An Interview with Shakey Jnr 60 Kyle Stevenson
(interview published March 9 2016 in the lead up to the 2016 Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championship)

Age: 26
Home Town: Sheffield
Occupation: Burner at a scrapyard
Family: Girlfriend Samantha
First race: Aged 10 in the Junior Bangers at Brampton, first Banger race was at Brampton aged 15, “I fixed Rick Finney’s car for him and he then let me use it in the DD instead”

This will be your first time in the Supreme Championship, you are not best known for your championship appearances so is this something you are looking forward to?
Yes I am and I guess it is quite strange for me to qualify for a race like this because normally I get sidetracked in a race and wind up crashing (laughs). It doesn’t matter how many times I think to myself that I should have a go at racing, just to see how I would get on, I can’t resist a boot lid (laughs)! I suspect it might be the same here! But yeah, I’m looking forward to doing it, it will be something different for me and it should be good, especially being at Mildenhall which is a track I really like and being unlimited which is my favourite kind of racing so yeah, it should be good.

You qualified for the race at the TSR World Final where you finished fourth in the championship having only qualified earlier in the night, was that a good night for you?
It really was and I think what made it all the better for me was that I wasn’t going until the last minute. I only went because I had a Mondeo which I wanted to finish and get rid of but I couldn’t find anyone to take me on a Hi-ab lorry and I was a bit reluctant to go on just my flatbed truck because I find it harder to fix the cars without a Hi-ab and I was a little concerned that King’s Lynn was a long way to go to have one hit and not be able to fix the car. In the end we just decided to go for it and I’m glad I did because it was a brilliant night, everything just went my way, the hits kept presenting themselves and I just kept on going and going. In the last chance race I think I qualified both by winning an entertainer award and by finishing in the top places so just to get in the big race was excellent and then to finish fourth was just amazing, it was a brilliant night.

Unlike the TSR World Final where you qualified on the night in the last chance race you will got to the Supreme Championship with the comfort of knowing you are in the big race, how does that change things?
It’s good. To be honest I think all of the few times I have been in a big race like this I have done it by qualifying on the night and the problem with that is that it’s then a mad rush between the last chance race and the championship to get ready and on more than one occasion I’ve wound up blowing an engine in the championship because we’d not got it cooled down enough from the last chance race so it’s hard doing it that way. This will be much better and it will be nice to go to the meeting knowing you are in the big race and being able to relax a little bit more.

That said have you any intentions for the championship?
I’ll just try and get through the first lap really (laughs). It’s the same with any race with me, if you can get through the first lap you are usually alright but if you don’t that’s when you usually get into trouble and start doing things like ripping wheels off and stuff like that. If I can get through the first lap I’ll be happy. Truth to told, I’d love to try and finish the race. Like I said I don’t get a chance to do races like this very often and while I don’t think I will have much of a chance of winning because there are so many good drivers out there and a lot of them will have much better car that me and it’s hard to compete with that, but to finish would be brilliant and if I could get in the top 10 that was be incredible, but I suspect I will wind up finding a boot lid to park in instead (laughs).

Have you decided what car you will be racing?
Yeah, I’ve been quite lucky because I was starting to think I might not have been able to do it after all because of a lack of time but then a friend offered me a Lexus they’ve got built so all I’ve got to do now if put my engine in and paint it and I’m away. I had planned to build a Volvo but there just never seems to be enough time. I was in Ireland at the weekend, I’m doing the Micros at Coventry this weekend and then Mildenhall is next and the plan had been to try and start the car this week but I’m so behind so it wasn’t looking good until I was offered the Lexus. What’s made it worse is that I hurt my neck when I raced in Ireland. It’s an old injury, a trapped nerve, which comes back to bite me every now and again, usually when I give it a few days rest it gets better but I wouldn’t be able to work on a car right now so I think had the offer of the Lexus not come up it’s likely I wouldn’t have been able to do it so I’ve been lucky. It’s my first time racing a Lexus and I’m quite looking forward to it. They seem good cars, strong and fast and I think you are going to need that in this race, it’s a bit of a step into the unknown for me but it should be ok.

Mentioning your neck injury, have you considered getting extra safety equipment like many other drivers have been lately?
I have thought about getting one of these neck restraints but the price of them puts me off. I know you can’t put a price on your own safety but they just seem so expensive and I’m not sure they warrant the asking price myself. The trouble is that for me, they are a lot of money and it’s made worse because I’m so keen at the moment all I want to do is put all the spare money I have into racing more. I know people will think that is stupid but I guess it’s something drivers might understand because when you want to race, it’s the most important thing. Also me and my dad are currently saving up to try and get a lorry which will make our lives a lot easier so I don’t really have the spare cash to buy a neck restraint right now. Again I might have my priorities wrong (laughs) but I have thought about it. Like I said though, this think with my neck started a long time ago and it’s been fine for a good while now so hopefully it’s nothing too serious and I just got caught funny at the weekend.

What kind of race do you expect the Supreme Championship to be?
I’m not sure really. You’d think with a big grid of unlimited bangers it will be lively, it’s hard to imagine it won’t be but then with the majority of drivers probably trying to win it, maybe it won’t be, you can’t really tell. I’d love if there was a track blockage, especially if I was able to back off every time I went in, that would be ideal for me (laughs). I think there is a good chance for a blockage, especially with a good grid of cars and the fact that turning round is allowed, maybe if there isn’t a pile-up I’ll turn round and try and start one myself (laughs)!

Who do you think are the leading contenders in the race?
Do you know, I’ve honestly not looked at all at who’s doing the race or the meeting at all (laughs). I don’t tend to, it’s something I usually do in the truck on the way to the meeting, usually just to see how many people are going to be there waiting to smash me up (laughs)! But I’m not sure you can say who’s going to win a race like this. Usually in big championships there are a few who stand out, but Mildenhall is so unpredictable, especially if there is a blockage, you just can’t tell. I think Pikey (190 Steve Bailey) and Nemesis (239 Steve Carter) could be good bets though. They are always very good but they’ve been busy lately with the Team Grey and Black feud and if there aren’t many of them in the race they might decide to have a race and if they do I’d think they’d be contenders.

Do you prefer that the race is now unlimited?
Yeah, I think so (laughs). Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been fortunate to be given a car to race and without that it’s likely I wouldn’t have been able to race even though I really wanted to but had it been Mondeos then I suspect I could have built a car because they are so much easier to build, three days and it’s all done where as an unlimited is a lot more. But unlimited racing is my favourite, it’s just the work and money involved because they are so much harder and more expensive than say a Mondeo or a Micra which are really quite easy in comparison. The only advantage I have is that when I build an unlimited, especially say a Jaguar, my dad will always come and help because he loves those cars whereas he hates the other stuff and when I’m building them he is nowhere to be seen (laughs). It’s probably a good thing because Jags are the hardest things to build I think.

We last saw you at Mildenhall for the Unlimited Suffolk Open, did you enjoy that night?
Very much, it was one of my best meetings of the year. I’ve always wanted to race a Crown so I was well chuffed when I got that one from Glyn Platts and I think I had a great night in it. It was nice to have that first race at the start for the material and do a few laps and get that out of my system and then I could just go crashing. It was one of those night where it was just pile-ups for most of the night so I loved it and was well because both the (second) heat and consolation were just blockages and I got a few good hits in but I also managed to qualify for the final which I was really pleased about and that’s when I did the big hit on (Carl Sowter’s Lincoln Town Car limo). He’d had a pop at me earlier in the night and being in a Crown I thought I had a car strong enough to do a revenge hit on a Yank but even then I couldn’t believe the damage it did, but it did snap my car as well (laughs). It must have been hard! It was cool because I had an in-car camera from Impact Videos at the time and the footage looked really good and afterwards my dad, who is usually very quiet, was well excited going on about how high the car went on impact!

Have you any plans for 2016?
Well I’ve registered with Skegness this year which is very much because I want to try and qualify for the Spedeworth World Final and I think my best shot is to register somewhere local and try and do all the meetings there. I’ve done the support races a few times and always enjoyed it but I would love to do the main race, just so my dad can drive me out for the parade lap. He’s driving me out for the parade lap in the Supreme so that will be great as well. So I should be doing all the Skegness meetings, I’ve just got a car for the Bluebird meeting there which I think will be really good, proper old school cars which bend (laughs). I’m also doing the England v Scotland team races at Stoke and Cowdenbeath and we’ve my granddad’s memorial at Brampton in July which is looking good already so I’m looking forward to that.

A big talking point this season has been the announcement from the ORCi and the new rule prohibiting drivers from exiting their cars while a race is in progress, what are your thoughts on this?
I think there are good and bad points. I think it’s good because it will stop people jumping out because they are worried that someone is going to hit them when they’ve stopped and that is usually where the accidents happen and people get hurt so if that stops that will be an excellent thing I think but in order for it to work the marshals and officials need to be really on it for when a driver is in trouble or in a dangerous spot. I’m sure everyone will do their best but that’s all the more important now because there is nothing worse than being hurt in a car and not being able to get out. Sometimes when you know you are in trouble, it’s quicker to jump out when you know it’s safe rather than signal for the race to get stopped.

Is there anyone you would to thank or mention?
My dad for all his help, my girlfriend for putting up with it all, CF Booth Scrapyard for everything they do and all the lads who help, especially Cameron and Ryan.