How to build your own drag strip and go racing

Victor Bray lights 'em up at the Slamfest

In 1999 Portland drag racers would spend their Saturdays hanging a few skids down at the local airport. All legit of course, organised by the Portland drag racing community under the watchful eye of the airport authorities.

Like most temporary facilities however, when traffic at the airport increased it meant that the drag racers would need to find a new purpose built home.

So about 15 to 20 of the local drag racers got together and decided to look for an alternative place to race. Step 1 was to register a new club and a few months later the South Coast Drag Racing Association was born. Step 2 was to look for a suitable block of land and source funding from which ever level of government would come to the party.

Let’s just say step 2 took a lot longer than step 1. In fact, 4 years after setting up the new club the guys were no closer to finding a block of land or raising the funds to build a drag strip. Not from a lack of trying mind you. If you’ve been following attempts by other organisations to build drag strips in Australia you’ll understand how difficult this can be.

One of the founding members of the club is Dean Cleary. John Cleary, Dean’s dad, could see how desperate the guys were to build their own drag strip, so he generously offered to lease the club 30 acres of his own land.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained

For the princely sum of $1 the club now had a 10 year lease on a piece of land that would fit an 1/8^th mile drag strip. Now all they needed was the funding (much easier said than done). Initial estimates were set at $120,000 to build the drag strip and put in very basic facilities.

Once again they were unsuccessful sourcing funding from the government so they decided to organise an overdraft. John Cleary went guarantor and 6 club members entered into agreements with John, so that if the poo hit the fan they would all be liable for a portion of the debt.

Talk about commitment and passion for drag racing!

While there were a couple of objections to building a drag strip, the local council granted the permits in 2004. With the green light, 5 trucks ran back and forth from the local quarry for 2 weeks to deliver the base for the drag strip.

Initially the plans were to start small and keep costs down. Through the generosity of local businesses the club had much of what they need to get started. Two major parts of the infrastructure were donated by the Alcoa aluminium smelter in Portland; the control tower is a gatehouse from the smelter and the club rooms are one of the accommodation units.

After 2 years of toil and hard work South Coast Raceway opened its gates to racers and fans on February 4th 2006.

It was a very special day club secretary Scott Cleary remembers. “Who can say that they got 20 of their mates together and built a race track in such a short amount of time and made it work that well?"

From Super Street to Slamfest

From humble beginnings where a 6 second car was considered quick, now days you’ll need to run mid 5s in Super Sedan to have lane choice in the 1^st round of racing.

Even with racers going quicker and quicker, it was beyond the clubs wildest dreams that they would ever have doorslammers run down the track. But after being approached by the Slamfest organisers in 2009, this is exactly what happened. "We never intended to get to this size. If you'd ever said to us that we would have doorslammers there in 5 years time we would have laughed and said you're a fool, go away. “, Scott recalls.

Sean Mifsud and Peter Kapiris wow the capacity crowd

With all of the earnings going back into the track, the club has continued to improve the facilities including a permanent shower block, sealed return road, longer run off area and improvements to the staging lanes to name a few.

The Slamfest continues to be a marquee event for the track and the 2013 edition will be no exception. The Make a Wish Foundation is also an integral part of the event. Always looking for ways to give back to the community, South Coast Raceway is very proud to have raised over $22,000 for the foundation over the past few years.

What’s coming up down south?

With a new 10 year lease signed the track is now turning its attention to creating a plan for the future; a mix of moving forward and paying back the original overdraft.

High on the agenda will be range of improvements for racers and spectators; a purpose built scrutineering bay, resurfaced braking area, additional lighting and more pit power.

There’s a definite shift to attracting bigger cars, providing more of a spectacle for fans and trying different event formats. A great example of this is the Nostalgia Nitro meeting which will be held on December the 1^st 2012. Fans can look forward to match racing between two nostalgia nitro funny cars and two nitro front engine dragsters.

South Coast Raceway Event Calendar

• October 13th 2012 – Test ‘n Tune
• November 2nd 2012 - Friday Off Street Drags
• November 3rd 2012 - Dash for Cash
• November 30th 2012 - Friday Off Street Drags
• December 1st 2012 - Nostalgia Nitro Meeting
• January 4th 2013 - Friday Off Street Drags
• January 5^th & 6^th 2013 - Supercharged New Year - Rocket All Stars Racing Series
• February 1^st & 2^nd 2013 – Pro Modified Australia Slamfest
• March 1st 2013 - Friday Off Street Drags
• March 2nd 2013 - Victorian Sportsman Shootout
• April 5th 2013 - Friday Off Street Drags
• April 6th 2013 - 1/8th Mile Outlaws

Rocket All Stars Racing Series comes to town

Another big step forward for South Coast Raceway is the inclusion of a round of the Rocket All Stars Racing Series (RARS) to the calendar. This is the first time a RARS round will be run over the 1/8^th mile distance.

Historically the rules didn’t allow for ANDRA championship racing to be conducted over less than the full ¼ mile. However, to provide more racing opportunities the rule book has been updated to include 1/8^th mile and 1000ft racing distances.

Scheduled for the 4^th and 5^th of January 2013, the RARS round is part of the ANDRA drag racing championship for sportsman racers, consisting of groups 2, 3 and 4. As Scott explains, “we are definitely running groups 3 and 4 but we’re looking closely at the feasibility of group 2. We’ll be speaking with representatives of the group 2 classes to make sure it’s viable for everyone involved and the track can handle it.”

With a RARS round coming to South Coast Raceway there is more incentive for racers chasing an ANDRA championship to make the trip down south. Local fans will be able to experience drag cars and bikes they would otherwise be unlikely to see in the flesh. And with an influx of racers to the town the local economy of Portland is bound to benefit.

To all those that make it possible – we salute you

South Coast Raceway has come a long way in 6 years, none of which would have been possible without the generosity of sponsors and volunteers.

As Scott points out, “Basically we’ve been going out to track every weekend for the last 6 years. It's really hard to do. We're very fortunate to have a dedicated bunch of guys. We have such good people in the club; they’re all very committed to helping out.”

With the continued success of race meetings the club is always looking for new members and volunteers. If you’d like to help out you can contact South Coast Raceway via their website or download a membership form.