[ Printable Version | Create PDF ]

The Barossa Can Claim Fine Wines And Now Egel !
Author : John Burton

The Barossa Valley township of Nuriootpa can be somewhat sleepy at this cold and damp time of the year, but the air was hot around the T&S Refrigeration & Electrical Business premises on Friday, July 16th, when invited guest's were 'coming in out of the cold' to take a first hand look at the newest thing to hit town!

As major sponsors of the Egel Racing, S 29 "Quick Time" Sprintcar, T&S principal Tony Whitehair & company accountant, Chris Lee, proudly introduced fellow workers, customers, suppliers and other business partners to one of Australia's emerging speedway stars, in Matt Egel and the new S 29 sprintcar.

Chris Lee said " I really feel that the Barossa will take to young Matt and the team, and with local backing (from T&S) they can be proud of the fact that there is a fully dedicated race team originating out of Nuriootpa".

Peter Michaels of PM Race Engines was on hand to talk to the 'prospective rev heads' who all just had to know "how much horse power does this thing produce"?? Peter inevitably responded with "the average Sprintcar is developing around 850hp". One able mathematician quickly worked out that with the weight ruling of 657Kgs for car and driver that this was "around 1.25HP per Kilo" !! This likeable local added.." These things are like a Jatz Cracker with an Outboard"!

Not only being the teams engine builder, PM Race Engines will now also be supplying Egel Racing with the brand new "Quick Time" Chassis and spare parts, owned by long time campaigner Allan Woods.

David Grose from Hoolagators, All American Diecast was present too, and displayed a fabulous scale model S 29 Egel Sprintcar, built by Jason Taylor of Winged Wonders and with a new range of Matt Egel collectables, including coffee mugs, mouse pads, new posters and key rings, designed by Stephen Purchase of SP Designs and the gathered throng were totally impressed with both the professionalism and enthusiasm of the entire race team. Crew members Gary & Darren were on hand to talk to guests, and to give them an insight into sprintcar racing in Australia today.

A touching speech by Kevin Egel, Matts dad, had the gathered group quiet, as Kevin thanked Chris & Tony, their wives, families, employees and friends, for their faith and foresight in backing the 25 year old in his quest to take on both Australia and America's best, when the 2010/11 season gets underway, come September. "You can all see the professional way in which Tony & Chris run this great business, and its that professionalism, backed with fun, that we will take racing this year". Kevin said. He finished with " We have always known that Matt has the ability, the natural talent, and with the backing of T&S, he now has the equipment to move further ahead in with his career."

Matt also thanked all those present for showing an interest in his racing, and a special big thankyou was saved for Chris & Tony, and of course, his mum Jenny.

A highlight of the afternoon at Nuri (Nuriootpa) was when Matt presented 7 year old Ben Lee (Grandson of Chris and Pam) with a replica S 29 remote controlled sprintcar. To simplify a long story, it was young Ben that first got "grandad" (Chris) interested in Matt Egel, when Ben asked Chris to get him a photo of Matts car. The end result was Chris got the photo, and ended up being a major shareholder in the race team! Matt thanked Ben for his insistence on grandad getting that photograph.

With pledges of support being shown from other local business houses, Chris Lee is very confident that the team will run a very full schedule of racing for the season ahead, and apart from supporting events at Adelaides Speedway City, the team will also travel a large amount, to ensure that they all gain the experience and the exposure that both they and their sponsors require, and after seeing the new equipment available to the team this year, feeling the enthusiasm amongst team principals and the crew, the name Matt Egel will be amongst Australia's high ranking speedway competitors for the season's to come.

For more information on Matt Egel / T&S Racing contact either Chris Lee on 0488 503 405 or Andrew Carlier on 0417 880 525.

The T&S Team, poised for a big year. 2nd from left Tony Whitehair. 3rd from the right, Chris Lee with wife Pam in front.

Matt presents Ben Lee with his RC Sprintcar!

Matt & Ben and the two T&S Cars!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4xgnMlk4zY Ride with Matt !

Ice Cool and Electrifying !