RUBBER LANDING

OAMARU DRAGS MARCH 2021

Twice a year, the Oamaru Airport, which is located 20km north of the township, plays host to the Oamaru Drags. The sealed runway, which stretches 1300m, became fully operational back in ’75, but regular commercial flights ended in January 2010. The airport is now used by commercial helicopter operators, for fixed-wing recreational flying, and for air training. Back in the ’80s, the racing was held just out of town on a closed stretch of Stonewall Road and Seven Mile Road. The March event was the 17th to be held at the airport.

Hosted by a great bunch of volunteers from the local Whitestone Rodders club, the drags attract a vast array of cars from all over the south. If it’s diversity you are looking for, then this event has it — everything from an old-school ’29 Chrysler race car to a 2020 Ferrari 488 Pista Spider 3. The strong field of just over 100 vehicles was broken into three categories: imports, V8s, and bikes. Scrutineering took place on Friday night at the club rooms, minimising the need for much of this on Saturday.

These drag race meetings are strictly street-style meets, with no

stationary burnouts allowed to preserve the surface of the runway. Roll up, stop, then go is pretty much the order of the day, with the event running like a well-oiled machine. Straight off the bat — and very noticeable for anyone who has attended these types of events before — the meet was run smoothly, with cars coming forward and staging, then, as they left the line, the next pairing being brought forward. The very short wait time between each race was refreshing.

Everyone got a number of passes, and times were posted on the board after each run for the drivers to collect.

At the conclusion of racing, a list was compiled with a record of each driver’s fastest time of the day. Coming out on top was Daryl Craigie on his 2004 Kawasaki ZX-10R 1000cc bike, with a best ET of 9.931s. Kevan McAlwee, in his 2020 Ferrari Pista 4500cc, with a best ET of 10.745s, took second, while close on his heels in third place was Tash King in her ’23 Ford T-bucket running a 383 Chev and Powerglide, with an ET of 10.83s. Paul Fahey in his ’95 Nissan Skyline took fourth with a blistering 10.91s; he was the fastest in the import class.

LOCAL MURRAY FREW’S ’29 CHRYSLER BEAST IS A FOUR-LITRE FLATHEAD STRAIGHT-SIX OF THE SAME ERA, WITH GEARS BEING CHANGED MANUALLY. MURRAY’S BEST TIME OF THE DAY WAS A 14.99

WE CERTAINLY HEARD STEPHEN GRELLET’S ’67 SUNBEAM TIGER, POWERED BY A 289 V8 AND FIVE-SPEED BOX. REAR IS A DANA 44. A 13.72 WAS THE TIGER’S BEST RUN

IF THERE WAS AN AWARD FOR THE LOUDEST CAR OF THE DAY, THEN IT HAD TO GO TO THE ’37 OLD-SCHOOL CHEV GASSER BELONGING TO OPHY OPHUIS FROM INVERCARGILL. POWERING THE COUPE IS A SUPERCHARGED 572CI BIG BLOCK WITH A TH400 AND NINE-INCH REAR. ITS BEST ET WAS AN 11.31

OWEN DORSEY WAS RACING A RATHER RARE CAR, HIS ’78 CHARGER DRIFTER. YES, THAT’S RIGHT, A CHARGER DRIFTER — WE BET YOU THOUGHT THEY ONLY CAME AS PANEL VANS AND UTES. APPARENTLY, THIS IS ONE OF AROUND 33 THAT WERE MADE, RUNNING A 265 IN-LINE SIX HEMI AND FOUR-SPEED. BEST ET FOR OWEN WAS 14.83

ON TOP WAS DARYL CRAIGIE ON HIS 2004 KAWASAKI ZX-10R

THE STICKER ON THE BACK WINDOW OF MURRAY ADAMS’ ’64 CHEV IMPALA WAS GOOD FOR A LAUGH: “GOLD CARD RACING”. FOR SUCH A BIG CAR, THIS IMPALA SURE HAULS ARSE, THANKS IN NO SMALL PART TO ITS 377 SMALL BLOCK CHEV. STARTING WITH A 400CI BLOCK, IT HAS BEEN DESTROKED TO 377CI THANKS TO A 350 CRANK. THE HEAVY CHEV PUT DOWN A BEST OF 12.84