An Interview with 2013 Bangerstox Suffolk Champion 88 Nick Dash
(interview published March 26 2014 in the lead up to the 2014 season opener at Dover Raceway

Age: 30
Home Town: Canterbury
Occupation: Social worker
Family: Wife Vickie and four children
Racing career: Third season of racing

The start of the 2014 season at Dover Raceway is now just a couple of weeks away, are you looking forward to the new racing year and how are your preparations going?
(laughs) Well my preparations aren’t going very well at all right now! I’m quite a bit behind but I’ve got plenty of help and it should all be ok. Originally I wasn’t going to build a new car for the season but then I had a change of heart but really I should have started a little sooner but it’s starting to come together now and a good weekend on the car should get me back on track.

You had a pretty successful season last year finishing fifth in the points and winning the Suffolk Championship, were you pleased with how the year went?
Definitely, especially because I didn’t have the best of starts. I had two terrible meetings to start with where I kept blowing the rocker bolts clean out of the head on the engine. It was my fault really, I was trying something new and basically it was too much for the car and it was doing that. When it happened the first time I thought maybe it was just a one-off or I’d done something wrong so I fixed but when the exact thing happened the next meeting I knew it wasn’t right so I went back to what I was doing before and it made all the difference. Because the bad meetings I was down graded as well which helped and from then on I had a really great run which included winning the Suffolk Championship which was a big surprise and it carried on from there. I think after the Mildenhall weekend I was third in the points but I didn’t have the best of endings to the year. I had a really bad meeting in August which meant I had to start the Masters Championship from near the back of the grid. I was really pleased to finish fifth in the Masters despite starting so far down the grid but I would have liked to have qualified better and that is one of my targets for this year.

Can you tell us about your hopes for this season?
I would love to win a championship race at Dover. That would be a really big thing for me. Winning the Suffolk Championship was very special but I would very much like to win a big race at Dover so that is something I’ll be going for this season and as part of that I want to try and qualify better for the Masters Championship so I can have a good crack at that. I’d also like to try and improve again in the points championship but I know that will not be easy. Considering the bad meetings I had last year I was really pleased to finish fifth last year because I believe consistency is a big factor of the points championship, one bad meeting and I think you will find it hard to be in contention. After me there was a big gap to sixth in the points so to be a part of the top group last year was nice especially with the amount of cars we had racing at some meetings last year.

How big of a highlight was winning the Suffolk Championship last year?
A big highlight, especially because I didn’t expect it, especially with how I felt Sunday after a late night on Saturday (laughs). It was a good job I had qualified so well and started on the front because I doubt I would have done so well if I’d started further down the grid, I had a bit of fortune, everything just opened up for me and it went almost perfectly. It’s a great weekend, it’s always fantastic to race at Mildenhall in the season, it’s so different to Dover and always great to have a chance to race there and the last couple of years we’ve been on with a Saloon Stockcar championship and that is fantastic to be a part of that and race at the same meeting as them. I’d never seen them until I did the meeting a couple of years ago and they were just amazing so being able to race with them is pretty cool.

As a regular at Dover Raceway, what is it about the track you like?
I just enjoy the place, it’s like having another family when you are at the track, it’s that kind of atmosphere and feeling and it’s fantastic to be a part of. I didn’t get into racing through family exactly. My dad used to do the publicans race at Dover many years ago so that was my first experience and I always enjoyed it when I was younger and then a few years ago I met (the late) Richard Randall through the motor trade and it was through that I started racing myself. Even though I don’t have family who race and up until a couple of years ago I didn’t know many people who race, now I feel part of it and I have a lot of friends at the track and that is really cool, I’m not sure you would get that in too many other sports, where an outsider as such like me can be welcomed in like that.

Have you any thoughts as to the long term future of your racing?
I doubt I would ever do bangers or a full contact formula, non or limited contact really is much more suited to me. I have thought about a Super Rod one day but I would like to see more cars in the formula before thinking about that, at the moment with so many cars in the Bangerstox the racing is just better I think and that’s why I’m sticking with the formula at the moment.

Despite being labelled as a budget formula, is it safe to say it’s quite a competitive formula?
Yes very. I suppose it is a budget formula in a way because you can get out on track without spending a lot of time or money but there are plenty who put a lot into their cars, both time and effort and I think I’m one of them so it can be quite competitive, but it is still a lot of fun, which is the most important thing.

Is there anyone you would like to thank or mention?
All of my family, especially the wife for putting up with it all, all the Team Elite boys for their help and Ashley and A! Tyres in Dover.