DAY 1 - CALDER PARK

IT WAS all systems go for Drag Challenge 2019 early on Monday, 11 November as more than 200 racers filed past Calder Park’s NASCAR on the shipping container and under the Bob Jane Xenon Tyre bridge. Mark ‘Bushy’ Busscher stamped his authority on Carnage Outlaw Aspirated from the outset, running 9.85@135mph to head last year’s class winner, Daniel Cassar, who pulled a 10.18@132mph in his three-window hot rod. Five-time Pacemaker Radial Aspirated class winner, Alon Vella, brought his 450-cube Capri back to try and make it six on the trot, starting with a solid 8.49@160mph to lead Peter Haravitsidis’ Falcon running 9.59@106mph at the end of Day One.

The new 235 Aspirated and Blown classes, sponsored by Tuff Mounts, saw ferocious competition from the very start, as the small-tyre guys duked it out hard. Dominic Pelle’s turbo LS Sigma led 235 Blown with an 8.86@155mph from Todd Foley’s blown LS VH, which stopped the clocks at 8.88@154mph, while the 9.15@152mph from Mark Arblaster’s turbo 5.3L LS Valiant hardtop kept him in the game. In Tuff Mounts 235 Aspirated, Nathan Ghosn, Aaron James and Donnie Zurcas were all split by hundredths of a second as Nathan’s 9.75@140mph beat Aaron’s Valiant’s 9.87@138mph, with Donnie in his Capri nailing a 9.96@133mph to stay right in the hunt.

Painted in lurid magenta, George Lyras’s Barra-powered TC Cortina kicked off the new XR6 Turbo Developments Six-cylinder class with a rocketing 8.81@148mph, beating Tasmania’s Chris Palfreyman, who ran 9.14@160mph in his Barra XD. Danny Bresciani’s R33 Nissan Skyline wasn’t far behind with a 9.46@146mph, with Warick Meldrum’s Barra-powered, Harlequin-painted Valiant Regal fourth with a 9.81@143mph.

Brendan Cherry has been refining his turbo big-block, big-tyre VL Calais, and after running a seven earlier in the year at Grudge Kings, the Turbosmart Outlaw Blown contender backed it up with a 7.79@180mph early in the piece to earn himself a red hat, signifying his entry into

THE NEW TUFF MOUNTS 235 ASPIRATED AND BLOWN CLASSES SAW FEROCIOUS COMPETITION FROM THE VERY START

DANIEL SZABOLICS DELIVERED DRAG CHALLENGE’S QUICKEST AND FASTEST PASS SO FAR, WITH A 7.35@197MPH

the exclusive Drag Challenge Seven-second Club. Harry Haig then wheeled the ‘Pops’ HQ to the startline and reeled off a 7.60@186mph to take the class lead into Day Two.

Not to be outdone by the big dawgs, the forced-induction 275-tyre crowd in Haltech Radial Blown weren’t sitting on their hands, as Kai Mcphee had his turbo LS VC Commodore on a mission, running 8.08@174mph, and Luke Foley’s VH jetting to an 8.18@175mph. It wasn’t a happy day for Mark Drew, who killed the twin-turbo 427ci LS in his Crusty Torana. He’d only just rebuilt it the week before DC kicked off after hurting it at a recent test day at Swan Hill.

However, there was one machine in Radial Blown that couldn’t be topped on Day One.

Daniel Szabolics set the pits on its ear when he went out for his second hit. After violently turning the tyres on his first hit, the next run stuck and delivered Drag Challenge’s quickest and fastest pass so far with a 7.355@197.48mph, taking the record from Frank Marchese. He proved it wasn’t a fluke, backing it up with a 7.350@197.74mph to lead the Overall and Haltech Radial Blown scoreboards by day’s end.

As the crews rolled out of Calder and into the searing afternoon heat, some chose to use their overnight accommodation 320km away in Swan Hill. However, a hardy bunch elected to risk the roos and breakdowns in the middle of the night to push through the darkness and stay in Mildura, more than 520km away.

If Jamie Knight’s HZ Premier looks familiar, that’s because it was a former SM feature car in the hands of its previous owner, Steve Macgregor. Steve had the car running hard with an aspirated Holden V8, but Jamie has gone for turbo LS power and ran a best of 10.339

Rod and Paul Williams entered their 1984 Peugeot 505 into Tuff Mounts 235 Aspirated. “We fitted a VZ 5.7L LS1 and 4L60E, and it was surprisingly easy,” said Paul, who scored the former family runabout from his mother. “Mum doesn’t know we did this to her car or that we brought it to Drag Challenge,” he laughed. Paul managed a 13.73@103mph on Day One, with a best eighth-mile time of 8.76@85mph on Day Four Daniel Kemlo’s Barra-powered Datsun 260Z wasn’t the quickest car in Tuff Mounts 235 Blown, but it did crack the 11s at Calder with an 11.88. The stock FG motor is backed by a ZF transmission Drag Challenge regulars Jason Davidson and Steve Nightingale both ran low 11s all week, with Jason’s Tonner squeaking into the Top 10 of K&N DYO to boot 1 4 2 3

The original plan for Drag Challenge 2019 was to run Day Two at Swan Hill’s quartermile. Track issues forced us to run two days at Mildura instead, but we still stopped off at Swan Hill Raceway en route as the mandatory checkpoint. Fingers crossed the track is open again soon! 3 4

Dom Luppino is well-known for his exploits in his Outlaw Radial Mustang, but he brought his 440ci ZD Fairlane to DC ’19. “It’s practically a one-owner car, because Dad bought it brand new,” Dom said. “It’s 48 years old, just like me! Dad gave it to me when I was 18, and I’ve had it ever since. I used to drive it to the track, run 10.60s and drive home. I moved up to a proper race car 15 years ago, and the Fairlane’s been a streeter ever since” 1 2

Having overcome the challenges of a peaky turbo motor and small tyre under a full-weight car (his famous L33-powered POR440 VG Valiant), Mark Arblaster then had a turbo problem later in the week. A replacement turbo was air-freighted from Sydney to Portland – but was the wrong one. In the end, the old hairdryer survived long enough to secure Mark third place in Tuff Mounts 235 Blown

3> Matt Lampard’s smile was welded to his face all week, with his LUMPER HZ cracking the sevens for the first time and rounding out the Top 10 overall 4> Adrian Nicholls’s ’73 Camaro cut a fine figure at Drag Challenge, powered by a lumpy 350 and running as quick as 11.61. Adrian was initially planning on bringing his other car, a turbo Ls-powered VK that doubles at a charity bash weapon, specifically the Riverina Redneck Rally