in his big picture goal to one day win the championship, Ham’s intentions for this season were to simply pick and choose rounds that would assist in gathering data from various parts of the country in advance of a full commitment to a championship campaign in the future. However, their runner up spot this season has boosted the team’s confidence, and could see them undertaking more rounds next year than expected.

“We’ve had the big picture in mind for a few years now, and to be honest, our success this year in getting the silver medal has come a little earlier than expected when you consider we didn’t do all of the rounds. We’ve just so excited about how much power this car is producing and with our new racing partners in Everdigm and Queensland Rock Breakers joining ECL and RD Williams, we’ve got the drive to really have a serious tilt at this championship next year,” he said.

The ECL backed Funny Car played a punishing game of lost and found with the team last weekend, throwing away the first two qualifying runs of the event after the team simply missed the setup.

“We were just caught out. There’s no other way to say it, yet we weren't on our own. We tuned the car conservatively at the start, but even then we weren't getting down the track, and then it was almost a repeat performance in the second run. But after that we found our way again and set about getting down the track, for the last qualifier before going through the eliminations all the way to the finals.”

The Brisbane based team would take on fellow Queenslander and sixteen time national champion Gary Phillips in the final, and despite going relatively straight for the run, Ham couldn't peg back his former mentor, and settled for the runner up honours for the event to match his second placing in the championship.

“Looking back over the data from the weekend, we can only put it down to underestimating the power this car has, which is really exciting. Sure the conditions on the weekend weren't ideal but everyone had the same challenges. We just need more time on the track to understand just how potent this baby is, and then we can set about taming it and win some races!”

Now officially in the off-season, Ham has time to consider the potential of the next season.

“We’ll have the calculator out, that’s for sure. It’s just a matter of choosing the smartest and most effective way to tackle the calendar, and once we do that, we’ll get focussed and give it our best shot.”