Nowra

It

seemed everyone wanted to go drag racing in the early 1990s as the sport simply exploded. In 1992, with a new Canberra track in operation, Eastern Creek Raceway kicking goals every month and the Tamworth DRA knocking out its annual events, there couldn’t be said to be many vacancies in the calendar of racing in NSW. But that didn’t stop the Shoalhaven Drag Racing Club from kickstarting racing on the main runway of Nowra’s HMAS Albatross naval air station.

A co-operative officer in charge, who actually promoted the idea, and an energetic club made the running of events over an eighth-mile possible. The first event was held at the end of 1992, with all proceeds going to charities and a proposed motorsport and driver-training complex planned to be built behind the air base.

Plans were initially to hold four to six events per year, subject to other activities at the station, but events became a bit patchy through until January 1997. Shortly after this a new commander-in-chief was appointed who immediately decided that he was running a naval air base and not a motorsport precinct and the drag racing at Nowra came to a sudden halt.