Scott's Down Under Slay Ride
Some of the highlights of Southern USA Late Model driver Scott Slay's visit to Australia in the summer of 2000/01

Text and all images Copyright Graham Mison.
Fly 'em High Boys
Girdlestone and Slay fly the flags. Left click for a larger image.
Nick Girdlestone and Scott Slay fly their countries flags at PCR on January 10, 2001.
The Mississippi Missile. That's what they call Scott Slay in the southern USA Late Model circuit. Back in the summer of 2000/01 he ran a limited number of Super Sedan events at Parramatta and the Newcastle Motordrome driving a Dodge Avenger sponsored by G-Force Engines of Newcastle. The Avenger was a new beast to Slay in Super Sedan form, right hand drive instead of left and down on horses compared to his usual Late Model ride. He also discovered that Australian tracks receive more water at the start of a meeting than is usual in the US.

The regular Newcastle and Sydney sedan peddlers were itching to take on the Yank as

well as a number of inter-staters his appearance was going to attract. Robert Carrig was one that was in fine form having grabbed the Feature win in his first appearance at Newcastle in round 3 of the Gough & Gilmour series on December 16 at the wheel of the always well presented red #2 Tool Specialists Commodore. Newcastle was one of the hot beds for Super Sedans in NSW with regular fields of around 20.
David Lander, who had signed up the 'Missile', promoted both it and Parramatta. Parramatta was Sprintcar City with just 1 major and 1 minor Super Sedan Show scheduled for the season, the Motordrome on the other hand ran regular shows for the division including a series sponsored by Gough and Gilmour. Elsewhere in the state the Supers numbers and interest had been on the decline. The recently run state title, held at Lismore and won by Jamie McHugh, had only attracted 15 entries and more than half of those had come from over the border in Qld.
Missile Command Centre
Cockpit of Slay's Dodge Avenger, left click for a larger image.
Cockpit interior of the USA1 Avenger, typical of its time it has minimal controls and gauges.
In the week before Christmas, Slay was introduced to his mount for this down under sojourn with a practice session at the Motordrome. The car, owned by Glen Durham and Pam Crisp, was one of the best-presented cars of its time. In a basic white scheme with large USA1 on the doors in red and white with a sweep of blue flowing to the rear. The Confederate flag adorned the bonnet, this flag is part of the Mississippi State flag, and 'Mississippi Missile' across the top of the windshield area.

First time out at the 400 metre Newcastle track on December 26 saw the bearded Slay take a win in Heat 1, followed by a second in Heat 2. After a midfield start in the 25 lap Carline Mufflers final he began battling with John Pyne. Pyne made his way forward to second with Bernie Roberts leading. Peter Garratt in 3rd was fending off the American

when Slay went high into the 4th turn momentarily slowing and becoming a moving target for Keith Sims who could not avoid the rear of the Avenger. The heavy impact saw Sims almost roll over as his car spun and Slay's car suffer rear end panel damage.
This incident brought on one of those oh-to-common controversial stewards decision that saw Slay sent to the rear of the field! When the racing restarted Pyne made his way to the lead 7 laps from home with Bernie Roberts home second and Peter Garratt finishing third. After the racing Slay let his thoughts out on being put to the rear of the field "I've never been sent to the rear in Mississippi for what happened to the rear of my car. My responsibility is what I do with the front of the car, not what happens behind me." Not a great start to his Down Under racing.
Newcastle Motordrome, December 26, 2000 Carline Mufflers Super Sedan Feature, 25 laps: 1st: John Pyne, 2nd: Bernie Roberts, 3rd: Peter Garratt.
Three nights later Slay had his first look at the 460m Parramatta clayway for the Auto One sponsored feature. An entry of 36 cars fronted for this meeting, reversing the trend of declining numbers experienced at most NSW tracks over recent seasons. Promoter Peter Lander had signed Queenslanders Girdlestone and Korn to travel south to add some extra interest. Ron Pyne informed the American that he'd never been beaten in a feature at PCR for over 2 and a half years.

Slay could not believe how wet the track was for the first set of heats, commenting that "Back home when a track is like this we call it a rain out." He finished second to Scott McPherson in Heat 3 and second again to Des Korn in Heat 6. Slay started the feature on the inside of row 2 with John Pyne on his outside and Ron Pyne in front on Pole and Roberts to his right.

At the green the Pyne brothers jumped to a 1-2
He's A Rebel
USA1 Dodge Avenger, left click for a larger image.
Scott Slay was born and breed in the south of the USA and has always resided near the Mississippi. A proud Southerner, his Avenger's bonnett was adorned with the Battle flag of the south and he flew this flag along side the Stars and Stripes during the playing of the national anthems.
with Ron leading. Lap 5 saw a collision between McPherson and Slay. McPherson went to the rear. After the restart the Pyne boys raced hard and swapped the lead briefly before Ron extended to lead the field home after 25 laps. John suffered being sent to the rear after causing those behind him problems at a restart. Roberts crossed the line 2nd followed by Jamie McHugh. Several stoppages saw a number of cars looking second hand including Slay and Cris Sims who had a number of coming togethers. The last of which was out of turn 4 on the last lap, Slay crossed the line in front to score 4th. Chris Sims had had an unhappy night and loudly let the officials know it during the presentations. Still no feature win for the Southern visitor, who by reports was getting edgy.
Parramatta City Raceway, December 29, 2000 Auto One Super Sedan Feature, 25 laps: 1st: Ron Pyne, 2nd: Bernie Roberts, 3rd: Jamie McHugh.
January 6 saw Slay back at the Motordrome for the Engine Torque sponsored feature race. This time he started outside of Robert Carrig on the front row. Carrig jumped to the front but the "Missile" shot past him half way through the first lap to take the lead. After a hand full of laps Keith Smith spun bringing on a caution. At the restart Slay was again jumped by Carrig, the Southerner eventually passing him high into turn 4. The two battled for many laps untill the right rear of Carrig's Commodore sheared off. This moved young Keith Sims to second. At the green Sims moved to the lead but Slay once again battled through to position 1 until the next stoppage. Another restart and another slow response from Slay saw Sims back at the front. Slay then moved the USA#1 Avenger to the high line and pulled of a miracle pass to retake the lead. He held that spot to the chequer with young guns Luke Pyne and Tim Watts following him home.
Newcastle Motordrome, January 6, 2001 Engine Torque Super Sedan Feature, 25 laps: 1st: Scott Slay, 2nd: Luke Pyne, 3rd: Tim Watts.
Heat Action - January 10th
Heat wins to Slay, Girdlestone, Korn and Smith.
Barry Towers runs wide, left click for a larger image.
Barry Towers (Ford Thunderbird #17) runs wide, out to the tractor tyres, in turn 3.
Late afternoon heat action, left click for a larger image.
Steven Lynch (Chevy Corvette #4), Greg Smith (Ford Falcon #16) and Ed Newton (Chevy Corvette #19 -partially obscured) chase Robert Carrig's #2 Commodore.
Greg Smith, left click for a larger image.
Greg Smith (Ford Falcon #16) powers through turn 3.
Back at the 460m "Speedway by the Freeway" on January 10, for PCR's 17th meeting of the season, he was looking for a win to go with his feature success at Newcastle just days before. This and the previous hit out at Parramatta attracted over 30 entries. Queenslanders Nick Girdlestone and Des Korn were on hand with their Kumho Tyres sponsored Monte Carlos as well as Newcastle's finest including Carrig, Smith, Luke Pyne and young gun Tim Watts. The local trio of Chris, Dennis and Keith Sims showed along with Scott McPherson and ACT driver Warren White. PCR programme for meeting #17 2000/01 season - The Metalcorp International Challenge.
Sydney turned on a balmy clear night for this Wednesday show and at times it was an eire scene as flames from the tower at the Shell Clyde refinery shot 10-15 meters into the sky and a full Moon hung over the pits during the sedan feature.
After six 8 lap heats the line up for the Linde Forklifts 25 lapper (Below) saw the yellow and red #64 McKee Engines Commodore of Dennis Sims on pole with Scot McPherson's #7 Camaro sharing the front row. Warren White was on the inside of row 2 with Robert Carrig to his right. Greg Smith and Girldlestone occupied Row 3. Row 4 saw Des Korn Kumho team poster 2001

A good formation line-up as the field approaches the start line. PCR January 10, 2001.
on the inside with Slay in USA#1 on the outside. Wayne Aylett with John Pyne on his outside shared the 5th row with the rest behind them.McPherson jumped to an early lead with Dennis Sims taken by first Carrig then Girdlestone. They were followed by Slay with Pyne on his tail. The racing amongst these guys was hectic for the first handful of laps until Carrig and Girdlestone came together out of turn 4. Carrig was towed away with the Queenslander sent to the rear. The result of that was a fantastic drive through the field for an eventual 4th place for Girdlestone.

Opening laps at PCR, McPherson is out of picture in the lead.

At the restart McPherson once again got the jump on the field and led Slay and the rest. The battle between the Southerner and the Camaro driver one of the best of the season, with Slay alternating between the high and low line trying to find a

way past. Persistence paid off on lap 12 when McPherson went high into turn 4 allowing USA#1 to go underneath and into the lead.

That brought White onto the #7s tail and going through 2 they came together. McPherson exited backwards with White's Commodore spearing into the concrete outer fence half way down the back straight ripping off the right front wheel and destroying most of the right side, it spun around in a circle with the engine screaming until coming to a halt.

This was a big impact which happened just in front of me and I felt it through the ground as I took a couple of backwards steps from the fence but that was nothing compared to what Warren White must have felt. When he extracted himself from the car he was furious and confronted McPherson, a heated exchange took place with officials stepping in. The moment passed and the recovery crews went to work removing the two cars.

Slay took a commanding lead when the lights went green again, now leading Mark Everleigh in the #29 with Korn running third followed by Lynch. As each lap was marked off Slay's lead grew, the Avenger with a seemingly perfect setup for a track the import had found so foreign on first sighting. Homing in for the chequer the "Missile" didn't disappoint and took a well earned win. Everleigh crossed 2nd with Korn 3rd, his team mate Girdestone passing the rest to come home 4th followed by Lynch.
Commodore vs Concrete (Concrete 1, Commodore 0)
Left click for a larger image.
PCR crash crew look over Warren White's badly damaged Commodore.
Left click for a larger image.
White's car is lifted onto the recovery truck as, in the back ground, Slay leads the field around under yellows.
Parramatta City Raceway, January 10, 2001, Linde Forklifts Super Sedan Feature, 25 laps: 1st: Scott Slay, 2nd: Mark Everleigh, 3r d: Des Korn.
Whist this isn't the whole story it covers most of the best of some great summer Super Sedan racing on the East coast back at the turn of this century.
Scot Slay - Back In The USA
Since his short Australian tour, Slay has had some good results in several Late Model series in the south of the USA. The Mississippi State Championship Challenge (MSCC) has been one of his best with a fine list of results. 2001: 3rd, 2002: 2nd, 2003: 1st, 2004: 1st, 2006: 3rd. In 2007 he has been a double Feature winner in the series. The MSCC was started in 2001 and runs from March through to October.
The Southern United Professional Racing (SUPR) series has also seen some success for Slay including a win on August 31, 2007 at D'Lo Mississippi after first across the line David Ashley was disqualified for using titanium valves.

He has also tried his hand at some Asphalt Late Model races.
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