CASEY THOMAS

WITH his brothers in tow, Drag Challenge virgin Casey Thomas brought his welltravelled XC Falcon to the table, racing in the Pacemaker Radial Aspirated class.

An IT man by trade, Casey shipped his big Aussie barge to the Mother Country while he worked there, racking up plenty of miles across the UK. Returning Down Under in September, he thrashed on the car to get it ready for his Drag Challenge tilt.

For the past six years, the ’77 sedan has run a 400 Cleveland donk, stroked out to 434 cubes. Over Drag Challenge, Casey used a Fitech EFI system, but has since opted for a

Barry Grant Dominator carb atop a hard-tofind CHI high-rise manifold. CHI

3V heads round out the package. At the rear wheels, Casey has managed to squeeze out 563hp, though the car was then detuned to reliably dispense 442 ponies. The mill is backed by a Powerglide auto and freshly rebuilt Detroit Locker nine-inch.

Casey and the boys had a relatively stressfree run over the whole week. “We replaced an axle bearing at Warracknabeal, but otherwise the car ran flawlessly,” he said. “There were still a couple of moments when I asked myself: ‘What the bloody hell have I done here?’”

Casey ran the only XC Falcon competing in this year’s event, and recorded a best pass of 11.87@111mph on Day One at Calder Park.

“The car’s run a 10.6 before, so I know it’s fast,” he said. “I wasn’t there to prove anything aside from reliability. Having been away for a few years, it was great to get back with the brothers and have a bit of fun.”

Casey is a sure bet for next year’s Drag Challenge. “I’ve bought an XY Fairmont wagon from the Isle of Man, which

I’m doing a turbo Barra conversion on. I’ll be racing that next time – you can’t beat boost!”