DAY FIVE – CALDER PARK

TODD FOLEY’S STORMING THE DAY GOT OFF TO A HAIRY START, WITH VH DROPPING ITS GUTS IN THE DEEP END

THE fact that we ran Drag Challenge throughout the working week meant that crowds were small at most tracks, so we opted to hold back racing at Calder on the Friday until 4pm to give the locals a chance to knock off work and come down to see the event come to a climax. We also opted to allow a handful of APSA cars onto the track for some testing as well, so there was a great bunch of cars for the spectators to check out.

The day got off to a hairy start, with Todd Foley’s storming VH Commodore dropping its guts in the deep end and spinning out at over 200km/h. Todd was okay, but the clean-up took a fair amount of time out of an already crowded schedule. Everyone was itching to finish.

Jarrod Wood’s insane twin-turbo big-block HQ tonner went even quicker, running a 7.71@184.32mph at Calder – the quickest and fastest Drag Challenge run ever! Terry Seng wasn’t far behind and he pedalled his VC Commodore to a 7.76@177mph – who knows what that would have been if he’d been able to stay on it.

They were the only two guys to break the seven-second barrier for the week. Adam Rogash cam close and he ran multiple 8.0s and took out Haltech Radial Blown. Mark Drew got an 8.2sec pass in the bank before a couple of spectacular wheelstands put paid to his chances of running a seven during the event.

Bubba Medlyn was also chasing that first seven-second pass in his 01:

Neil Davey ran mid-to-low nines with his twin-turbo 408ci VX Commodore all week. He PB’D at Swan Hill with a 9.18@154mph 02:

Alon Vella’s Capri dominated the Earl’s Radial Aspirated class and he was the quickest naturally aspirated car in the field. The 450ci+ Capri went 9.15@150mph on Day Five and cruised easily thanks to a Gear Vendors overdrive 03:

The Tuff Mounts DYO class is all about consistency across the five tracks, and Simon Mcpherson started well with his VK within two-thousandths of a second at the first two tracks. It all went pear-shaped on Day Three though, when the VK ran too fast and ruined his spread 04:

Mark Arblaster’s POR440 Valiant is the evil twin to his show-winning WAR440. It runs a stock-bottom-end 5.3litre cast-iron truck engine with an 80mm Borgwarner turbo and Haltech EFI. With Haltech’s Mitch Smith behind the wheel the VG Valiant hardtop ran 9.16@150mph on a 235 radial 05:

After Max Edwards’s Corona wagon fragged the motor on Day One, the team swapped in a new donk using a tree branch. By Day Five it had nitrous as well. Turn to page 214 to read the full saga BELOW:

Damon Kirkwood’s bright green V8 Gemini ran mid-11s all week to finish fifth in the Earl’s Performance Products Radial Aspirated class

Commodore, but it didn’t matter because he finished the week the way he started it, at the top of Turbosmart Outlaw Blown and the event itself. Given Bubba’s easy going demeanour and a somewhat oddball engine combo, many underestimated his chances, but with new suspension, boost management and their race faces on, Bubba and crew were on fire all week.

Stephen Micallef remained on top of Mothers Outlaw Aspirated, while Alon Vella was unstoppable in Earl’s Radial Aspirated. Benny Phillips held out last year’s winner Alysha Teale to take home the trophy in Tuff Mounts DYO.

Of course, every single car that entered the event seemed to have a cool story to go with it, and there were plenty of fairytale endings among them. Mark Sass ran into the eights for the first time with his Vortechblown LSXWAR VT Commodore. Max Edwards went 10.5 in the LS1 Corona wagon, after dad Jake decided to bolt up the nitrous for the final day. The Haltech boys with Arby’s POR440 Valiant were getting quicker with every pass, going 9.1 at Calder. Matt Lampard went deep into the nines too, while Rod Browitt went eights for the first time. For these guys to be running PBS after slogging out 1500 street kays and racing five days straight was a phenomenal effort.

Hungry for more Drag Challenge action? Then check out www.streetmachine.com.au, where we have scores of videos and feature stories on many of the competitors.

TERRY SENG PEDALLED TO A 7.76@177MPH – WHO KNOWS WHAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IF HE’D BEEN ABLE TO STAY ON IT this VZ ute, which was a bare sheel just nine weeks before the event. With a Procharged LS combo, the parts-hauler ran low 10sABOVE: Mark Drew turned up the wick on the last day and found that he had trouble keep the front end on the ground. His last run of the night saw the parachute mount scrape the ground and the Torana came down with such force that the alternator snapped off04: This year we created the Drag Challenge Seven Second Club and retrospectively added Terry Seng and Adam Rogash, along with this year’s inductee Jarrod Wood. All you have to do to earn a hat is run a seven on Drag Challenge. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?01: After struggling with traction the entire week, Terry Seng put it all together on the last day to run a 7.76@177mph, and even then he had to pedal it!05: The Drag Challenge Top 10: (L to R, back row) Graeme Horner, Brendan Cherry, Jarrod Wood, Terry Seng, Mark Drew, Bubba Medlyn; (front row) Luke Grima, Todd Foley, Luke Foley, Adam Rogash02: Quickest Ford at Drag Challenge was Jason Ghiller with his Barra-powered XD Falcon. The guys finished the car on the morning of Day One, and with no testing they ran a best of 9.04@151mph06: In the end Bubba had three-tenths of a second on the rest of the field to take the overall win, in addition to winning Outlaw Blown03: Tim Bailey wrecked the VZ ute he took on the first Drag Challenge, so he tranferred all the parts into