50 SHADES DARKER

HOW DO YOU IMPROVE ON AN HG GTS MONARO? THROW IN A 900HP BIG-BLOCK AND WRAP THE WHOLE THING IN THE BLACKEST OF CLOAKS

With a 598ci big-block Chev under the bonnet, this sinister, all-black HG Monaro means business

one of the few suggesting otherwise. He said he’d prefer a couple of qualifiers and then a final. “I understand the excitement of the unknown until the winner’s revealed on Sunday night,” he conceded. “But doing three consistent killer skids is tough; you make one mistake and that’s it – it’s over.”

From the outset, competition was fierce and dramatic, the burnout pad offering an intoxicating mix of fear and excitement for drivers. Competitors unanimously agreed that Springmount Raceway’s pad is an absolute cracker. “It’s such good fun and long enough to do quite a few doughies,” Myers said. “It’s one of the biggest pads in Australia.”

Rick Fuller’s seen his share of burnout pads, but declared NN’S “probably the most fun of any in Australia. The speed of it is the reason we drove 3500km to use it. There’s a super-long run-in that is unlike any other. It gives you that adrenaline rush before you tip in, because you’re going that quick.”

Knowing one stuff-up on the pad would dash any hopes of decent prize money, seeing Alex Hirst’s BAD HT Holden ute and Steve Robson’s SPOTTO 57 Chev on tow trucks after Day One was tough. And with 1000rwhp on tap, Tim Brown’s blown, injected Sbc-powered CEMBLO VK had us all with hearts in mouths as his tip-in saw him fly towards the concrete, sliding on the greasy pad. It briefly brought back memories of Summernats 33, when he remodelled the VK’S front end, but he hauled it up just in time, and nailed his second effort to the crowd’s roars.

The speed and space of the pad made for some mind-blowing tip-in loops, the smaller skid cars whipping around with particular venom. Jessie Barbeler in his 1150hp, blown LS Suzuki Mighty Boy, SKEATA, was spectacular and utterly fearless – not least because he clattered the barriers so memorably at Northern Nats 4 two years ago. There were epic runs aplenty, but the pad took more prisoners. Terry Blanchard’s Ls1-powered KE30, JOYRIDE, and John Murphy’s TUFF20 KE20 also left on tow trucks, but Murphy at least scored the Best Tip-in prize for his dizzying displays.

Only the judges knew the burnout scores after each session, but we later learned that Fuller and Myers were perfectly tied heading into Sunday’s

COMPETITORS UNANIMOUSLY AGREED THAT SPRINGMOUNT RACEWAY’S PAD IS AN ABSOLUTE CRACKER

MOST OF THE PRO BURNOUT CARS HAD TRAVELLED MIGHTY DISTANCES, BUT IT MADE FOR A HIGHCALIBRE LINE-UP OVER THREE SESSIONS

THE DRIVERS LOVE IT. THEY’RE PUSHED IN THREE BURNOUTS, AND IF YOU MISS ONE AND DON’T SCORE THEN YOU WON’T WIN

final effort. It was young Jake and S1CKO that took it out in the end – by a single point. “His smoke thickness was more than Rick this year, so I assume that’s what won it for him,” Lee Harvey said. “It was so close. Incredible.”

The overall win adds to Jake’s Street Machine Summernats 32 Burnout Masters, Steel City Nats and Bathurst Autofest titles, cementing the younger Myers into burnout legend alongside his old man, Gary. Townsville’s Bubba Lofts was third in his Ls-powered ORWHAT ’02 Calais, the same car also claiming second in the Mod class, just behind a stellar showing by Keelan Heit in his ’75 HJ One Tonner, SKRTLIFTA.

Not one to let Junior steal all the tyre-smoke thunder, Jake Myers’s dad, Gary, has been a feature of Northern Nats since the first event. He’d won the powerskids three out of the four previous Nats – twice in his AGROXA ’72 XA coupe and once in his blown 2005 Ford Mustang, 2INSANE. With a For Sale sticker on the back window, 2INSANE was fired up for the first time in four years at NN5, keen to show prospective buyers exactly what it’s capable of.

Up against Joel Sykes in his stunning blown small block-powered LETSGO HK, Gary’s experience edged it, just inching out Sykes after two high-quality runs in the final. Some consolation for Joel came with the HK being awarded Car of the Show, reflecting the Belmont’s looks, performance and Joel taking part in practically everything he could across the three days. “The car’s a 1968 boat, but I’ve put a new front end in and can now actually steer where I want to,” he said.

There were few takers for the final day of powerskids, no doubt due to Saturday’s frightening accident for Cairns’s Greg Smith in his nine-second 1970 Datsun coupe. The Datto rolled against the strip wall causing massive panel and front-end damage. “It was like I got bucked off a motorbike; the left-hand rear wheel went off the ground, and when it landed it bit and just shot me into the wall,” Greg said. Thankfully, he walked away, but the car’s a mess; however, Greg said the chassis looked straight and will be repaired.

On the strip, Cairns local Jayden Gray won

Quickest ET with 7.38 and also notched Highest MPH at 187.34mph in his turbo 509 Bbcpowered 2NASTI ’69 Camaro.

Roll racing victor was Brian Bull in his Lsaconverted VB Commodore street car. Brian had a grin from ear to ear, as the new motor had only been dropped in four days ago. Top prize in the show ’n’ shine went to local Cairns restorer John Owens and his immaculate 1976 Torana A9X replica. With a 400ci Chev, Top Loader ’box and 650hp at the flywheel, it was built as a Targa car, but to such a level that it was too good not to show. It’ll be at Targa Great Barrier Reef later this year proving its performance chops.

In keeping with the tropical vibe of Northern Nats’ location, drivers said they enjoyed the event’s laidback and cruisy nature. Hopefully that’ll help attract many more of Australia’s best to future editions, joining the likes of Tristan Ockers, who this year made the journey from Bargo, NSW to show and demonstrate his six-second, street-registered MINCER Capri. Powered by a 2500hp, blown, injected 510ci Oldsmobile big-block, the pro street icon was like nothing many locals would have seen before. “That sort of vehicle just doesn’t happen up here,” organiser Lee said. “It’s amazing to have it.”

Hot days, smoke-filled nights and thousands of entertained North Queensland fans made Northern Nats 5 a memorable one. The sixth edition has already been confirmed, with organisers planning to make use of the hundreds of acres of vacant land behind the drag strip to introduce a four-wheel-drive course. Racing in the mud to add to the drags, powerskids and one of the richest burnout events in Australia? Sounds good to us! It’s a long way for many to get there, but totally worth it.

THERE’S A SUPER-LONG RUN-IN THAT IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER. IT GIVES YOU THAT ADRENALINE RUSH BEFORE YOU TIP IN

BELOW RIGHT: The WIDGET XE Falcon was People’s Choice in the show ’n’ shine, and runs a 408 stroker, C4 and Mcdonald Bros 9in diff. Rolling on 17in Center Lines, the car was painted in custom Jawbreaker purple by NQ Truck Bake, while the interior is trimmed in sumptuous black crushed velour

LEFT: Ash Pemberton tore up the pad in his HI ROLLA ’84 KE55 Corolla, stopped to salute the crowds, then made sure his tyres were left behind as he spun away on the rims. A huge crowd favourite

RIGHT: It was a tough start for Alex Hirst in BADHT. After a spectacular tip-in, the car’s 400ci supercharged small-block Chev died. After a few minutes and a few false starts, she finally fired, and we had 20sec of epic tyre smoke before it shut down again. Engine woes have plagued this beautiful HT recently; hopefully it’ll make a comeback soon

BELOW: Townsville’s Jay Chun Tie didn’t need to travel as far as most of the Pro Class entrants to reach Springmount Raceway, and the crowd went nuts for his ’78 Suzuki Carry with its mid-mounted LS1. Its extended chassis always makes the ute’s tip-in spectacular, and it was up there with the smokiest, loudest and most entertaining under lights

ABOVE: This slammed and tubbed FX ute was fresh from a debut at Rockynats. Packing a 454 big-block Chev, WRINKLES was an old-school hero on the pad. It may be “just for fun”, but owner Paul Khan went hard in this stunning classic

BELOW: Luke Matthews’ tough 1966 Mk1 Ford Escort runs a 406 Chev backed by a Turbo 350, 9in diff and Gazzard Brothers rear end. At Northern Nats it was a favourite at the drags and roll racing, lifting its nose in a wall of sound. The Mt Isa local has previously run a 9.6@141mph, and despite the hot weather slowing him, he’s a huge fan of Northern Nats

BELOW LEFT: Townsville’s Tom Martens brought his restored and modded ’74 Monaro GTS replica. “It wasn’t original when I bought it – it started life as a sixcylinder auto – so I wasn’t concerned about modifying it,” he said. He’s shoved in a VE Commodore L98 V8 and added a carburetted top end for the old-school look, tuned for a bit over 400hp

Graham Hilton’s stunning 1975 HJ Holden wagon spectacularly lifted its wheels on the strip. “It’ll go better when it gets a bit cooler; it’s hot out there!” he said. An LS3 with Magnuson supercharger makes 750-800hp at the tyres via a Turbo 400 and 9in diff. “It’s fully streetregistered and driven,” Graham said. “I drive it to Woolies to get the shopping, then go racing”

ABOVE: Jayden Gray’s NASTI1 1969 a Camaro is a complete weapon, with Gray’s Racing-built 580ci Dart big-block turbos. and twin Garrett Gen II GTX4709R Backing the stout mill is a manualised three-speed TH400, fabricated 9in, coilovers Gazzard Brothers shocks and front valved for radial racing

Jessie Barbeler’s 1150hp SKEATA Suzuki Mighty Boy was fresh from second place at Cairns’s Tropical Meltdown 7. With a blown 408 LS up front, this little ’Zook smoked, screamed and spun spectacularly, despite its titchy size. Jessie made the car famous at Northern Nats two years ago with a mental tip-in that sent it into the barriers. No such dramas this time!

Daniel Di Bella’s DNTLOSE XB Falcon 500 is powered by a twin-turbo Coyote. “It’s still the only twin-turbo Coyote in an X-series in Australia,” the Ingham local said. Running 10psi for Northern Nats’ drags and roll racing, it was pulling around 600hp, but upped to 20psi, Daniel said he’d be seeing closer to 1000hp

ABOVE: Rick Fuller was 2019 Northern Nats burnout champ in his FULLON VF Commodore ute, and this year it was the turn of his blown LSONE VK. The Summernats 33 Burnout Master punished the pad and smoked the crowd, making him one of the favourites at Springmount

ABOVE: Winner of Top Interior, Top Restoration and runner-up in the show ’n’ shine, this Aussie-built, RHD 1967 Chevy is still in the same family after 54 years, still with a matching-numbers 327 small-block. Joe Torrisi, son of the Impala’s first owners, rebuilt the engine himself and kept everything original besides adding disc brakes up front, air con, and sitting it a bit lower