Casterton Street Drags - celebrating 21 years of grass roots racing

Casterton Street Drags - celebrating 21 years of grass roots racing

Located 43kms west of the border with South Australia, the Victorian town of Casterton can lay claim to a number of historic events. For example, did you know Casterton is the birth place of the Kelpie breed or working dog? Neither did I.

More importantly to drag racing fans though is the fact that every year since 1991, the Casterton and District Drag Racing Club has run Australia's only legal drag race on a public road. This year the club will celebrate 21 years of the Casterton Street Drags with the running of the event this Saturday, the 17th of November.

It all started when a couple of local lads, who were into drag racing, decided to hold a local event rather than having to drive to Melbourne, Adelaide or Heathcote to satisfy their need for speed. So back in 1991 they went looking for options and came up with the idea of closing off one of the local roads.

With the paper work lodged and approved by the local authorities the Casterton Street Drags was born. Over the years they've had some pretty quick cars run down the 1/8th mile strip of public road, with some brave souls cracking into the 6.50s. Pretty stout when you consider the road has a fair camber on it and the only thing stopping you from ploughing through a local farmer's fence is a hay bale or three.

But to many that's the main attraction. Real street drags in real street cars roaring down a country road. Grass roots racing at its very best and purest, where men are men and the local livestock are deaf from the roar of an un-muffled engine.

Track prep comes in the form of an 8 litre spray pump of VHT and if you're unlucky enough you may see a brown snake or two. Only joking... but you're advised to tuck your jeans into your socks just in case.

Being the 21st anniversary of the event you can expect something extra special this weekend. Apart from the drags, Stuntz Inc. will be on hand to wow the crowd with their two wheel antics plus there will be a huge burnout comp after the drags are finished.

Saturday evening you'll also be able to enjoy some real country hospitality when the club holds the after party at the Casterton Football Club, where horsepower figures are bound to be exaggerated and losing margins narrowed to mere thousandths of a second.

What more could you ask for? Grass roots drag racing, blokes doing crazy stunts on bikes and big burnouts, followed up by a good feed, good company and a few beverages to wet the whistle.

Now that's the sort of country living I could get used to...