They call Bob Shepherd “the quarter mile smile” and the veteran Sydney fuel jockey had good reason to smile as he put away the more fancied teams of Andrew Cowin and Phil Lamattina. This was his first fuel final since the peddling a fuel funny car to a win at the 1978 Nitro Champs at the olde Castlereagh strip. “I last won a fuel car meeting last century and I thought well I better win this one for this century because I’m not going to be around for the next century”, he explained to all and sundry. While he didn’t win, this shot taken after his semi-final win, more than makes up for it as daughter, Amanda (inside the cockpit) also agrees.