An Interview with Philo Jnr 220 Casey Englestone
(interview published August 25 2015 in the lead up to the 2015 Championship at Mildenhall on August 29)

Age: 19
Home Town: Norwich
Occupation: Delivery Driver
Racing career: Started racing in Ministox aged 11 and Saloon Stockcars aged 16

This is the second time you have qualified for the World Final having made your debut last year, how does this time compare to last year?
It’s definitely different and I think this year it’s been quite a big surprise for me because I really wasn’t sure if I would make it as I’ve not had the best of years, certainly not as good as I did last year but I think I’ve been quite fortunate in some of the races where it really mattered and that’s made all the difference. Last year, when I thought I had a chance of qualifying I was really going for it and it’s not been quite like that this year, I’ve just gone about doing the racing I’ve wanted to do and thankfully it’s all worked out well. I think another thing which helped me a lot was finishing seventh in last year’s World Final and those points counted towards qualifying this year so I had a bit of a head start straight away and this year I’ve just finished fifth in the National and again that counts for next year so again hopefully it will give me a bit of a cushion and some help towards qualifying again but it is one of those things where once you’ve been in the race, you always want to be in it if you can. I was so pleased to finish seventh last year, to be honest I was just pleased to finish the race, being my first World Final, that was my target and to get a top 10 on my debut was incredible really but I think this year will be different. Of course being at Mildenhall is a massive difference, even though it is shale again, Mildenhall is completely different to Lynn but I like racing at Mildenhall as well so that should be ok but hopefully having been in a World Final before I will be a little calmer this time (laughs). I think in last year’s race it was possibly the most nervous I have ever been before a race so hopefully I won’t be quite as bad this time as those nerves do make the first few laps even more difficult, if you are relaxed it’s definitely a lot easier and the start of the race is probably going to be very important. It’s the build-up which gets to me, the waiting around, you wait for our turn to go onto the track and then wait for everyone else and I’m in the middle of the grid so I will have all of that (laughs) and the two rolling laps, I hate that (laughs). It’s always the way for big races and I really can’t stand it but at the same time it’s that build-up which makes these races so special, without them and without the nerves it would be like any other race wouldn’t it.

You finished 22nd in the World Rankings and are set to start the race on the outside of row 11, how do you feel about that?
It’s very similar to last year I think so I’m pretty pleased that I’ve managed to maintain my position in the World Rankings, even though I’ve not had the best of years. Again I think a lot of it has been down to getting some good results in the big races which has made up for not doing so well in between (laughs). I’m not sure the grid positions are going to make the biggest of differences at Mildenhall myself. If it was anywhere else I would probably say that I would have liked to have been starting a little nearer the front but the way Mildenhall can be, I don’t think it will make too much difference myself. I expect the race to be complete mayhem, and most people seem to think the same, which probably means it will go the completely opposite way (laughs) but I do think you will see a pile-up and the track will look like a car park at one point and so where you start won’t make any difference at all. Being on the outside isn’t the end of the world, sure it would be better to be on the inside, if only because you are a little further away from the wall but that’s about it, again I don’t think it’s going to make much difference at Mildenhall, it’s all going to be about who has the luck on the night and who doesn’t.

This year’s World Final has a pre meeting practise session scheduled, will you be taking advantage of this and do you think this will assist the visiting drivers greatly and help make the race more competitive?
Yes we are planning on getting there early to do some laps. We are currently in the process of re-shelling the car for the World Final and after you’ve done a big job like that it’s always good to do a few laps and make sure everything is ok and doing what it should be. We won’t spend too long practising I wouldn’t think, I don’t see the sense in trying something new or different that close to a big race like that, you just have to go with what you know but having a few laps beforehand, especially after doing a big job on the car, will just put your mind a little more at ease before the race and it might even help with the nerves just a bit. I think it will help the visiting drivers which will be good for the race because there are a few of them and if they go into the race happier with their cars then they might go for it a bit more and that will make the racing more exciting. I’ve a row of Irish drivers in front of me so I hope they get themselves sorted as if they were to crash on the first bend it could be really bad for me (laugh) and if there wasn’t practise you would probably expect that to happen because they race on shale so rarely. But I do think the shale regulars will still have a big advantage come the race regardless of practise. Shale tracks change all the time, even during the race and the track will definitely be different for the race compared to practise and if the visitors have got things going well in practise it doesn’t mean they will go as well in the race because the track will be different again. That is where the drivers who race on shale all the time will have the edge, especially those who race at Mildenhall because they will already have their set up for the conditions. I think it’s why drivers like David Aldous are so good on shale because they have the ability to see the track changing and adapt to it, it’s something I’m still working on (laughs).

Having mentioned your current work on the car, what preparations will you be doing for the World Final and how do they differ from your usual preparations in the season?
We normally spend at least two nights a week on the car, sometimes three if we have a lot to do. It’s always a Thursday and the other days depend on what we need to do and whose doing what (laughs) so we have half a routine I guess. For the World Final, we decided to have a couple of weekends off from the racing and spend some time on the car. It’s looking a bit battered and I wanted to try and make a bit of an effort for the World Final, the sides needed replacing so we thought it would be easier to re-shell it completely so that is what we are doing now. We’ve only just started but it should be alright, we’ve plenty of help and we’ve made a good start so far. To be honest I hope to sell this car at the end of the season so the work needed doing and it made sense to do it now and hopefully it might help me in the World Final. The plan is to sell this car, finish my new one in the winter which will be for tarmac and then use my original car for shale only , that’s the plan anyway but they don’t always work out that way (laughs).

Have you any targets or goals for this year’s race?
My goal for the whole season has been to try and do better than I did the year before and with the exception of the UK Championship I’ve managed to do that so far, so that is my goal again. To be fair, the UK weekend wasn’t all bad as I qualified up the front and that was one of the best qualifying days I’ve ever had so even though the big race didn’t go too well I was still really pleased as the qualifying was much better than before. I finished seventh last year which was more than I ever expected. My hope was just to finish but I think it was one of those races where if you finished, you had a chance of being in the top 10 and I definitely think that will be the case again this year, especially if you finish on the lead lap. In fact I would say that if you finish on the lead lap you are almost guaranteed to be finishing in the top 10 so that is the goal again. To try and finish, ideally on the lead lap and see what that means, hopefully it would be another top 10 which would be brilliant.

That said, how important is the start going to be to achieving that goal?
It will be important because again the key is going to be staying on the lead lap. I think Mildenhall is one of the easier tracks for getting a lap back if you do go a lap down, because usually there is so much going on and a higher chance than normal of the leader getting taken out but really you don’t want to be in that position and I honestly cannot see 10 cars finishing the race on the lead lap. Although again, that is what everyone is expecting so maybe it won’t be like that at all and instead it’ll be the complete opposite (laughs). The start of any race is one of the easiest times to get spun out in this formula but again at Mildenhall it can happen at any point, because everyone is squeezed together because of the size of the track so while the start is important I don’t think it’s any more important than any other points of the race.

A big talking point this season has been the introduction of Zetec engines, what are your thoughts on these?
Well I’m still using my Pinto engine as there is nothing wrong with it and to be honest I think on shale the Pinto engines are probably a little better. I would say that on tarmac the Zetecs have an advantage and when we build the new tarmac car the plan is to put a Zetec in it but at the moment I have no intention of changing the engine in my shale car, simply because there is nothing wrong with it so I might as well carry on using it and I hope the rules stay as they are so drivers who have Pinto engines and are happy to use them can carry on and the Pinto just fades out in its own time, rather than a deadline being set when suddenly a load of perfectly good engines are one day useless because in time everyone will switch to the Zetec, it doesn’t need to be forced. But I do think it’s been a good move for the sport, it’s certainly helping bring more drivers in, especially banger drivers who want to try because it’s reduced the costs for someone who is starting up and also because they have been using the engines in bangers, so it’s definitely been good for the sport.

Much has been said about the tyre situation, would you prefer to see one tyre for both surfaces or are you happy the way things are?
That’s really hard because everyone has an opinion and everyone’s is different so I really don’t know how this could be resolved to keep everyone happy but I do think racing on one tyre would be a lot easier for everyone but at the same time what we have right now does work because I think we have a pretty level playing field on both surfaces at the minute, so should we mess around with that? Personally I think a bigger thing which needs addressing is the rims we use, because the 13 inch ones we use on shale are becoming harder and harder to come by and because the racing is so rough we are wrecking them and then they are hard to replace. Yes there are modern ones we can use but the truth is they are rubbish so that needs looking into I think.

Another issue this season has been the number of driver injuries, is this a concern for you and is there something you would like to see introduced or improved to try and make the sport safer?
It’s not really a concern, everyone knows the risks, especially in this formula which is such a rough and hard one, to be honest I think the sport’s safety record if really good if you stop and think about what the formula is like week in and week out. I’m not sure if anything more can be done but I think it should be left to driver’s to make a choice as to what they use when they race when you talk about safety equipment. In (BriSCA F1 Stockcars) the drivers have to wear Hans devices and more and more drivers are using them in Saloons and I suspect a time will come where we will have to wear them as well but personally I wouldn’t like to. I’ve had a look at them and I just don’t think it’s for me but there are others who swear by them and that’s one example of where I think I should be down to the individual to use what they feel they need and what makes them comfortable and confident in the car. I’ve just started using new seat belts and they have a ratchet system and I’ve never felt so secured in my seat, the difference is amazing and they have built in shoulder pads so I’ve stopped using my neck brace as well and these seatbelts are so much better. I’ve also started using a fibreglass seat and that’s helped a lot as well. I broke my shoulder last year and I think it was very similar to what Steve Webster did this year and in my case it was partly down to the seat. My new one is mounted on the floor and just has that little bit of flex to it so it takes a bit of the shock out of a big crash and it makes a big difference.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My dad for everything he does, John Halifax for his sponsorship, everyone who comes and helps on the car and also everyone in the stockcar community who helps at the track. A few weeks ago I took a big hit at King’s Lynn and it was amazing the amount of people who came over once their cars were fixed and tried to help us get it repaired so thanks to everyone whose every helped me at a meeting as well.