DAY FIVE: VIRGINIA MOTORSPORTS PARK, VIRGINIA

THE final day of Hot Rod Drag Week 2019 could not have been more epic if it was directed by Jerry Bruckheimer. After four days of racing in three different states and over 1200km of street driving, all five Australian teams made it back to Virginia Motorsports Park and finished the event.

Light rainfall in the morning delayed the start of racing by two hours, but when things finally got underway ’round midday, it was on for young and old. Cool, overcast conditions helped many cars achieve new PBS, including some of the Aussie entries.

Once again, the two turbo Barra-powered cars were the first of the class cars to run, and again, both ran eights. The Fox-body Mustang went 8.70@157mph and the Cresta went 8.80@152mph. They both returned for another run and went even quicker – Ben Paganoni with an 8.67@158mph and Ben Neal with an 8.61@155mph. Both finished the week with an eight-second average, and Ben P won the award for Quickest Six while Ben N finished third in Modified Power Adder. It’s a credit to the entire Barra crew the way they managed both cars throughout the week and gradually crept up on the times.

Brenton Gault ran a consistent 10.54@126mph to complete the ’55’s second straight Drag Week with an average of 10.878sec.

Harry Haig in the Chevelle had been shooting for 8.5s for days and finally got there, running 8.58@158mph to secure third place in the Street Race Big-block Power Adder class.

The ‘Malibu Stacy’ wagon raced by Robby Abbott and Corty Haig was virtually rebuilt on the roadside during Drag Week 2019, but grim determination kept it in the game. Robby took it out first on Day Five, running 10.25@133mph, before teenage sensation Corty jumped in and put together a great run to shear off two-tenths, going 10.23@133mph.

The battle for the Overall win was not really much of a battle at all, with Tom Bailey first and daylight second coming into the final day. Glenn Hunter took third place in his ’56 Chevy, which is impressive considering the car still has all-steel panels, chrome bumpers and full interior. In second place was Bryant Goldstone in the all-steel AMC Javelin.

But the week belonged to Tom Bailey and his ‘Sick Seconds 2.0’ Camaro Pro Mod. Since no one was breathing down his neck and threatening his lead, Tom and his engine builder and co-pilot Steve Morris set themselves the challenge of running the first five-second pass at Drag Week. They almost got there on the car’s second pass of the day, a 6.07@219mph. They decided to take one more swing at it, and it all came together. Tom rocketed the Camaro down the track in 5.99@250mph and the whole place erupted. You could feel the elation in the air. Truly an amazing ending to a memorable week.

BOTH TURBO BARRA-POWERED AUSSIES FINISHED THE WEEK WITH AN EIGHT-SECOND AVERAGE

“I knew it was a good hit,” said Drag Week 2019 winner Tom Bailey of his history-making 5sec pass. “On that last run, the car was heading left a little bit, but I had enough time to think about it and I said: ‘These track guys will prep all the way to the wall; I can let it ride to the line.’ So I just tapped the brakes once to get the wheel to touch so I could steer it to the right a little bit and it was good” It’s a miracle that Robin Johannesson was able to run a 7sec pass every day and finish third in the Unlimited class, considering the problems that plagued his nitrous big-block ‘OG Ascona’. “I don’t know where to begin,” said Robin after collecting the Spirit Of Drag Week award. “Last night we had another broken lifter. So Dennis [Klangebo] came up with the brilliant idea to fit new lifters and hang one up with wire so we could travel the final 10 miles to the hotel on seven cylinders. We pushed it to the startline knowing we would probably only get one run, and it went 7.85@171mph”

Jacki Steinke was racing at her first Drag Week in her ’94 Mustang, which is powered by a D1SC Procharged 383ci SBC. She had one hell of a week. In a car that is only certified to run as quick as 10sec, she reeled off 10.06, 10.06, 10.00, 10.05 and 10.01 to top-qualify for the Street Machine Eliminator Shootout. Unfortunately, she red-lit on the pro tree in the first round of the Shootout, but still won the award for Quickest in Street Machine Eliminator “It seemed like the car had hit a brick wall,” said Harry Haig of his battle to get the ‘Stevo’ Chevelle to run an 8.5, which he finally managed on Day Five. “Even today when we finally got the 8.5, it didn’t feel much better than the other days. It’s had a hoodoo on it all week and today was the day. I can’t explain, but it was cool all ’round”