Things are looking up for drag racing down south

Take 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.

With Greg Humphries working closely with Bob Jane and Calder Park Raceway’s general manager Ian McArthur, 3 ANDRA sanctioned events have been confirmed for the coming season:

• 10 November 2012 – Top Fuel & Top Bike
• 16-17 February 2013 - Top Doorslammer & Prostock
• 19-20 October 2013 - Top Fuel & Top Bike

As Ian points out, "We’re quite happy with the way things are coming along. It's a two way-street for Calder and ANDRA. There's got to be something in it for both of us to keep racing in Victoria."

While Greg has stepped down as CEO to take on a consulting role, Ian McArthur and the acting ANDRA CEO Rob Sharp have continued to work together to ensure that the events go ahead as planned.

Top Fuel and Top Bike return to Calder Park Raceway

November 10 2012 will see the return of Top Fuel and Top Bike to Calder Park Raceway under an ANDRA sanction, representing rounds of their respective national championships.

Run over 1000 feet (a precedent set in the US for safety reasons), Ian McArthur is expecting a strong field of cars and bikes for the event after speaking with teams at the recent Willowbank Raceway Winternationals.

With $250k earmarked for advertising, including local TV, the aim is to get 30,000 spectators through the gates, 9,000 up on the event held back in February 2012. If things go as planned this should work out nicely for major sponsors Fuchs Lubricants and webtyre.net.

For the sportsman racers, Calder Park will run their regular brackets over the more traditional quarter mile (1320 feet).

Ian McArthur has indicated that entries will be limited to 150 competitors. This is to help make sure the event runs as smoothly as possible and to avoid some of the issues experienced at the February 2012 event.

“Hindsight’s a beautiful thing. We tried to run 3 of our normal brackets - it was way too much.

It would have been good if it had run all to plan - but we had a few oil downs and a few issues with our timing system swapping it back from 1000 foot to quarter mile. The timing system didn't like being flicked on and off. So we had a couple of delays to sort that out.

That’s why we are only running 150 cars. Qualifying will be in the morning and will finish in the afternoon. Eliminations will be in the evening. The event will be streamlined so we'll be able to cope with any oil downs or delays."

The sportsman brackets will not be sanctioned by ANDRA. Sportsman competitors will therefore not require an ANDRA licence or ANDRA technical inspection. Ian McArthur explains...

“We want to look after our loyal supporters and not force them to become ANDRA members. Of the 200 cars that run regularly, only half would be ANDRA members. It would be unfair to force racers to become ANDRA members and we want to keep costs down.”

On the matter of costs, we’re all aware of the recent price increase for the legal off street drag events. Ian sights increases in insurance premiums, increased land taxes and funds to improve the track and facilities.

What the future holds

Apart from the three ANDRA sanctioned events listed about, Calder Park is looking to headline a number of brackets at their own events. This could include race meetings featuring Top Fuel, Top Doorslammer, or wait for it.... Nitro Funny Car!

(ED: I still remember walking through the tunnel at Calder Park as a 20 year old to see Keith Agius’ Oz Nitro Funny car on the start line. It had been 10 years since my last drag race and it was simply awesome.)

While no dates have been confirmed yet, according to Ian they’re “still in negotiations about future dates but the demand is there and the general public are asking when the next event will be on.”

As the warmer months approach, legal off street drags will return to Friday nights along with the current Saturday events, giving competitors two chances every fortnight to test their metal in a safe, legal and controlled environment.

And if you’re a bit nervous about the prospect of facing the Christmas tree for the first time, Calder Park’s drag school may just be what you need.

From the Calder Park website:

“Here at Calder Park we run a Drag School before each race event which is conducted by both the staff at Calder as well as current Calder drag racers. This class is designed to educate those who wish to race at Calder on safety as well as the do's and don'ts of drag racing.”

Classes will be run at 6pm before each Friday night in conjunction with the legal off street drags.

I think is fair to say that Calder Park Raceway has a ways to go to return to its former glory. However, work is being done to the track and facilities as funds allow.

High on the to-do list is isolating the drag strip from the national circuit before Christmas. Work has begun on this by moving a few hundred tonnes of dirt from behind the NASCAR garages. Calder Park is also looking into installing a purpose built burnout pad which should give all you burnout masters an itchy right boot.

So looking ahead, ANDRA is back at Calder Park Raceway, which will be a real shot in the arm for Victorian drag racing.

But as Ian points out, “We all have to go in the same direction even if you’re a Calder supporter or not. We all need to get together and provide the general public with what they want. We can get back to the early 90's - it's quite doable.”