PHIL KERJEAN

Machine: TUFFST, 1981 HOLDEN VK COMMODORE WAGON Engine: 3377CI CHEVY SMALL-BLOCK, 8/71 BLOWER

VETERAN skidder Phil Kerjean still remembers what it was like way back when he actually drove his now famous VK wagon to its first Summernats! That was 16 years ago, and the car has undergone a few wild upgrades since, most recently being re-unveiled in its Tuff Street tribute guise at Summernats 28. The continual evolution of Phil’s machinery has run parallel to the growth of burnouts as a motorsport. In fact, they’ve driven one another. “In 15 years, the whole thing has gone crazy,” says Phil, who also runs the annual Burnout Outlaws comp in Sydney. “Everyone is running LS engines and a lot of guys don’t care if they hurt them! It’s definitely a different landscape now.” And Phil ain’t planning on disappearing from the landscape anytime soon, despite torching the back half of his VK wagon during Burnout Masters qualifying in January. “I’m not gonna stop. It’s too much fun.”

Phil played with fire and the VK got burned at Summernats 30, with flames licking everything from the B-pillar on back. The extensive repair job will keep him out of action for a couple of months