DAY 5 - CALDER PARK

THE final leg of Drag Challenge 2019 was the day all the Page-up keys on tuners’ keyboards died. Throughout the pits, cars were turned to 11 and being set to kill, as everyone had their eyes on a PB or class win. The only thing threatening to dampen the fun was the rain, which caused one delay during the afternoon.

K&N DYO yet again went down to the wire, with first-time DC entrant Paul Turner running his Ls1-powered HQ only 0.05228sec off his 11.396sec dial-in, besting another DC first-timer, Tom Wright. Tom’s turbocharged 6.2-litre LSX HG Prem jumped up from fourth to finish second, a scant 0.05865sec off his 11.193sec dial-in after five epic days of tight racing.

Mark Busscher’s HQ Tonner edged Daniel Cassar’s ’33 Ford for the win in Carnage Outlaw Aspirated, with Carl Taylor’s awesome ’62 540ci W-powered Bel Air bubbletop coming in third. Pacemaker Radial Aspirated has become Alon Vella’s playground, and the

Sydneysider wrapped his sixth consecutive win in the class, coming home more than four seconds clear of second-placed Peter Haravitsidis.

The XR6 Turbo Developments Six-cylinder class was tight at the end, with George Lyras pulling an 8.97@151mph in his neat TC Cortina to get the wood over a fast-finishing Chris Palfreyman in his wicked Barra XD, who ran 8.71@157. Despite it being a PB, it wasn’t enough for Chris to close the gap to George in the class standings.

Nathan Ghosn’s 370ci Windsor-powered Capri was only five-tenths ahead of Aaron James in Tuff Mounts 235 Aspirated by the end of the week, but his 9.80@139mph was enough to seal the win over Aaron’s 528ci Valiant Regal. Donnie Zurcas finished third in his 388ci Chev-powered Capri, which was a fresh build at DC, having previously campaigned a 434ci small-block Chevequipped EK Holden.

The other small-tyre class, Tuff Mounts 235

CARS WERE TURNED TO 11 AND BEING SET TO KILL, AS EVERYONE HAD THEIR EYES ON A PB OR CLASS WIN

AFTER BUSTING HIS HUMP (AND HIS CAR) FOR SIX YEARS TO WIN DRAG CHALLENGE, HARRY HAIG WAS FINALLY THE MAN ON TOP

Blown, had Todd Foley’s VH pitted against Dominic Pelle’s sweet turbo Sigma, with Foley’s 8.79@153mph on the final day enough to seal the deal for him against Dominic’s 8.92@153mph.

The Haltech Radial Blown and Turbosmart Outlaw Blown boys really threw down on the last day, with eight seven-second slips handed in just on Day Five. Brandon Zito (7.99@176mph), Luke Foley (7.92@176mph), Kai Mcphee (7.89@175mph), Matt Lampard (7.88@181mph) and Daniel Drury (7.87@177mph) were all inducted into the Red Hat Brigade from the radial class, in an epic night’s racing.

Brendan Cherry let loose a 7.61@184mph in the big-tyre VL to finish second in Turbosmart Outlaw Blown and Overall, edging Daniel Szabolics by the narrowest of margins. It wasn’t all bad for Daniel, who picked up the win in Haltech Radial Blown thanks to a 7.48@189mph on the final day.

But it wasn’t enough to overcome Harry Haig in the Pops HQ, who set down a 7.49@186mph to cement his lead in the overall standings as well as Turbosmart Outlaw Blown. After busting his hump (and his car) for six years to win Drag Challenge, Harry was finally the man on top, and the Shepparton legend was, for once, almost speechless.

“I don’t believe it, and until Scotty and Telfo announce it I can’t believe it,” said a shocked Harry. “Just as we were going to sleep, I yelled out to the boys that Pops hadn’t broken down once on the road from Portland to Calder. That is the first time in six years we haven’t had to stop on a road leg!”

THE FINAL LEG OF DRAG CHALLENGE 2019 WAS THE DAY ALL THE PAGE-UP KEYS ON TUNERS’ KEYBOARDS DIED

Aaron James came second in 235 Aspirated with a cumulative time of 38.832sec – a terrific effort given that Aaron and his Valiant Regal were Drag Challenge first-timers. Aaron decided to enter the Regal in DC five months ago, so an alloy-headed stroker 528-cube Mopar was screwed together for the event

Rob Bertram’s twin-turbo ’57 Chev gets down and boogies! It nailed a best of 11.097

2> Luke Green resisted the LS temptation in favour of a small-block Chev in his Torana. Having previously run a PB of 8.69@160mph, Luke smashed out 8.39 at Calder on the Friday, with wheels high in the air 3> Sydney’s Jason Mansweto flew to Queensland to buy this time-warper XY Falcon ute and drive it home. The fact that it’s now capable of 10s hints that the factory V8 ute is not quite showroom any more. Using the factory block and heads, Jason built himself a nice 408-cube Clevo. But in order to prevent the ute hazing the 235 tyres, he pulled a stack of timing from the motor, giving the un-’caged Falc a chance to hook up and keep it legal in the low 11s

1> Representing the three-pedal contingent in K&N DYO was the husbandand-wife team of Wayne and Kellie Roberts in their stout 230rwhp six-banger LJ Torry. Triple Dellorto 45mm carbs feed the fully built 202ci blue motor, which features a hand-ported nine-port head and a port-matched Redline manifold. Behind is a Ford single-rail ’box with Precision button clutch

BELOW: Father-and-son duo Grant and Liam Grech survived the week in their 400hp LX Torana hatch, running a cammed LS2 and six-cog manual. High 11s at the track were just the ticket for a low-stress week on the road. Six-year-old Liam was tasked with jack and wheelnut duties at each track, handling the steelies with aplomb. Grant followed up DC the next day with an assault on the Optima Ultimate Street Car event at Calder Park

DYO entrant Scott Rowell’s luminous green, 393-powered ’71 Fairlane boogied to a dial-in of 11.068@124mph on Day One, and dropped into the 10s with a 10.998 on Friday

4> Tony Muscara was piloting two cars at DC: a roaring Whippleblown 2016 Mustang in K&N DYO, and this Whipple-blown, Coyotepowered XE Falcon running in Haltech Radial Blown. He had a heck of a Day Three, losing first gear in the XE, but he managed to get on the road. However, the bumpy logging roads got the better of the trailer, fatiguing the A-arms just outside of Portland. The XE redeemed itself on Friday with a 9.70sec pass at Calder. The Mustang did a best of 10.081