HOW IT WORKS:

THE rules for Drag Challenge Weekend are much the same as the normal five-day event. Entrants have to run a four-wheeled vehicle with current registration in their home state. Slicks and race fuel are permitted at the track, but cars have to be put back to road-going configuration before venturing onto public tarmac each afternoon. Cars are either divided into four ‘tyre’ classes based on tyre and engine specs, or the bracket-racing Dial-your-own class. Tyre-class cars race heads-up, and the entrant with the lowest cumulative time over the three days is the winner. If you don’t complete a pass or just coast down the strip you are awarded a 20@50mph timeslip. The DYO winner is the car with the smallest ET spread across the three tracks, and it is run what you brung – so long as it runs quicker than 12.99! Fuels are open and unrestricted; however, entrants have to carry what they will need, or buy it along the way. Entrants can also tow trailers, so long as it has a single axle and is under 190cm high. It also cannot connect to the car’s fuel, coolant or electrical systems! Support vehicles, trailers or having friends trail entrants in another car in order to crew on the entrant’s car are all forbidden. Entrants are required to carry all supplies in their car and/or trailer, including wheels, tools, camping equipment and spares. Entrants have to make a pass at each track each day before the racing cut-off of 4pm. If they break down and don’t have a timeslip to hand in, then it’s all over, and the same applies if they put their car on a trailer. Once entrants have nabbed a timeslip they’re happy with, they are free to leave to drive to the next track, following the Street Machine-prescribed route. The route includes a mandatory photo stop, and entrants have to show a photo of their car at the stop when they hand in their timeslip the next day.