2014-2015 Season Wrap Up
Here's a wrap on our rookie season in Saloons. We raced 54 tracks. Woodford Glen, Riverside Raceway, Beachlands, Central Motor Speedway. We attended 22 shows (4 were rained off). Our championship results were as follows. 3rd Souhtland Saloon Best Pairs. 4th Southland Saloon Champs. 4th Central Otago Saloon Champs. 5th Central Otage Easter Champs. 7th Southern Saloon Slam. 10th NZ GP. 12th South Isalnd Saloon Champs. (Qualified 6th from 29 starters).
The pole shuffle shootout and some intense battles with Ducthy, Lloyd top gun Phillips and Dave McCallion were also higlights. Our finishing percentages in all races are: 28% were top 3 finishes. 56% were top 10 finishes. 16% 11th or worse including DNF's.
I wish to thank first and foremost. Paul Riley, Scott Williamson, Chris Kirkwood and Nigel Petersen. Those four Amigos put in the hard yards week in week out all summer long. Ryan, Lachie, Conor Riley and Connor Williamson chipped in along the way also. Thanks guys.
Kate you were amazing in helping me in so many ways. Especially when the confidence was waning.
Our sponsors ... Nees Graffix, K&D Automtive, Cromwell Collision Repairs, Southland Tyre Centre. Thank you so much Roger, Darcy, Jono and Ron. Your support has been amazing and very much appreciated. Thank you Adam Gent, you took on ahuge challenge that's for sure lol.
So that's it for the season and what a journey it's been. We have met some wonderful people and made some new friendships along the way.
Speedway is one of those sports that grabs you and won't let go. Bring on 2015/2016.
Cheers ... Graham.

2015 Apr 11 - Riverside Speedway Invercargill
Southern Saloon Slam
The Final round of the Southern Saloon Slam proved to be a pretty good one for X Factor Racing. Heat 1 started 10th and finished 4th so banked some valuable points. Heat 2 started 4th and finished 7th So qualified 6th for the top 8 pole shuffle. Managed to gain 3 spots in the pole shuffle, so a grid 3 start for the 20 lap feature and after 20 laps without a yellow and trying my hardest to get to the front a close
2nd behind Dave Macallion who drove a superb race to shut us out was a great result. Overall for the series we finished 7th so very pleasing considering we are in our first season of racing. Congrats to Dave, Steve and Terry. On their respective podium finishes. A total prize pool of $10500 for the Slam and every driver will receive a cheque. Not too bad for the first year of the series. We must thank Ron Goddard once again for his amazing support of the Ingill round. A huge thank you to crew chief Riley who still crewed for us dispite coming off night shift and very little sleep. Crazy Cooter and Connor thanks heaps and of course my partner in crime Roger Flash Nees who flew down from CHCH to support our team. Big ups to all our sponsors who's support has been amazing. So 1 meeting to go and then 21t goes in for a complete freshin up. Can we skip winter and keep racing?

2015 Mar 07 - Woodford Glen
South Island Saloon Champs
X Factor Racing are a pretty happy camp after last night's SI Saloon Champs. Our number one goal was to qualify for the final. That we did after a 9th in the first heat and 3rd in heat two. Heat 2 was probably our best race of the season. To finish 3rd behind local ace Ryan Marsden and Dutchy after a toe to toe battle with Dutchy for several laps is very satisfying. So we qualified 7th out of 29 starters for the final.
We climbed to 5th and was pushing 21t to it's limits but on lap 14 pushed too hard and looped it. However we carried on and finished strong to take out 11th. So a good result at that level on a track we have never raced on before. So many people to thank but that's for a special post later.

2015 Mar 01 - Riverside Raceway
We lined up for the Riverside raceway Saloon pairs last night. After a 4th and two 2nds we were tied for for second place. We managed to win the 4 lap run off but James Stronach punctured and an unlucky DNF for James meant 3rd overall in the series. Our crew had 21t Performingto somewhere near it's full potantial which resulted in some wickedl;y fast laps on a challenging surface.
Thanks to Riverside Raceway for making us feel so welcome. Thanks to all the other saloon car drivers for a fun, fast, clean nights racing. Big thanks to our terrific sponsors and special thanks to Paul, Scott and Crazy Cooter for a great car and getting everything sorted, squeezing in a wedding between racing and all. We now prepare for the SI Champs at the Glen. We are going to learn have fun and enjoy the experience. Stay hard. Stay hungry. Stay alive from all the crew at X Factor Racing.

2015 Feb 07 - Cromwell
Central Otago Saloon Champs
Check out the videos courtesy of Casey Nees.

2015 Jan 31 - Riverside Raceway
We finally got to carry the chequered flag after a 33 year gap last night at the Riverside Raceway in the thrid heat of the Southland Saloon Champs. Our first season back in speedway after all those years away has been a roller coaster ride for sure. Heat one ended after 6 laps when I hit the wall destroying the whole right front. The crew worked like Trojans and we got going for the final heat and after 12 frantic laps got home for that elusive win. The feature was also an epic 3 way battle reaching the lead twice but finally having to settle for third. Big ups to pur crew who earnt their beers big time and to Riverside Raceway for putting on a great meeting and an excellent track. One final thing our win last night is dedicated to my mum who because of failing health will never get to see me race. Love you mum.
Cheers from everyone at X Factor Racing.

2015 Jan 19 - Invercargill
Well you can't say we didn't try. Two frustrating days trying to get some racing in but the good old Southland weather did it again. We managed to get heat 1 completed, which we finished 8th in after losing all power for half a lap. So the NZ GP is now rescheduled for the 30th of Jan. A special mention to our good mate Roger Nees who qualified for the NZ Super Saloon finals on Saturday night. He drove the wheels ioff 811 in the repercharge to make the final 20. Epic drive Flash. That's given it the X Factor big time!!

2015 Jan 10 - Beachlands
Phew it's been a hectic couple of weeks for X Factor Racing. After two rounds of the Southern Saloon Slam whilst the official points tally is yet to be posted we think we are sitting around 8th or 9th. Our goal for the series was a top ten finish so we are on track. I am driving like a nanna at times and a bit untidy but every so often it falls into place and we fly. I am starting to trust the car and feel more confident, which in turn makes it heaps more enjoyable. So we head to Riverside Raceway for the NZ GP on the 17th. A huge thank you to our amazing sponsors and dedicated crew Paul, Scott, Nigel, Ryan, Adam who has helped in so many ways and of course Kate who is starting to get her head around this crazy thing we do on a Saturday night.
Stay hard, Stay hungry, Stay alive. See ya further on up the road from everyone at X Factor Racing.

2015 Jan 01 - Cromwell
A wrap of last night's racing comes from the twilight zone. First heat drew 3 and after 5 or 6 yellows including a roll over the race was called. Heat 2 off 11 and finished 8th. So qualified for the feature which was never raced. Now we can argue the toss why but it won't change a thing. But we were lining up on the grid when suddenly the sprint cars were out and circulating.
The meeting was spectacular with a fine display of clean and fast driving from the Supers and a huge field of productions so the fans got value for money that's a given.
We re group and head to Dunuedin for round 2 of the Southern Saloon Slam on the 10th. Hopefully 2 clean heats and a cracker of a feature. A big thank you must go to the crew who put in a mighty effort in the heat.
Cheers from all at X Factor Racing.

2014 Dec 30 - Cromwell
Ok. This is a brief summary on last night's racing. 20 saloon cars lined up for our Xmas Champs meeting. Heat one drew 11 finished 7th. Heat two drew 4 finished 5th. So qualified 8th for the feature and after a solid few laps holding 8th spot all hell broke out when a car lost a rear wheel. In short the race was called so that was it. The racing in our grade was average and untidy myself included and I don't think one driver would be too happy with how the night ended. We now look forward to The Southern Slam on New Years Day. Cheers from all at X Factor Racing.

Photo: Graham and crew chief Paul Riley making a game plan for the feature race! Car running good and unmarked despite the carnage around us each race.

2014 Dec 21
21t in sick bay today. Stripped down and cleaned. Damage all assessed and game plan sorted. What a great fantastic awesome crew we have at X Factor Racing.

2014 Dec 11
X Factor Racing will be llining up this Saturday night at The Rock Riverside Raceway. Come and say hello in the pits. We have a number of wrist bands, lollies and key rings to give away. Summer means speedway.

2014 Dec 09
A brief summary of our first two months of racing. We have raced at three different tracks and lined up on the grid on fifteen different occasions. So we have started every race. We have had four DNF's Two self inflicted and two not of our own doing. We have somehow managed a few placings. We are happy that 21t is clearly quick enough but we are missing the odd set up and my driving needs to improve. Myself and the crew are thoroughly enjoying being part of speedway and have meet some wonderful people already.
So we aim to continue to learn and improve as ateam and chase that elusive winning formula. But most of all enjoy it and have fun.
See ya all at the next meeting somewhere down the line.

Cheers from all at X Factor Racing.