An Interview with Saloon Stockcar hot shot Philo Jnr 220 Casey Englestone
(interview published July 16 2014 in the lead up to One Wild Weekend for Saloon Stockcars at Mildenhall on July 26 and 27)

Age: 18
Home Town: Norwich
Occupation: Delivery driver
Family: Girlfriend Jarron
Racing career: First raced at Yarmouth in Ministox aged 11

How do you feel the first half of your season has gone so far?
I'm pretty pleased with it. I've had a few good results and a few wins and I've been up and down the grades as well. I started the year as a yellow (grade) and got up to the reds and now I've come back down to the blues. It was a little disappointing not being able to stay in the red grade but I don't think my timing was the best because I went to red just in time for some of the big championship meetings and so those meetings were always going to be tough and coming from the back from the first time combined with me having a lot of bad luck was just a little too much. But things have been going well recently from the blue grade and my hope is to try and get back to the red grade eventually but at the moment I just want to try and achieve some consistency with my racing, that's the most important thing for me right now, keep picking up results and try and do well at every meeting, rather than really well at some. 

The last time we saw the Saloon Stockcars at Mildenhall was at the European Championship where you had a mixed weekend, failing to match your early season form at Mildenhall by failing to qualify for the championship in the heats on the first night but coming back to win the last chance race on the Sunday. Were you pleased to qualify or disappointed that it was via the last chance race?
I wasn't disappointed at all because that always seems to be the way I qualify for these races (laughs). Honestly I seem to never have any luck in the qualifying heats at these meetings. At the British last year I qualified in the last chance, I did the same in the UK Championship at Skegness at the weekend and at Mildenhall as well. I suppose at least I'm used to being in these last chance races so I'm getting a bit more experienced at it. I just try and treat them like any other race and try not to put any extra pressure on myself and just see how it goes and I suppose it's been working out alright but it is something I need to try and improve on (laughs). 

You went on to finish 10th in the European Championship, were you pleased with that?
Yes I was, especially because about five laps in I was about three laps down because I got spun out and stuck so all I wanted to do was try and finish and to get something out of it after a start like that was pretty good. It was a very rough race, the starts were pretty crazy and it was good racing but I damaged both of my rear wheels. I didn't know until I came back to the pits and saw there were both pointing the wrong way (laughs) so it was good to just finish in a race like that.

Did the conditions, the hot weather and the delays for the stoppages make it more difficult?
I suppose, it was hard in the car, being that hot and everything but it couldn't be helped and as soon as the green flag fell again you forgot all that because you were too busy concentrating on your racing.

The qualifying races on the Saturday were particularly action packed, despite having little success, did you enjoy the racing that night?
Yes I did, even when you don't do well you can still enjoy it because the racing is so good. I just had a lot of bad luck on the Saturday but when the racing is like that, it happens a lot because you can just be in the wrong place at the wrong time and you have no say in what's going to happen, you never know what's going to happen.

You are currently fifth in the Mildenhall Track Championship where the race for third is extremely close with just a handful of points between third and seventh place, is a high finish in the Mildenhall points a target of yours for this season?
My goal for the rest of the season is to try and maintain my current positions in the track championships and not just Mildenhall. I've had a good start to the year really, I'm sixth I think at King's Lynn and second at Coventry as well as fifth at Mildenhall and what I want to try and do now is try and stay there at least until the end of the season. Championships are one race on one day and anything can happen but if I could end the year with some good track championship places I think that would prove I've had a good season and been good all year, rather than just having a good race here and there so that's the target but I know it won't be easy.

How important is the upcoming One Wild Weekend event to your Mildenhall Track Championship hopes?
It is quite important I think because it can be very hard to be good over two days, especially on shale where things can change so much. If you have a bad night Saturday, you've got to rally back straight away so you don't have another bad day on the Sunday and if you have a good night Saturday it doesn't mean Sunday will be good as well so it is hard and two bad meetings here could really set you back so again my hope is to try and be consistent across the weekend. It's especially hard on shale because the track changes every race, let alone one day after the next so you have to keep working to keep your car going well. 

Looking further ahead, the World Final takes place this year on shale at King's Lynn, is that something you are looking forward to?
Yes it is, especially because I'm hoping that now I've done enough to qualify. I was 22nd in the World Ranking points going into the UK Championship at Skegness and I finished fourth. I thought a top 10 would hopefully be enough to get me into the World Final so I'm sure that a fourth must be enough. I missed out on qualifying for last years World by one place in the last chance race and one of my targets for this season was to try and qualify but I said I wanted to do it through the World Ranking points rather than on the day and if I have made it then I'll be really pleased, especially as it is only my second season in the formula. I'm not sure what my chances will be. I've been going well at Lynn this year so hopefully I'll do ok, you can never know what to expect at Lynn.

Being a youngster, what attracted you to the formula?
We were thinking about doing a 1300cc stockcar after Ministox and so dad got one and was racing it while I finished in the Ministox but it was just proving hassle and so we decided to have a complete change of scene. Dad used to race in Saloons and we were always watching them and I always wanted to race them but dad felt it was too big of a step from the Ministox but then others were coming from Ministox into the formula like Georgie Boult Jnr, Craig Banwell and Sid Magewick and were doing well and so dad reconsidered and we got a car. I love the formula and there is nothing else which appeals to me right now, I truly believe it is the best formula out there and a big reason for that is the drivers because 99 per cent of them are proper stockcar drivers who drive like stockcar drivers on track but keep it on the track and there is never any hassle off the track which is exactly how it should be. 

We've been asking a lot of stockcar drivers about the practise of using red flags to stop races in emergency situations. At Mildenhall, red flags are used more than other venues, are you happy for red flag to be used or do you think only waved yellow flags should be used?
I think red flags should used when needed for things like a car rolling over or something. The way I see it is at Mildenhall the track is smaller and so I can understand why the cars need to be stopped quicker. At somewhere like Skegness or King's Lynn where the track is larger you can have half a lap between you and the problem and enough time to slow down where as at Mildenhall you can be right on top of the problem and drivers do react quicker to a red flag. I think with a waved yellow it sometimes takes a lap for drivers to slow down where as with a red I think drivers do stop pretty much straight away.

With that in mind, under the current rules of racing cars are restarted differently in a lap sheet order restart if a red flag is used compared to a yellow flag, do you agree with that or should it be the same either way?
Personally I like it when the back markers go to the back (lap sheet order restarts with red flags) even if they do have to stay a lap down. I think having the back markers mixed in with the cars on the lead lap can cause confusion among fans and drivers because no one really knows who is where. It happened to me in the UK Championship where I was third and I thought I was fourth because I thought the car in front of me was in third but he was a lap down so I span him out and actually lost third place in doing so, so I do think restarting the cars (first to last) makes things clearer but then when you have where I was in the European, restarting three laps down there are some drivers who may think carrying on is pointless so it's certainly not without faults. 

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My uncle who always comes with us and Phillip who does as well and is a big help, John Halifax who does a great deal to help me with sponsorship, Lyndale engines who do a tremendous job for me and a lot of other drivers and my dad of course who helps me big time with all my racing. 

Click here to go to Previews page

Click here to go to Interviews page