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First Time Winners at Round 4 Track Champs

Written by Jay Jukes. Posted in News

Grant Radcliffe - OutlawsGrant Radcliffe - Outlaws (Photo courtesy www.highrpm.com.au)A hotly contested Round 4 of the Track Championship Series was seen at Hidden Valley Drag Strip on Saturday night where for the first time this season Dieter Herrmann was knocked off the first place podium.

In a small Outlaw field Herrmann met Grant Radcliffe in the finals. Only new to the bracket, Radcliffe showed fine form beating Herrmann off the line with a winning 0.038 second reaction time. It was enough to maintain the lead throughout the run, finishing with an 8.54 second pass on an 8.50 second dialin.

Super Sedan was also drama setting with Des Groves only just able to make the finals after suffering a flat tyre. Some hurried repairs saw him accept the tree but the win went to Wayne Harris with a 10.505 second pass on a 10.22 dialin.

Things are looking up for drag racing down south

Written by Kym Oberauer. Posted in News

Calder Park Raceway celebrating 50 yearsTake your mind back to 2001. John Howard was the Prime Minister of Australia, Ansett went into administration and the local version of Big Brother went to air.

More importantly for drag racing fans and competitors, 2001 was the last year an ANDRA championship drag race was held at Calder Park Raceway, the home of drag racing during the golden years of the early to mid 90s.

11 years have gone past and a lot of water has flowed under the Calder Park Bridge since then. With the appointment of Greg Humphries as ANDRA CEO back in July 2011, a reinvigorated effort was made to get ANDRA drag racing back at Calder Park.

From little things big things grow

Written by Kym Oberauer. Posted in News

Collin Willshire - Factory XtremeBack in 1991 Ray Box had no idea that a one-off meeting for the VW Drivers Club of Queensland would turn into Australia’s most popular and prestigious hi-tech drag racing event – the Sport Compact Group’s Jamboree.

Sick of being hassled by the V8 brigade, Ray, Mark Stanbury, Dave Butler and a couple of other guys approached Dennis Syrmis of Willowbank Raceway to get their own event up and running.

With the green light to go ahead, they contacted all the local 4 cylinder and rotary clubs to make up the numbers and cover the costs.

What’s better than an ANDRA Supercharged Outlaws Championship?

Written by Kym Oberauer. Posted in Sportsman

Matty Watts - Supercharged OutlawsThat would be two ANDRA Supercharged Outlaw Championships. And that’s exactly what Matt Watts was able to achieve with a runner-up finish at the 2012 ANDRA Winternationals.

Hailing from Alice Springs, Matt got his first taste of drag racing when his dad, Guy Watts, a 20 year veteran of the sport, gave his son the option of continuing to race dirt go-karts or lose the skirt (ED: I added that bit) and go drag racing in the families’ modified altered.

After a short stint of 3 races behind the wheel of the altered, Matt made the move to Brisbane to play professional Rugby League for the Redcliffe Dolphins after being spotted by a local talent scout.

Track Champs Points Chase Heats Up

Written by Jay Jukes. Posted in News

Geoff Hawkins modified bikeGeoff Hawkins Modified Bike (Photo courtesy www.highrpm.com.au)The second half of the Hidden Valley Drag Strip Track Championship Series is set to unleash this Saturday night and the points chase is starting to hot up.

The Super Sedan of Grant Rowe has a respectable 40 point lead over Steve Schruers and to date has been the only Super Sedan competitor to make it to two finals berths throughout the year. With four events still to go Rowe will have to be on his game to maintain his momentum.

Super Street and the Super Toyworld Junior Dragster brackets are a similar story with Shaun Boyer holding a 30 point lead over David Voysey in Super Street and new comer Darcy Muller 40 points clear of equal second place holders Travis Hagen and reigning champion, Jodie Coles.

Steve Reed - Are we having fun yet?

Written by Kym Oberauer. Posted in Professional

Reed Racing Top Alcohol Funny CarThe 2012 Winternationals didn't quite start out as planned for Steve Reed and the Reed Racing Team. Truth be told, for a split second Steve thought it was the end of his drag racing career.

How did it get to this? Let’s go back a few years to January 2009.

It was the Night Fire Champs at Willowbank Raceway and as Steve passed the 1000ft mark the engine let go in his Top Alcohol Funny Car. A massive fire ball erupted from under the body, obscuring Steve’s vision as he slid out of control into the braking area.

Steve walked away from the crash with some minor injuries but with some significant damage to his back pocket.

How to build your own drag strip and go racing

Written by Kym Oberauer. Posted in News

Fuchs South Coast Raceway 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.