Welcome to the web site of Ray Stewart and the Heavy Traxx Hire 34T Nissan 240SX. Over the coming season we hope to develop this site into an informative and entertaining site. Flying the flag for the Cromwell Club, Ray has had great success both in local and national competition. Please, sit back and enjoy visiting the site of one of NZ's most unique race cars.

30/6/09 Busy busy people, is the best way describe the team from Ray Stewart Racing. Its the old story though, the updates might not happen over night, but they will happen. Here goes the latest chitty chat from the pilot of the 34t car, with all the racing from the North Island, NZ Title and Grand Prix. Sit back and enjoy...

Almost July and another plead from Jason to give an update for the site. Sorry all for not keeping you up to date. Just too much happening during the last 6 months to sit down and give a full report of where we got to with the season.

The last report had us racing in the North Island series after no series eventuated in the South Island and the opportunity to race in the north. Well it was to be our poorest season ever with a car that just didn't want to hook up on any track. Some of our best tracks, Waikaraka, Gisbourne, Huntly, Baypark, Te Marua, Napier, were to be nothing much better than mid-field placing and overall an 8th place for the series. Of course in hind sight its very easy to say where our mistakes were. We had a very fast car for the NZ champs at Cromwell but the mistake was we had altered the rear suspension exclusively for Cromwell and when we ventured north the car turned out to be a very loose pig. Cromwell's track surface was excellent most of the time and it suited the Nissan but we failed to make the set-up work at any other track. The short right side panhard bar we changed to for the champs, altered the roll centre too much and we struggled with this arrangement right up to Napier where Prozac (Elliott) had to cut out the tubes and bits to alter to a longer panhard hanging off the diff to right side mounting on the chassis. This was very similar to the Jacobs ladder we ran for all these years. At Wellington for the last round of the series we managed to hang in there but my driving was erratic not knowing what the car would do in the corners. Playing with set-ups during an important race meeting does not work as you don't have confidence in the car barrelling into a corner passing on the outside and hoping the car sticks. I can tell you it was most frustrating being passed by cars that normally we would leave behind. I hated it. The top dog during the SSCAR series was without doubt 1NZ Shane McIntyre, very fast and consistent at all tracks and deservedly the series winner. Interesting point to me was second place Grant Flynn in a 350 cube car who mixed it with the bigger hp cars. Goes to show that the guy with the most hp is not always the fastest. Prozac and I drove back home from Wellington disappointed with our north island jaunt and discussed the mistakes we made with the suspension. All along 34T was fast but slick tracks continued to be our Achilles heal and over the years we have tried 3 or 4 different arrangements in the rear end in the search for side bite. The last change to short panhard was a backward step but the longer bar was back in the right direction and only required
some track time to sort out the roll centre heights, torsion bars, shocks, ride heights and so on?? Back in Dunedin and Prozac readied the car for the final meeting of the season, Easter at Cromwell. No changes made, just reset the chassis, plenty of fuel for 2 nights of racing and a plan of the different set-ups we would try. Three races on the first night, drop the roll centre 50mm, some stagger and tyre pressure, and beauty we are in the right direction again. For the second nights racing we started with the previous nights settings and are in the ball park. I had 2 races then Shane Maaka had the remaining 2 races which was good to get another drivers perspective as we continued to fine tune the chassis. For the final race, we went to the softest shocks we had available and Shane found his feet in the turbo car passing cars with ease. The set-up was close to correct but still required some bar changes for different tracks. Arriving back in the pits, Shane could not believe the horsepower of the Nissan, 100 hp then 700hp which made for an exciting ride but different driving style. Well 34T has sat in the garage for 3 months waiting for me to make up my mind if I retire or continue racing. The last season was to be my last and I was resigned to pulling the pin. However the best laid plans left me with unfinished business of a lousy season, and new remits passed at the recent SNZ conference allowing some changes to the rules in Super Saloons. Another reason was the enjoyment of racing in the North Island SSCAR series and Paddy North and I agreeing to see if we can resurrect the south island series. Several drivers commented that without the series last season, racing was limited to their home track with the same drivers and lacked the competition required to maintain speed. There was concern that if a series failed again this year, several cars might drop out of the Supers or become Saloons resulting in a spiraling down of numbers and perhaps merging of the 2 classes.The Super Saloon drivers are meeting on the 11th July for the prime purpose of gaining commitment from the drivers to run a series over 4 south island tracks and put in place management to secure the series for the future. To date we have an excellent response from over 20 of the drivers and should have a good turnout at the meeting to agree on race formats and other details to make for a successful series. Already the numbers are improving with Wayne Andrews and Shane Maaka buying cars for the coming season. So now what for the Nissan. The engine has proved to be reliable and still fast enough to be a front runner. The suspension only requires fine tuning
so will not alter this. Although I have a V8 motor sitting in the shed, the FJ20 is made for the chassis and will remain where it has been for 11 years. Today I lifted out the motor for its annual fresh-up and fit a new bell housing to replace the repaired unit that was destroyed at the champs when the flywheel dis-integrated at 8500 rpm chopping through chassis tubes just missing my toes. The rule changes in the Supers allows for the wedge shape American style Late Model Dirt bodies that will hopefully lift the appeal of this class.

Will the 200SX Nissan retain the original body? What do you reckon?

For the next update I will have results from the Supers meeting with more details of where and when. Maybe some photos of a Late Model body?

Ray

Great stuff Ray.. thanks for the update. Check back for the next update...

21/3/09 Wow, its been a few months since the site has been updated, and a load has happened in that time. As per usual, when Ray gets the time, he will sit down and give us his version of the last few months, but it has to be said that with such a busy and hectic schedule, we might just have to wait.

The Nissan seems to have been set up well for the NZ Super Saloon Title. The car qualified very well and was by far one of the quickest cars on the track. Where else would Ray have the chance to have a genuine crack at the NZ Title than at his own home track, in front of his very own home crowd? The first night, the track was spot on. A little rutty, but the drive was enough to impress the good field that attended from other parts of NZ. Many were amazed that usually when they race, the track starts to go off before they get to race in the next round. Not Cromwell. The track continued to get better as the night went on, and lap times reflected that. It was business as usual for the Nissan on qualifying night. The car hooked up very well around the newly laid track and there wasn't to much to moan about. The highlight of the night was the shoot out between him and the very rampant Dean Waddell. Waddell was flying in 81m car, and Ray was always going to find it tough to beat what appeared to be the fastest car on the track. The race went down to the wire. If you wish to see this race, visit the video section of the web site.

The second night was to be the undoing of yet another challenge for the elusive NZ Title. It seems that no matter what Ray does, in the big meetings, lady luck just doesn't want to follow him around. The ultimate let down was when a fellow competitor run into Ray coming out of the tight turn 1 and 2, that put Ray into the wall. This was purely just a racing incident that should of had Ray back into the origial position he was. The official did not agree with this, and put Ray to the back. Ok, we could go on about this for hours, but quite simply, this cost Ray any chance of a the top 3 placing. Going into the final heat, Ray was in 2 or 3NZ position. All that had to happen was for Ray to stay where he was, and he would of been assured one of the 2. But not our Ray! He decided that he wanted that top spot and pushed himself and the car to the limit. The old saying goes that its not how you race, but how others race around you. His race was soon to turn to custard. Ray did manage to carry on into a good 4th placing, always the bridesmaid, just never the bride. Many felt that Ray had been robbed, more so the man himself, but Ray took it on his chin and packed the car up and headed off for a big North Island excursion. Before we head off to the north, We at Ray Stewart Racing congratulate Shayne McIntyre for wining the NZ title along with Dean Waddell with the 2NZ and Dennis Bolt for his much deserved 3NZ.

Ray was to enter the North Island Series for the remainder of the season so he would get a chance to race with the best in the business. The Grand Prix at Bay Park was first on the list. Once again, the set up that worked in Cromwell, would not work At the Bay, which is one of the cars favorite tracks. A few changes to the car before heading to the North Island were simply just not going to work. Ray rolled at the Grand Prix which was eventually won by the newly crowned 1NZ of Shayne McIntyre, who proved that winning the NZ Title was no fluke. Ian Brson from Nelson in the 21N car did well to place 2nd and Mark Orchard placed 3rd. Once again, not a great result for the 34t team, but congrats to all the winners.

The North Island Title was the next big meeting for the 34t (34g for this meeting)car, and was something not taken lightly. As per the SNZ rules, if you race the North Islands, then you can't race in the South island Title. A little outdated that rule, but however, one that everyone has to live with.  Ray got off to a flyer placing 2nd in the first race behind Darren McKinley, who was racing a borrowed car after writing his one off at the NZ Title. The remainder of the meeting was yet another to forget as the results just got worse for the night.

Ray is currently racing in the North Island for the SSCAR Super Saloon Series where he is sitting on 14th overall. Not a good result for a car that usually is one of the quickest cars on some of the tracks. Gisbourne has seen some outstanding results for the Nissan over the last couple of seasons, but not this time. Neither has Meeane, Stratford, Huntly or Palmy been any good to the car this time round, and the final round of the series comes to an end on the 28/3 with a run at Wellington. Ray has changed a lot of the cars set up going back to the older type set up that has seen positive results in the North Island before.

After Wellington, Ray will be packing the car back up and heading to Cromwell for the Easter Racing, and then a much deserved break for both car and driver.

As per earlier, Ray will be putting together an update as soon as possible, so check back soon. Personally, I will have an update after the racing in Wellington on the 28th. Until then... take care.. Jase....

24/12/08 Its Xmas already so about time I put pen to paper and wrote something for the website. A big thanks to Jase for setting up and looking after the website plus keeping some results and information flowing. Thanks Jase you have made a neat website for the Nissan. (You are most welcome Ray.. Jase) Where to start, where did I finish the last write up? Oh yeah. Last seasons result were pretty ordinary with the only good result winning the South Island Super champs at Greenstone Park in Greymouth, traveling from Dunedin 3 times after 2 rounds were cancelled due to rain. The Greymouth track always suits the Nissan as the track staff normally provide a drivey track that has some banking.  For this reason I persisted with the long haul 3 times over the Southern Alps and it paid off with a convincing win, lapping several cars that had lapped us at Woodford Glen. That was especially pleasing. At the end of the 2008 season the car was parked in the shed until I
decided what the next move was in regards to keeping the Nissan or making the change to a new chassis plus a dinosaur V8. One issue I had with the Nissan was the poor handling on a slicked out track over the last 3 seasons as most of the track surfaces tended to be hard and dry very early in the race program. The turbo power rush didn't help either. Our results had been dismal although numerous changes were made to the rear suspension in an effort to find some side bite. The most beneficial change was from coil shocks to torsion bar suspension. Now some will say a spring is a spring, but every car is different and especially so the Nissan chassis that has a lower center of gravity and narrower wheel track compared to all the other supers. The lower mounting location of the torsions compared to the top mounting point of a coil over shock, allowed better weight transfer that improved side bite and a wider handling envelope. Weighing up the pros and cons of selling the Nissan for a new car I came to the decision to hang onto the 4 cylinder for one more season for several reasons.

1: I didn't want to sell a car that didn't handle as good as it should.  

2: Starting over with a new car with only a season or two left in me. 

3: The cost of a completely new car as I would transfer nothing from the Nissan.

4: Disillusioned with the lack of any forward thinking and progress in the Super Saloon class especially with the dwindling numbers and the Saloon class which is almost the same car.

I love the Super Saloon class as it is not hampered with too many rules and one can play with engine and chassis without too many restrictions while at the same time no one car or driver is dominant. Any one of the top 15-20 super drivers are capable of winning at any time at any track and it comes down to the package on the day. However the car numbers are dwindling with several drivers moving to saloons, stockys or sprint cars that have been imported from the States at low prices in comparison to building a new super. Saloons are almost the same as a super with 250-300 hp the difference. Interesting that the Saloon Champs at Huntly this year only attracted 43 cars. I would have thought 60 plus cars so not sure for the reason there. I believe to boost the supers and move away from saloons, some not so big rule changes would lift the profile of the supers and draw more cars into the class. More on that later. So what to do with a car that refuses to hook up on cruddy, dry, slick black tracks that are served up to us as excuses for good clay tracks? Lateral location of the rear axle, roll center position and center of gravity height all must work in conjunction with each other. Change one and dynamically they all change. For years a Jacobs ladder was used on the Nissan to hold the axle in its sideways location. This was altered to a left side chassis mount, right side birdcage panhard with in-cockpit adjustment, and then for a short period a Watts Linkage. All had plusses and minuses but the side bite was still elusive, until torsions were installed near the end of the 2008 season. For the start of the 2008-2009 season a right side panhard mounted behind the rear axle was installed with mixed results but not satisfied with this a left side J bar was built into the chassis. A J bar can take time to find the ultimate setting but still remains inconsistent on a changing track. Bunter Pierce and Paddy North have both injured their spines when their cars rocked up sideways onto two wheels, then crashed back down onto the track compressing their backbone. We persevered with the J bar for a few meetings but the roll center was too far to the left on our chassis which made the handling very unstable constantly hooking the front left wheel in the air at any moment. What now? Look at the top cars that are consistently fast and what locater they use. Righto, another big change. A right side Panhard but this time forward of the axle and not behind. Actually a few tubes welded in the right position and simple mounting on the birdcage was relatively easy to install with a few holes for vertical adjustment and we are ready to go. Our first meeting with this set-up was at the Nov 29th Cromwell Gold Cup. A very competitive field of South Island Supers on a very drivey track was a good opportunity to check our speed against several of the top cars. The car performed just great thank you very much sitting out on the high line making outside passes without too much hassle. Shane Maaka kept the track consistent  and drivey all night, limiting handling changes to a few inches of stagger and tyre pressure. Car 34T won the inaugural Gold Cup event that hopefully Cromwell can turn into one of the main events on the Speedway calendar. Whilst the car was fast on the night there is still more to be had, and we will need to find some more speed for the champs at Cromwell especially with the likes of Dean Waddell, Brent Emmerson, Shane McIntyre and Pete Hemi who all excel on the outside racing line. However we still had to test the car on a dry slick track so off to Island Park the next week where the track surface dried out and went dusty early on in the program and the opportunity to play with set-ups. Keeping changes to one thing at a time, we had a reasonable slick track set-up by the third race and happy we had made the effort. Small alterations to stagger, tyre pressure, panhard height and angle, were all that were required but we still have a way to go to match Ritchie and Greg at the Glen. It's the 22nd Dec and I cant believe the car is packed in the trailer with a ton of spares, ready for the 4 meetings at Cromwell over Xmas. Elliot a.k.a. Prozac, finished all the million of things that I wouldn't have done in time, then time for a few beers and spit roast pig on the last day of work for the year. Cromwell has 4 meetings over the Xmas period, 30th Dec and 1st Jan, the NZ Super Saloon Nationals on 9th & 10th plus practice on Thurs 8th.The 30th and 1st give us an other chance to play with different shocks, stagger and pressure, plus fine tuning of the panhard position. Hopefully we find that little bit of extra speed required to be a serious contender for the NZ title.
 
Most of the organization for the NZ champs is in place and a good field of 35-38 cars have entered. The Cromwell Champs committee want this to be a great NZ champs for spectator and competitor in sunny Central Otago. Something that has not been done before is a huge 50' screen visible from most of the track with playbacks of racing incidents etc. Cromwell Speedway is in a nice laid back holiday town ideal for the family so get yourself along for 4 huge nights of racing. Come and say high at our rig before or after racing but not during please. After the champs it's a quick drive to Woodford Glen for the Hoopla where I trust they give us a decent track surface? for the majority
of those who raced at Cromwell. Until the next scribe please take care of your young ones and family, drink in moderation and be happy.

Cheers all for now.

Ray

There we go all .. Cheers Ray for that and we will see you I Cromwell for the meeting on the 30th.. Cheers Jase
 

5/12/08 Its been a few weeks since the last update, and already there has been some good results for the 34t car after some redevelopment. The car headed off to the Canterbury Champs at the start of the season, and with the car not doing 100%, Ray was still able to push it hard and place second over all for the Champs. Back to Woodford Glen and this time for the Champions of Champions Super Saloon event. Having won a heat or 2, it was obvious that the feature would not be the best for Ray who had little control over what was going to happen to the track. It got that bad, that Ray decided that he would not risk car or equipment, and decided to pull the car into the infield while racing in around the middle of the pack. Ray had made comment that he would not of been able to go any further ahead in the race, and didn't want to become a hindrance to the faster cars that were coming up from behind, so decided that it was time to pull in. Ray then decided that no more racing would happen at Woodford Glen until at least after the NZ Super Saloon Champs in Cromwell early in January. It was then off to Riverside Speedway for a run that hasn't seen Ray there since the South Island Title a few seasons back. Riverside had a very suspect track back then which did not suit the Nissan, and has given very little incentive to head back. A Saloon event organised by Barry Redpath soon had Ray thinking that it was time to head back for a looky. With a freshly laid track, it was certainly a huge improvement on the track of years gone by, and the Nissan seemed to go well on the new surface. Some good Saloon racing was had with a so so result for the 34t team.

Then off to Cromwell for the Super Saloon Shakedown which attracted some of the top cars in the South Island. The 34t was finally on its home track with some outstanding drivers to battle with, and the 34t car finally had some success winning the event. It was a touch and go situation for awhile as the 2NZ car of Josh Boulton showed that he will once again be a force at the Title in January. The racing was based off a marble draw for the first race, then reverse grid in the second which would secure the grid for the 3rd and then onto the 4th race being the main feature. The car went smoothly all night, not missing a beat. The odd little puff of smoke would signal that the turbo is due to be replaced, but other than that, there was no mechanical issues with the car. The car was handling beautifully, with some development being done over the course of the first part of the season. Changes included a new J Bar which seems to have made a huge difference to the overall handling. Going betweens turn 3 and 4, the car showed superior speed and handling, passing some of the fastest cars in the country with relative ease. Elliot has been working hard to ready the car for the main event in January, and has spent a load of time getting the car just right. All going to plan, last years dismal performance at the Title in Dunedin should turn completely around for this one.

Ray will be sitting down when he gets 5 mins to do an update of his own, but until then.. see you at the next update:

3/11/08 Ok ok, so its a slow start to get this web page up to date ready for the pending season. But that's be Frank here (instead of Ray), time flies when your having so much fun. The season has kicked off, and already the Nissan has been up to Woodford Glen racing, along with a couple of outings at Cromwell. This weekend, the rumour is that Ray will take the Nissan down to Riverside for a run. I have spoken to Ray and he has said that there is an update coming from him, but Ray is a business man, that needs to make sure business is booming. I can assure you that one is on the way.

In the brief conversation that I did have with Ray, he was telling me that he is having set up issues with the car already this season. Some changes have been made to the car and now has to have a wee bit more testing done on different tracks with different surfaces. As people are aware now, the NZ Super Saloon Title is not to far away, and this will be held in Cromwell this season. Effectively, right in the 34T's back yard. There will be no excuses for the performances that were seen last year, especially after a disastrous meeting for the NZ Title in Dunedin.

As this is just an update to get the ball rolling, we will be back later in the week with more of an update.