DANIEL CASSAR
“I ALWAYS wanted to do Street Machine Drag Challenge, and I love watching Drag Week in the States,” said first-time entrant Daniel Cassar. “It’s a good way to prove that your car can drive on the street.”
Daniel and his wife Ebony (Iron Maiden, SM, Aug ’18) own and run Fast Lane Speed Shop out of Ballarat, so he knows his way around cars, and he whipped up a fresh ’32 Ford three-window coupe for his Tuff Mounts Outlaw Aspirated entry.
Sitting above the coupe’s IFS front end is a tough 406-cuber built by James from Melway Competition Engines, topped with a 950 Quick Fuel carby and Street Dominator manifold. The combo is good for 680hp at the flywheel. It’s backed by a Paul Rogers Performance-built Powerglide with a 6200rpm BTE converter, running back to a nine-inch with Detroit Locker and 4.3:1 gears.
Daniel tested the freshly built ’32 at Portland, but no timed passes were laid prior to Day One of DC at Calder, where he ran a snappy 9.93@133mph to see him in second place, and after Day Three he was leading the class.
The coupe’s strong performances continued all week, seeing Daniel take home the Tuff Mounts Outlaw Aspirated win by a little over three-tenths of a second. His PB for the week came on Day Four at Swan Hill with a 9.86@130mph, backing that up with a 9.91@130mph on the final day at Calder Park to seal the win.
Not only did Daniel and crew win their class in their first hit-out, they also had virtually no troubles either on or off the track – an incredible rookie performance.
“Other than a fuse, we had no dramas whatsoever,” Daniel said. “We literally just put fuel in and kept driving.
“We all know the ins and outs of making a good street car or race car, but putting it all together becomes really hard,” he continued. “Big thanks to James at MCE for the engine, Paul Rogers Performance Transmissions and Brian at Aikman Engineering.”