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next event on the ‘One Bad Kiwi’ calendar is the Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Cars event at Willowbank Raceway in Queensland on April 30 — and I tell you what: it feels like a long time between events already, let alone what it’ll feel like by the time April 30 gets here. I know the team and I are very excited about getting back to Aussie and learning more about racing the nitro cars. One thing that people have been asking me since I’ve been racing these cars is what the difference is between driving the nitro and alcohol funny cars. I’m not sure there is a simple way to describe the difference, but I’ll give it a go. The Aeroflow nitro funny cars, unlike other nitro cars, still have a twospeed transmission, and the shift points are critical to making these things go fast. Something that I think is really cool about the Cowin Family Racing cars is the lack of shift light or tacho — and when I say ‘lack’, I mean there is none: you shift gear when it sounds and feels right! That is certainly challenging, as the sound difference between the two cars is huge. Talking about the lack of electronics, there are no data loggers on these cars, either; the tune-ups are done from reading the spark plugs, measuring the clutch, and what can be seen and felt by crew and driver. Now, don’t get confused; you are certainly allowed to have shift lights and data loggers, etc. — many teams do have them — but the Cowin Family Racing cars don’t. Personally, I like it; it brings the skills of the driver and the crew chief back into it — plus, if you look at all the close and wild passes, it clearly works for all involved. Now, in terms of driving the cars: it certainly is more — I’m not sure if this is the correct word — intense. The vibrations when the engine is running are way more violent; you really feel the hit of the throttle when you launch, and there seems to be a lot less overall vision while accelerating. I’m not sure why, but everything seems just that much blurrier — again, I’m not sure if that’s the right word. The nitro car has a more of a tendency to fight you and move around on the