Top Alcohol racer Steven Ham realised a childhood dream in Sydney last weekend, claiming the first ANDRA gold christmas tree trophy in his Pro Series career. Ham defeated 14-times Top Alcohol champion Gary Phillips in the close 5.52sec to 5.54sec final.
“When the Mobil 1 Funny Car finally stopped in the braking area, it was the most surreal experience of my life,” Ham said. “I just kept asking myself what happened?
“Gary Phillips and Steve Reed were my heroes as a kid and they really kept drag racing alive with their match races in the late 80s and early 90s and to finally win an event with them in the field is the stuff dreams are made of, I was still trying to come to terms with it when Gary shook my hand.”
Ham acknowledged the assistance of Phillips in the early stages of his career.
“Gary was very helpful to us when we first started running our altered when we raced in the Competition bracket,” he said. “To face off against him after he’d pulled out a new record on the previous pass was very intimidating. I just had to shut out all of those thoughts out and stick to what we’d been working on and it paid off.
“My crew have just been amazing and to see the changes that we’ve made bring us so much consistency over the weekend is such a big reward. This has been a long term plan in motion for a long time since we used to meddle around years ago in the Super Street bracket, and to finally get that first win in Pro Series is something we all share, along with our sponsors, ECL/Mobil 1, RD Williams, Cargo Transport and D & M Plant Hire.”
Preparations are now going into overdrive for the TSP Racing outfit for the Fuchs Winternationals on the second weekend of June, marking the two year anniversary since Ham’s Pro Series debut at his home track of Willowbank Raceway near Ipswich, Queensland.
“Most of our data is from Willowbank so that obviously gives us confidence that if we play our cards right, we could give that event a nudge as well,” he said. “But really we just want to soak in this feeling we have now of finally reaching our goal of a Pro Series event win and start piecing together what it will take to have more of them.”
The Fuchs Winternationals takes place on June 8-11 at Willowbank Raceway near Ipswich, Queensland. The full ANDRA drag racing experience will be on show including all pro categories and the best sportsman racers in the nation taking part in the Rocket Allstars Racing Series.
For more information on the Winternationals click here.
Image courtesy Grant Stephens/cacklingpipes.com.
Check out Ham in action from the recent Adelaide event.