THUNDERPARK –

NZ’S LOST DRAGSTRIP

My first trip to Hastings’ Thunderpark was at the end of the ’70s, when I drove my Anglia panel van with no functioning fuel gauge from Wanganui to see Wild Bill Shrewsberry’s wheel-standing ‘LA Dart’. I wasn’t too far off in the fuel estimation, but a length of dowel for measurement will only take you so far and, in this case, I ran out near Pakipaki just south of Hastings. This led to a lessthan-stellar sleep in the back of the van — despite the shagpile carpet — on the side of the road during one of Hawke’s Bay’s hottest summers. It was worth it, though; I was hooked after seeing the US wheel-stander in action plus the nitro funny car of local Brett Wilson and impressive runs from the big block T-buckets of Wanganui racers Colin Hanlon and Roger Murray — the latter running a rare 429 Boss engine. In those early days, pit-side fans would drive their hot rods up onto the south bank, getting prime viewing positions, while those on the other side would make use of the grandstands. The dryness of the grass, combined with the odd errant cigarette, could keep the fire crew busy during a Hawke’s Bay summer, but at least fires in race cars were generally kept to a minimum. The strip had a great surface, and there appeared to be none of the bumps and dips that could make racing a little more challenging at other tracks. At one stage, during the ’90s, thanks to the efforts of Top Fuel pioneer Garth Hogan, Thunderpark could claim to be the fastest drag strip outside the US. Although nitro racers were relatively thin on the ground in the early days, that was always the big attraction, and nearly everyone would wait until the last fuel pass of the evening before the mad dash for the exits. Thunderpark pioneered night drags, and, as the air temperature cooled in the evening, the times dropped accordingly. On a still evening, the thunder of a fuel car could be heard on the other side of Hastings — and nobody seemed to complain. It’s hard to beat the sight and sound of a fueller at night — it’s a truly awesome sensory experience; arguably, no other race car on the

planet can so dominate the immediate environment and be impossible to ignore. While actual crashes were relatively uncommon, mechanical failures occurred frequently, and there were often some interesting ways of keeping the crowd entertained during the big clean-ups that would give Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and WorkSafe inspectors nightmares these days. An occasional strategy was to see some brave soul on the bank shoulder tapped to drive a large, but disposable, car over a ramp above a makeshift fire. Sometimes the car might even be set alight — or might end up that way after the usually feeble attempt to jump the fire. Unlike an Evel Knievel effort, the anticipation always outdid the performance, and an injury may have only occurred if some drunken member of the crowd had inadvertently wandered down the bank into the action, but, thankfully, that never happened. After a few years of racing my HK Monaro at Thunderpark, I moved to Dunedin for three years to complete training as a psychologist, before getting married and convincing my wife, Mary, that Hastings was a great place to start her teaching career. I may have neglected to mention the benefits of having a drag strip on the doorstep, but such details are easily forgotten when freshly hitched. Between passes on the drag strip, I would dash to the grandstands to try to get shots of the top cars with my rudimentary Cosina SLR camera. After sending New Zealand Hot Rod a few shots of wheel stands and burnouts — spoilt by a guard-rail photographer standing up at the critical moment — the late Rob Campbell offered me a job doing photos for the magazine. Suddenly, I was among the action, with a press pass getting me on the guard rail and all the photos that my basic skills and equipment would allow. Before long, Tony Johnson, who was doing a lot of work for the magazine at the time, handed over reporting duties to save him travelling down from Auckland for every meeting. I continued with that role for nearly 10 seasons, until the drag strip closure in 1998. These days, with the instant feedback of the digital age, anyone can take a great shot if they’re in the right place at the right time with decent equipment. However, rolls of film were a different story, and waiting for film to develop at the local Camera House could be nerve-racking and the results sometimes very disappointing. While on a trip to the US, I invested in a supposedly high-end manual-focus lens that was meant to allow zoom shots combined with wide-angle close work — ideal for guard-rail action shots. However, while things looked good through the camera, when the films were developed, every photo was slightly out of focus, and I binned the lens after a couple of outings. Improvements in technology led to eye-focus cameras, bigger and better flash units, and other innovations, but a manual focus and a reaction time similar to the racer seemed to be needed to capture the speed and violence of a Top Fuel dragster accelerating from a standstill to 160kph in less than a second.

“I RAN BEHIND THE RACE CARS LINING UP FOR BATTLE AND HAD BOTH JANDALS STICK TO THE TRACK SURFACE”

A challenge among a certain group of photographers was to stand your ground and get the shot even when a car seemed to be out of control and heading straight at your guard-rail position. This required a special blend of stupidity and dedication, helped somewhat by the obvious exposure and derision of the crowd if you dived for cover. In the days before guard rails were replaced by walls, this could make for some interesting moments. Still, any psychologist knows that, in the face of extreme stress, we are all programmed to fight, run away, or freeze — so, if the last of these kicked in, you were OK anyway and looked a lot braver than you felt. A few out-of-shape launches by Chris Tynan’s early version of his ‘Rat Attack’ ’55 Chev and Terry Sims’ wild Ferrari tested the mettle, and Steve Keys’ Mercedes’ twisted launches could be interesting, but drivers and photogs always seemed to play well together and nobody got run over. In terms of personal screw-ups, on one particular hot evening, I decided to try to get away with jandals, which were frowned on, to say the least, by the track crew — and for good reason, as it turned out. While changing positions for photos, I ran behind the race cars lining up for battle and had both jandals stick to the track surface in the burnout area and break at the thongs. There was some pointing and laughing directed my way as I sloped back to the car to retrieve the shoes I should have stuck with. Walking through the wiring that connected up the Christmas tree was another embarrassing moment —

especially when the track announcer broadcast that I’d brought the entire event to a halt, luckily only temporarily. However, probably the most annoying incident was when I went to my Monaro in the pits to change a camera lens and found a small dent in the bonnet. Years later, I was told by a local cop that he’d parked next to me in the pits and some guy had started throwing stones in the air to try to hit his car but had got mine instead. He said that he’d pursued the guy through the crowd on the bank but never caught up with him. I appreciated the effort, though, and it explained things. Thunderpark nearly always seemed to get the big — or rather, small — numbers in the record book, and seeing the first six- and five-second passes, the first side-by-side six, and fivesecond nitro passes was cause for celebration. International visitors, such as Aussie Top Fuel racer Rod Bradshaw, the US Lemon and Burr Top Alcohol funny car team, and, later, the doorslammers of Les Winter and the LAPD’s Tony Foti, all put on a great show and were sometimes out-performed by local racers. Drag racing, being the addictive type of sport that it is, naturally encourages racers to try all manner of experiments in the quest for higher performance. Mike Poole’s ‘Wild Bunch’ Mustang found major engine setback combined with Thunderpark’s legendary traction resulted in possibly the highest wheel stand ever recorded for a door car; the resulting damage curtailed Mike’s day’s racing. Carl Jensen, racing the normally predictable

short-wheelbase ‘Baloo’ altered, found it somewhat less predictable after deciding to tip the can. A dose of nitro and a heavy right foot saw the little altered engage in the type of sideways burnout that the late ‘Wild Willie’ Borsch would have been proud of. I managed to just catch it in full sideways action, but, disappointingly, did not have the motor drive turned on, as, a split second after I hit the shutter, the right rear slick lifted off the surface. A fuel altered doing a sideways burnout on three wheels would have to be a highlight of any drag racing photog’s portfolio — so close but no cigar! Plenty of other racers pushed the envelope over the years. Brett Wilson’s nitro funny car and Trevor Tynan’s Impala doorslammer could be relied on to break something expensive on virtually any given occasion, but you had to love them for giving it a good go. Seeing a big ’65 Impala Super Sport launch wheels up or a nitro funny car at night was worth the price of admission. Ironically, Impalas were often the favoured car for fans entering the facility, due to the significant space for bodies in the boot, and much preferred by cheapskates to the Scotsman’s stand on the hill behind Thunderpark. While the costs of nitro racing kept the numbers down, doorslammers gained in popularity in the

’90s and made great progress towards the sixsecond zone on the strip. For some, the costs of top competition meant that their involvement was prematurely concluded, but they are remembered by those lucky enough to have seen them at the top of their game. Chris Tynan, Dave Green, Mark Holland, and Steve Keys are among the names that made doorslammer racing so popular in New Zealand. The odd racer with a reliable combination — such as Euan Mark in his famous ‘Puff ’n’ Stuff’ T-bucket — seemed able to survive, virtually unchanged, but, for most, 10 years was a very long time in the sport. Over Thunderpark’s two decades, the land on which the drag strip was located became increasingly sought after by the wine industry, and it was only a matter of time before the owners succumbed to the inevitable. The efforts of racers and supporters almost managed to save the strip, but, in the end, the necessary funding just wasn’t there. At least with the opening of Masterton Motorplex, racers from the middle and south end of the North Island again have easy access to a top facility at which to race, but, for those who remember it, the late, great Thunderpark will live long in the memory as New Zealand’s first, and hopefully last, lost drag strip.

Aucklander Steve Wells off to a good start in front of a full house, January 1992

One of the first shots I took at Thunderpark, during the ’79–’80 summer season. ‘Wild Bill’ Shrewsberry wowed the crowd with his LA Dart wheel-stander John Key — the real, drag racing one — in his nine-second Camaro at dusk Brett Wilson’s first nitro funny car in December ’79 — a more reliable version than the next, which ran intermittently and broke consistently

Neville Gadd’s altered was a hard charger in the ’80s and early ’90s, and epic burnouts were commonNitro is loud! It’s the ’80s — dig that cool fire suit! Mark Holland put everything into running a six-second pass in his Charger, and was well on the way here in February 1996 Alan Dunlop was at the top of the alcohol funny car ranks in the ’80s and ’90s Doug Brown was a US visitor in 1989 in his jet car. This style of jet car was phased out after a number of fatal crashes, often due to front-end lift. The later funny car design positioned the driver alongside the engine for increased safety

Before he ran New Zealand’s quickest nitro funny car, Hastings local and track sponsor Willy White ran this junior fueller to mid-seven-second passes Mopar man Graham Lye ran mid 10s in his Hemi Demon before switching to a quicker Plymouth body that performed great wheel stands and ran in the nines in Super Street The photog’s challenge: shoot now, run later — Chris Tynan’s ‘Rat Attack’ in full attack mode Kelvin White’s big block–on–nitrous Pop ran spectacular nines — seen here on 30 January 1988 Wellington’s Dave Green made his Corvette faster and faster during the ’90s, working his way up from an injected big block to Top Doorslammer running in the seven-second zone Trevor Tynan launches hard here in January 1995. Breakages on the big Impala were common, but it was never boring!

Carl Jensen tips the can on ‘Baloo’ at the Nationals in 1995. A split second later, the right slick came off the strip. Baloo proved smarter than the average bear, and kept itself shiny side up The Taylor Automotive altered was a consistent runner at the top of the alcohol ranks and appeared to need few changes over the years to remain competitive Mark Holland debuted his new Charger in January 1989, and even tried removing the front clip to improve ETs. Note the cool Predator carbs on top of the blower The first side-by-side five-second runs at Thunderpark were when Aussie Alan Bradshaw and Garth Hogan met in Top Fuel Before switching to muscle car circuit racing in his Monaro, Steve Hildred ran this rapid altered at Thunderpark. Seen here in 1988 If it wasn’t happening on the strip, there was plenty of eye candy in the pits. You thought sidemounted missiles were just for VTNZ adverts? And who can resist chips? Euan Mark lights ’em up in ’82. This type of crewassisted burnout has long been outlawed for safety reasons Bob Wilton ran this Morrie Z, which entertained with big wheel stands before its untimely demise. Significant engine setback of the small block Chev got the job done

Robin Silk ran this former Pro Stock Camaro (above) into the seven-second zone, but that run didn’t end well (right), with a fire resulting in burns to Silk’s face and hands. Robin is off in the ambulance while crew and a fireman work to remove the front clip to check that the fire is completely out A double burnout by the Mercedes of Steve Keys and Les Winter in ‘The Fridge’ ’55 Chev doorslammer Bring out the snarlers — Gary Svenson was another US jet car pilot, but his car had the safer location of the driver alongside the turbine. Gary also had plans for a land-speed racer but wasn’t able to get the funding to make it happen