Steven Reynolds is not only one of the leading names on the Irish racing scene, but his legacy in the sport marks him as one of the leading names in banger racing full stop. ‘Hotsocks’ will be given his flowers in a testimonial event at the annual Tippwreck fixture at Tipperary Raceway on Sunday 12th April celebrating 30 years of action from Steven.
Hotsocks needs little introduction to the majority of race fans, but how would he describe himself. ‘In racing terms, I suppose I’ve been two separate people in the 30 years I’ve been racing. At the start, it was more about the hitting. There wasn’t as much emphasis on the winning – that didn’t matter to me. It was about the smashing and bashing and that’s what I really enjoyed, and the less serious feeling around that. Obviously in later years, there’s been a lot more money and racing involved in the sport. I did try to race for a while. I’ve won a few things, nothing that anyone would consider as anything major, but I’d much rather go out in an older car like a Jaguar and trash it. I’m certainly more of a hitter. That’s why I’ve gone back to the crashing and trying to get into the bigger races through entertaining.’
Unlike others, it wasn’t through following his parent’s footsteps as to how Steven got into racing. ‘I went to a track in Dublin called Santry Stock Car track with my brother and his friend, Greg O’Connor, when I was about 11 or 12 years of age. They then started racing there. It was very lowkey, local racing stuff, really minimal prep, we loved it, but you weren’t allowed to race there until you were 18 and it unfortunately closed down before I had the opportunity to join them. I basically got into it by going and watching and falling in love with it.’
It wasn’t too long before Steven got to race himself, however. ‘I started in 1996, and builds were very, very basic. We raced whatever we could get our hands on. Mostly Granadas, it didn’t matter, 2L, 2.3, 2.8, it was all bog-standard, nothing special – just kick the windows out and go. I managed to get to race at Santry. Luckily it reopened in 1997, so I got to race there then. Our build prep only really began to get better after the Tippwreck in around 1997, when the Birmingham Wasps and Don Anderson and a few others came over and we saw those builds. The roll cages, water tanks etc. That’s what made us start to change our build.’ From that moment, Steven’s racing changed dramatically. He went from a young lad who enjoyed a race and wreck around at his local, to exploring what the banger scene had to offer. ‘I first went over to England to watch in around 1998 or 99 for a PRI v Ringwood. I watched 2L Mk1 & Mk2 Granadas go at it, and that was it, I was hooked. I had to go and race in England then. That was proper racing! Ireland was good, but not that good. When we start going to England to race, and they came over here, that’s when racing got really good. I suppose the best way to compare it is that watching Irish racing was like to going to watch a Sunday league football game, and that meeting at Ringwood was like a top tier Premier League game.’ Steven admits that his level progressed from there. ‘My car prep became similar to that of the cars in England. There was maybe not as much welding, because we didn’t really have welders so it was just bolted, but engine wise it was just standard engines. That basically started to progress the more years progressed as we continued to go across to England. We had the introduction of Jaguars, Crowns and that kind of stuff with 4.2 engines and straight 6s. We didn’t spend much on the engines, but you wouldn’t race with a bad engine. Back then it was easier to get a better standard engine. It went from that to racing as much as we could. Smashing things up, pulling the car and going again just to make a name for myself.’
We’ve got this far, and you may be wondering how the name ‘Hotsocks’ came about. It wasn’t the first name he had plastered down the side of the cars, but a family joke became known around the racing scene, and it didn’t take long for the nickname to become permanent. ‘When I started off racing, I raced under the Blues Brothers team. That was an original team that my brother, Greg and Jimmy started at Santry. When they started I was only about 11, I was the joey running around getting things like the water – anything to get a shot at driving the cars around. The first thing that went on the cars when I started was The Blues Brothers. I raced in those colours at least 6 years. My brother didn’t last long, neither did Greg, as Santry closed down and they sort of gave up. When the track reopened they came back for patches for a season but fizzled out. There were a couple of other lads that came and went but I was mainly racing on my own. When we first painted the cars up, I had ‘Stevo’ painted on the side of the car, but when we went to England, we were all in different colours. I was in the blue, Cassidy was in green and yellow, Mark Hughes was red and white of Assassins and Ray McGrath was orange. People would say it would be good if we would all be in the one team, so we created Team Savage which was green and orange. In joining it we all agreed on the name and a slogan. The slogan actually came from the old Blitz magazines, as they would say the Irish had a never say die attitude. We then put nicknames on the side, and my brother told all the lads about a story of when I was a kid. I wouldn’t get up to go to school unless my socks had been put on the radiator and they were warm as I wouldn’t get up and stand on the cold floor, and I was christened ‘Hotsocks’ and that stuck. At that stage, when we going to England, I became to be known and it just felt natural to keep it.’
It’s clear that by this point, Hotsocks had began being a regular site at Banger meetings all over the UK and Europe, as well as his homeland. Team Savage would be the colours he adopted, but it wasn’t long before we got to see him in pink instead. ‘We had a good few members in Team Savage, but the problem was that it was inconsistent as you’d have 1 or 2 at one meeting, then 10 the next, and after 2 or 3 years, we closed the team because it didn’t make a lot of sense racing together as the others weren’t as dedicated as us. I stayed in the colours, but the team probably had fizzled out realistically a year before. I raced with various teams on guests appearances in the UK. The Assassins, Motley Krew, Kamikaze for instance but they were one-offs. Often I’d contact to see if anyone wanted a driver or I’d get a phone call to see if I was interested in taking part and that’s how I ended up in various other colours. I got asked to do a few Civil Wars, UK v Europe at both Warneton and Ipswich. I got to know a lot of lads, and they passed on their build tips. I got to know Shane (Davies 158), and he asked me to race with him at a team meeting, I think it was the Battle of Britain at Sheffield, as I would often get smashed up by Team Black and vice-versa, and from there I got asked to race full-time for The Condoms which I was delighted with. Back then they were a big team, they are still big now, but back then it was really the big rivalry; Team Black v Condoms. That’s when I really got to start winning races, as I was as quick as anyone and actually had some back up. It was more the odd-ball meetings that I won; Cortina meetings, Rover meetings, A60 meetings. When it came to World Finals, I didn’t have the money for the engines like the top boys that were winning the titles back then, but it began to come good. I raced with The Condoms for a good few years. I enjoyed that, really enjoyed my time with them. I raced at home in The Condoms colours a lot and naturally got smashed up when I was on my own, but the team came over and helped out and I’d go across and race in the colours too. Team Black and Jack Overy and Cotty Jnr were savage on track, but it wasn’t a bad rivalry. We’d speak off track and never had anything bad to say to one another. Shane decided he was going to go into the Saloon Stock Cars, barred-up Sierras as I call them, so we all separated and went our own ways and I went back to my own original colours. I’ve stayed in the orange and green ever since, other than the odd team meeting for people. I’ve enjoyed the Mildenhall 2L Team Championships, and the PRI Team Championships which I’ve won a few of those. I’ve been on my own pretty much since then until around 3 years ago when by son Jake (273) started to have a go. I’ve had other rivalries over the years – Northern Ireland boys; Leadfoot, Macnamara, Cassidy. When I was younger it was a little bit messy, my attitude wasn’t right but as I’ve got older my attitude has changed and I just smile. He smashed me up, who cares, it’s not the end of the world. Another rivalry, a silly one at that, was with 388 Stevo McGrath. He was my best friend at the time and things by other people were said on the internet and it mixed things up. I remember Stevo being with us since he was about 7 years of age, but we ended up smashing each other up all the time for a couple of years. I stopped him head on at a World Final, and at the hotel he came over and said look this needs to stop, we’re smashing each other up for no reason and we’re back to being good mates since. We go racing where we can together. I was delighted for him winning the World Final. He’s really one of the top Irish drivers now. There was never any bad rivalries really, some people took it to heart, but me, if they beat me, I’d just get another car and try again the next meeting, but it was never bad blood.’
Steven mentions Jake joining him out on track now. For many years, Steven has been a bit of a sole-ranger, so what is it like to have someone else on track to look out for. ‘Jake was a strange one. He didn’t have much interest in it as a kid. He would come to the odd meeting if his mum came to watch, but a couple of years ago said I wouldn’t mind a go at that. We built him a Rookie, and if I’m honest, I didn’t think he’d take to it at first. He didn’t know how to drive with clutch control and general racing, but he’s progressed well. What I like about Jake is that he has no fear. He wants to pull anything and will sit in anything. He’s very fix it, fix it, fix it, as long as the car is rolling. He’ll take his hits, and there’s never any waving and thumbs down. He’s happy getting out of a smashed car. He was like a duck to water really. I know he’s my son, but I really think he will be a good little driver. He has the mental aspect sussed. He’s not worried about who or what he hits. He’ll take a little while getting up to speed racing wise, but I think he has come on well. Jake gave me the boost to get back into it. Up until that I was doing the odd meeting. I hadn’t really had the interest in doing every meeting. I hadn’t qualified for the World Final in a few years, I’d done the odd last chance but wasn’t too pushed about it, but now we’re back full-bore and qualified once again for the World Final last year, and we’re pushing each other along. It’s nice to be doing it with him and I’m enjoying that side of the racing now and the lads that are with us now. Over the years, people come and go, with the mechanics side of things, but all lads that give us a hand have always been sound and we’ve enjoyed the craic with them. We always aim to get a car back out, and I think that’s what we’ve become renowned for over anything else, we’d always try our hardest. There was a time at Arena Essex when I was with The Condoms. You weren’t allowed out unless you had 4 wheels on the car, and we ran out of time to sort the axle properly, so we hammered a big trolley wheel in and bolted it, and got to the gate and the man said “well he has 4 wheels on the car and those are the rules and they let me out” – it’s those sort of things that people remember and we aimed to make it out on track if we could.’
Getting reflective, I asked Steven to relive some meetings that stand out of him being part of over the years. There are many highlights that standout from a spectator point of view. The All-Granada meeting at Ringwood, winning the All Rover and All Cortina meeting Finals the same weekend at Ipswich and Swaffham, the cool cars, but it’s nice to get his perspective on top moments. ‘Tracks we raced at changed over the years. One of the main ones we done was Ringwood between 2000 and 2006, the UK Open, and that was probably one of the biggest meetings of the year at that point. We ventured across to Arena Essex for the Firecracker and PRI World Championship. I liked both of those tracks. I enjoyed Mildenhall for the 2 Litre sessions. I went to Warneton, Belgium in 2005/2006 for the World Cup and I did that for 5 or 6 years in a row. That was always a great year. I done a few King of the Peaks too, but as time progressed, those sort of meetings and the Ringwood UK Open weren’t as big and other meetings became bigger. I done two World Finals at Wimbledon, as well as a Figure of 8 and Norma meeting. That was a great track, and the stadium too. I got on well on visits to Cowdenbeath. We started going to Kings Lynn, with the Icebreakers. We would tend to pick out tracks and meetings that we hadn’t done and do those. Nowadays, I do meetings like the World Final to see if I can see if I can keep on pace with people. I’ve tried a lot of tracks in England, but I’d say Ipswich and Mildenhall are my favourites. It’s always been a good track of mine. It’s very fast and the nights out are good too. I wouldn’t say the World Final is my favourite meeting, but I always try to get to it. I seek out the pre-meetings now. Although I still race the Jaguars regularly, I love them, but they are no good anymore against the modern cars. It’s getting to the stage where they are pretty rotten, so you’re having to spend longer on them to make them safe and then getting squashed by something more modern and stronger and you can certainly feel it. I do love a Jaguar, but I’d say the best is a Crown. I had a few at Ringwood and they were unstoppable. They were good against all-sorts of their age but against modern day stuff, it’s a different ball game. I’ve raced a couple of Mercedes now. I’m starting to get the hang of them – stronger cars and easier builds. I don’t really want to be racing the Mercedes, but you’ve got to move with the times or you will get left behind. There’s more emphasis being put back on the crashing nowadays, with the Entertainer Leagues and those sort of things and it’s giving the me the opportunity to still race the Jaguars as a way of getting into the bigger races.’
The next section does contain spoilers, as it reveals details about Hotsocks upcoming testimonial, so for those that don’t want to know details, now is your time to stop reading. With that being said, at time of writing there are around 80 Bangers set to compete including separate legends races. Steven informs us of his plans for the day. ‘We aim to take 4 cars to the meeting. 3 cars for me and 1 for Jake. We will each have a Jaguar XJ6 4.2. I will use mine for the main races. I’m bringing a Mk2 Ford Granada for the Legends races. I’ve done separate races for them as there are some who don’t want to be in the thick of, so out of respect thought it would be good to do that for them. I have a Rover P5 for the DD. If I’m honest I don’t think the Jaguar will make it that far, so that’s why I’m bringing the Rover. I can’t not have a DD for my testimonial, I’ve always liked a DD and got a few wins in them. It’s a good craic with the hitting and everyone is out there to trash their motors.’
That’s not it for Steven. The testimonial is not the one, not by any means. ‘We are going to push on this year, me and Jake. I’m going to keep racing for as long as I can. My body aches with pains as I get older, but I’ll keep going and Jake will keep me going for a little while. I want to try to be there for Jake, and push him to eventually take over the reigns and I’ll be helping him, but I’ll continue to race as much as I can and do as much as I can while I can. We are looking to come over to England for Victor’s meeting and Mushy’s one too. If we can, hopefully qualify for the World of Shale and World Final. People say I’m mad, I’m old and I shouldn’t be doing it, but we’ll keep going and do all the domestics at home too with a bit of luck.’
As always, I ask those I interview to name their dream 5 drivers to accompany them in a 6-a-side line up. It’s one that gets them thinking and also provides insight into what they value in those they share the track with. ‘That’s a good question. Who would I like in my team? I suppose going back to when I was really on the pace, the top driver would be 617 Jack Overy. Even though I warred with him, he is a savage driver and his cars are always prepped to top level. He can hit when he wants to, he can really hit, but he can get a win if you need. Both he and Shane are very alike, Shane maybe has a bit more of the getting car back out attitude, and obviously he has to go in. Nutty Nige (421 Nigel Riley) will have to go in. The amount of times he has raced against me, smashing things up and always involved. I always enjoyed watching Andy Holmes (Psycho 09), so he will have to go in. The last spot I’d have to give to 47 Andy Davies. His sheer driving capability. The way he gets cars to handle and go round so well, when others struggle. That would be my top team I suppose. Nowadays there are several drivers that I rate. The likes of Jonesey (341 Andy Jones), Boogie (252 Steven Bugler), Bro (247 Lee Clarke) and his team, Aftermath boys. I don’t particularly know many of them, so I think it’s easier to pick from the era that I was flat out.’
Steven would like conclude the interview with tokens of appreciation to those that have helped over the years. ‘There’s many to thank. Ray McGrath got me in to the racing years ago, he brought me on the truck before I had one myself and has been a big help over the years. All the lads that have helped over the years – Bussers, Richie and lads through the years like John Ryan who’s in the yard now with us. There’s so many to say thanks to, lads that were there at the start and there still now. Tyre Bay have given us a few tyres, but we have done it mostly off of our own back. My family and wife Joanne who has had to put up with it for 30 years.’
We’d like to congratulate Steven on his 30 years behind the wheel, and look forward to many more years of racing. His testimonial takes place at Tipperary Raceway on Sunday 12th April for Unlimited Bangers.
