After netting the quickest time bonus points and a finals appearance at last weekend’s Santo’s Cranes Super 3 Extreme Drag Race at Willowbank Raceway, Steve Ham’s expectations of his new race car have been well exceeded.

Just one test session earlier in March was enough to confirm that the new East Coast Lubes Funny Car was the perfect fit for a team that have blown their cover as a dark horse in the fiercely fought Top Alcohol ranks.

“We bought this car because we really believed we have what it takes to be a serious championship contender next season, but to come out in our first weekend and bag a heap of points and make a final was way beyond our expectations,” Ham said.

“To run the fastest speed of the weekend was amazing. But to be honest, it didn’t feel that fast because the car was a bit of a handful after half-track.”

With a consistent and quick race car under his foot, Ham’s final assignment to complete a fairy tale weekend was to take on fifteen time champion Gary Phillips in the final of night two.

“We’d already had a dream run by the time the final had come round, and maybe I rested a bit too early as when we were bringing the car into the staging lanes, I accidently set off the on-board fire extinguisher system, so suddenly we were in a panic having to clean up and refit the bottles before getting onto the track. With all that adrenaline pumping, I made it through the burnout but jumped the start against Gary and gave away the race,” he said, coy about his start line error.

But despite losing the final, Ham was still upbeat about the weekend’s result.

“The Noonan heads are just unbelievable and every time we went to service the car between rounds, the engine was clean every time so you can only attribute that to Mobil Oil,” he said.

Ham was also quick to acknowledge the work of the ECL crew, proving drag racing is most definitely a team sport.

“Our crew went to a whole new level this weekend. We were under pressure with this new format to turn the car around really efficiently so our crew chief James Rowland set up a count-down clock in our pit to make sure we didn’t lose track of time,” he said. “We were really proud to fully service the car, clutch and all in 35 minutes on two occasions on the weekend, which is just phenomenal.

“We just couldn’t be happier. The car did everything we asked it to and now we just can’t wait for the Nitro Champs in May.”