THE WELCH FAMILY - RHIANNON ALLISON - COURTNEY FORCE

ISSUE THREE JANUARY 2015

JJOOHHNN ZZAAPPPPIIAA''SS55..6688 SSLLAAMM

TTHHEE BBAASSIICCSSOOFF CCLLUUTTCCHH

SSEETT UUPPGGAASS GGIIRRLLNNAAOOMMII LLIIGGHHTTOOWWLLEERR

BBRRUUCCEE RREEAADDWWHHAATT DDRRAAGG RRAACCIINNGG NNEEEEDDSS

EDITORIALIt's a Monday night and I am writing this editorial rather late.I pondered what might be a good topic to cover. Maybe I'llhark back a bit to why I like writing and photographing thesport of drag racing.I think at its base level I want to make people as excited aboutthe sport as I get. I want to be able to show a completenewcomer to the sport a photo or an article about a racer andhave them feel the same passion I do.When I was younger and going to races with my parents, theywould sometimes let me bring a friend from school and I wasalso excited to show them 'my' sport and hoped they wouldenjoy it as much as I did. I would consistently invite a friendwho liked air planes and one day hoped to join the Air Force(he eventually did by the way) to the jet dragsters, thrilled withthe idea that our interests would somewhat match up.That gradually brings me around to my point on why 'theshow' element of drag racing is so important. It's because itgets people hooked on the entertainment that drag racing canprovide. Once they have taken that bait, we can start to reelthem in until they eventually get off on the fact that Racer Xjust ran 0.026 underneath their national record and all theother little bits and pieces that hardcore fans enjoy.Graeme Cowin's Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car series has abig emphasis on the show and that is working to bring in newfans. There are definitely lessons that all drag racing series canlearn from this, and even that show still has more potential tobe exploited.The ANDRA championship doesn't enjoy the same consistencyin its show aspect, because promotion of events is a trackresponsibility rather than ANDRA's. Basically it depends onhow enthusiastic the track gets as to what show elements areintroduced.There are are some simple items that should be mandated and

either administrated by ANDRA or added to event agreementswith the tracks. Some of these are already being done but ifsome consistency can be applied it would greatly help with theseries overall.Have a compulsory drivers parade or introductions. Add a bitof ceremony before the event and give people a chance to seetheir heroes outside the race car. Racers need to make this apriority.Autograph sessions with drivers as part of a pre-race 'pitparty'. Get racers meeting their fans, engaging with spectatorsand generally showing they are good people to hang with.Each event should have one out of the ordinary 'zoo act' as abonus for the night. Wheelstanders, jet cars, burnout cars,celebrity match race – anything that is a little different fromthe norm and can help the event stand out in people'smemories.Always allow people on to the track afterwards so they canstand where their heroes have just race. Bring the cars back upthe track so people can get an up close look and again minglewith the legends of the sport.Perhaps most controversially, come up with a format thatallows as many vehicles as possible to make runs during thenight. I love the tradition of tournament format events, but Iam a hardcore follower of the sport. To get newcomers excitedwe need to show them the vehicles they came to see. Theformat used for the AONFC shows is good and there should beno shame in using or modifying that format to suitchampionship racing.So there are some ideas, not particularly creative, but it is lateand we need to start somewhere. What do you think we shoulddo to add to our championship show?

Luke Nieuwhof

Your younger editor (left) at the jetcars at Ravenswood. I alwayswanted friends at the track to sharethe same enjoyment I got from thesport.

3

DRAG NEWS MAGAZINE

STAFF

Editor: Luke Nieuwhof(luke@dragnews.com.au)Content: Luke Nieuwhof, GrantStephens, Rob SparkesPhotography:cacklingpipes.com(grant@cacklingpipes.com),Luke NieuwhofDesign: Luke NieuwhofAccounts: Rob Sparkes

FREELANCE

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Joe Maday0468 413 124maday@mail2joseph.com

Dave Reid0412 686 478sales@dragphotos.com.au

Lee Davis0425 886 072photorequest@westernautopics.com.au

WANT TO SEND US

CONTENT?

press@dragnews.com.au

ADVERTISING

advertising@dragnews.com.auOr call Rob Sparkes on+61418411684

WANT THE LATEST?

www.dragnews.com.au isAustralia's most popular dragracing website and carriers allthe up to date news you needon Australian drag racing.

LEGAL

All content is copyright to DragNews Australia Pty Ltd andmay not be reproduced in anyform without express writtenpermission.

CONTENTS4 - Shutter Speed

8 - Grand Slam: Nitro Slam coverage from Perth Motorplex

28 - From the top downBruce Read speaks his mind.

38 - Gas girlNaomi Lightowler's progression from tears to cheers.

42 - Family affairSydney's Welch family reflect on their history in the sport.

48 - Fire starterRhiannon All ison is the west's new jet driving sensation. We speakto the latest 'queen of the kids'.

56 - Clutch 101An in depth technical feature with Spinozzi Racing Pro Stock crewchief Mick Marriott, explaining the basics of clutch set up.

62 - The smiling assassinCourtney Force is the fan and media darl ing of the NHRA circuit, butbehind the smile lurks fierce determination.

68 - Records then rain in PortlandThe Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car Series opens its 201 5account.

70 - Quarter ReporterNews from the opening round of the Summit Sportsman Series, anew track potential ly on the build in Adelaide and a brief history ofthe Warnambool Drag Club.

76 - Product SpotlightThe latest from our friends at Aeroflow.

74 - Mr Yes and Mr NoDoes Group Two have a place in championship drag racing?

75 - Business Directory

SHUTTER

SPEED4

Jeff Wilson is still having a hard time in his Top Doorslammer. At a recent Full ThrottleFriday at Sydney Dragway things got way too angular.ISO 4000, 1/250sec, F4.0, Canon EOS-1DX at 75mm.

Image: cacklingpipes.com

5

SHUTTER

SPEED6

Chuck Haynes and Pieter De Wit perform their pre-race fire show as part of Jet Car Max atPerth Motorplex, which had to be run over two days following a power outage to the venue.

ISO 1600, 1/125sec, F4.5, Canon 7D at 22mm. Image: Luke Nieuwhof

7

GRANDSLAM

STORY AND PHOTOS BY LUKE NIEUWHOF.

8

GRANDSLAM

The ANDRA season for 2015 is off andrunning with Top Doorslammer and TopFuel Motorcycle getting their start at theHome Group WA Nitro Slam at PerthMotorplex.The season opener took place in idealweather and with the Motorplex throwingin a couple of Nitro Funny Cars as asideshow to the ANDRA competition a bigcrowd was drawn in to watch proceedings.After the events of Perth Motorplex's lastnational open, Jet Car Max, where a powerfailure split the event into two, there wereno doubt some nervous heads inmanagement when the power systemagain experienced troubles during thecourse of the Nitro Slam. Power had to berestricted to the pits leaving some racers

conducting turn arounds in the dark.But racers fought through and most wereable to get by, so lets get into the racing!

Top Doorslammer

Three sessions of qualifying took place onthe Friday night of the event and JohnZappia was the one making headlines inevery respect. His second session 5.683dropped jaws everywhere around thevenue and around the country. It was thefirst 5.6 second pass by a Doorslammer inAustralia and the quickest class legalDoorslammer run in the world. Zappia'snight took a twist in the final sessionhowever when the Fuchs Holden Monarotook a turn into the right hand wall. It

wasn't as big a hit as at the AustralianNationals in November, but it was enoughto cause some cosmetic damage to the carand ensure the team had some work tokeep them busy overnight. Surprisinglythe team said they were not trying tobetter the run but instead just trying tocalm the car down and try and get someconsistent 5.7s, but tyre shake reared itsugly head and carried the Monaro outsidethe groove and with one tyre gripping andthe other slipping you had the recipe for aclose encounter of the concrete kind.Some other honourable mentions in thelist of Zappia's achievements included.960 and .961 60 foot times and a big253mph speed. This was the team's firstevent in official championship competition

9

using the shortened rear wing.Maurice Fabietti in the new modelHolden Trade Club Monaro wassatisfied with the tune up package hehad on board, carding a nice 5.818with a 248mph top end charge.Fabietti was tuning and driving thistime around to keep himself busy.If there was a pass of the eventoutside of Zappia's 5.68, it wouldhave to be Wayne Keys' 5.837 in thefinal session of qualifying. The lowbudget, privateer team threweverything they had at the race trackand it stuck, with a mind blowing .957short time making up for therelatively low 241mph speed.Unfortunate Keys put the car into the

sand after the pass, providing themwith some minor fixing for the night.Marty Dack had consistency on hisside, going 5.94, 5.91 and 5.92 in thethree qualifying sessions, showingthey had managed to cure theValvoline falcon of its backfiring habitfrom the Australian Nationals.Daniel Gregorini matched Dack to thethousandth on his best run of 5.913,but would miss out on the vital lanechoice.Grant O'Rourke was a little nervousheading into the final session withonly a 6.06, but a 5.947 would do thejob nicely to get the O'RourkeMotorsport Pontiac Firebird into theshow.

Murray O'Connor also had finalround jitters until a last ditch 5.970from the old school Falcon, as PinoPriolo rounded out the field with apersonal best 5.979, also his first fivesecond run. The field was the secondquickest in history.Missing out by one thousandth of asecond was Gary Phillips on a 5.980,while Stuart Bishop could alsoconsider himself unlucky as tyreshake afflicted his night and he couldproduce only a 6.050 best.Mark Chapman's Plymouth Fury wasill handling and all kinds of crossedup, especially in the first session, untila straighter 6.303 in the final sessionwhich would unfortunately still leave

1 0

him outside the showPat Carbone, Shane Catalano, SteveAldridge, Peter Kapiris and RyanMoresby were also left on the outsidelooking in, with the only consolationbeing some test passes on theSaturday.Racing opened with Dack eliminatingGregorini with a pedalling 6.290,Gregorini up in smoke at theChristmas tree. The pedal festcontinued into the second pairingwith O'Rourke's wild 6.271 just edginga 6.382 from Keys. A red light fromO'Connor threw away a potentiallyrace winning 6.212 as Fabietti turnedthe noise off early when a fuel linecame loose. The first round finished

without a full pass as Priolo also wentred, Zappia pedalling to a 6.128 win.The semi finals saw a cooler track andone the teams could come to gripswith a little more. O'Rourke was leftfrustrated after rolling the stagingbeams, though Fabietti's .070-reacted5.870 in the opposite lane would havebeen a tough pass to beat. Zappialaunched strongly with a .959 shorttime against Dack on the other side ofthe ladder and ran through for a 5.817victory as Dack shook and shut down.Thus we were left with number oneand number two qualifiers to duke itout for the final. There was a little bitof drama as Zappia came into stagewith some confusion among the crew

as to whether he needed his mirrorfor seeing the Christmas treeadjusted. It turns out he didn't, butwith Fabietti in full stage, Zappia hadjust a few moments to get the revs upand move in. He made it just in time,but Fabietti put five hundredths onhim at the tree. A pedal from Zappiadidn't help his situation and Fabiettihad the finish line insight, until theengine began to burn a piston and putout a burst panel, allowing Zappia tosneak through for a 5.864 to 6.023victory.

1 1

MIRROR, MIRRORJohn Zappia's road to the winner's circle almostcame to a strange end as he was coming into stagefor the final round.

With both his and Fabietti's car in pre-stage, amiscommunication of hand signals between Zappia andhis crew almost saw him timed out.“The mirror was perfect, I signalled Gerry that themirror was fine,” Zappia explained. “Coming in to stageRichard was holding me up and Fabietti had a light on, Iwas going 'get out the way, I'm going in' and hemisinterpreted that as something being wrong with themirror.“Gerry came into the car and I said 'Gerry, get out ofthere!' Next minute I look up and Fabietti has two lightson, I'm in pre-stage and the seven seconds are started.He got the door shut in time, but if he had have beentouching the car with double lights on I would have beenfinished.”Zappia said the team experimented with using a radioheadset in Sydney to avoid such miscommunication, buthe was worried about it affecting his senses inside thecar which are finely tuned to know when to pedal andshift.“We have got a headset, we started to use it, but when Icrashed the car in Sydney I had the headset on and Ididn't know if that was a factor that didn't allow me todrive or feel it rattle or get up on the tyres,” he said.“Next meeting we will introduce the headset inqualifying and try and get comfortable with that.“The ear plugs completely change the sound of the car. Ican hear other noises I don't normally hear and it isquieter in some other areas.“I need to use it (the headset) becausemiscommunication with hand signals that aren't right ishopeless. And it always seems to happen at aDoorslammer round, at Top Comp rounds we don't haveissues. But when the pressure is on everyone is all tryingto do the right thing.”When the two cars launched, Fabietti put fivehundredths on Zappia at the tree and when the WesternAustralian had to pedal, Fabietti pulled further ahead.“I started to run him in slowly but I don't know if Iwould have had enough track if he didn't pop the burstpanel,” Zappia said. “I'd say he probably would have hadme. With all the staging rush deal I was off my game forcutting a reaction time, it was one of them weekends.”Zappia and team are now in a search for consistency –obviously outright pace is not an issue.“The car is taking off like a rocket. It leaves really hardbut then we get the shake after 60 foot,” he said. “Someof the good runs it drives through, some of them I pedal,sometimes I can shift second but it continues to shake,

sometimes it doesn't. You have a split second decisionon what to do.“Sometimes you just need to hope the car is still centraland not going skewiff heading for the wall or the centreline.“We tried backing it off a little bit more, the thing takesoff with a 959 60 foot. It's trying to run a 5.66 or a 5.67.It rattled and didn't make it through, the track wasdifferent on the Saturday, it wouldn't hold the power inthat 100 foot area.“We put a lazier gearbox in it and it shook worse; itwants to be on kill every time. The track seems to cometo the car when it happens and we haven't got theanswer. We haven't got the consistency we are lookingfor at that power level.”The remark from Zappia was that things seemed to gowrong at the right times on the weekend. On theThursday before the event he made the unusual decisionto check the diff after 450 runs and six and a half yearsof driving.“They are so strong, nobody has ever broken them. But Ithought, maybe we should have a look and change theoil and we saw the gears were starting to crumble withthe amount of shake we have been having,” he said.“Things went wrong at the right times and didn't cost us,it was amazing. And every mistake you make, you neverdo it again. When it counts we are doing what needs tohappen.”The major drama for Zappia was his tangle with the wallin the final qualifying session, but even that was justcosmetic and being in the last session meant the teamhad enough time to fix the damage overnight.“It started to rattle the tyres so I pedalled it and punchedsecond gear like I normally do and I went way right,” hesaid. “I thought to myself 'that was too close', then it wasgoing straight and the next minute it hooked. It musthave had the left tyre in traction and the right tyre in notraction.“It chipped the front end and squashed the headers andbroke the door, we just needed to knock that into shape,it was pretty well cosmetic. It's the most minor damagewe've done on the body. We had a spare door and wehad a spare front and fixed the headers. We did what wehad to do.”With the early advantage for the short 2015 season, it isnow a case of keeping a hold on the points lead forZappia.“We want to start strong and be in front so if anythinggoes wrong we are in front to start with, but hey.everyone would like to do that,” he said. “We have gotenough on the field at the moment, we just need aconsistent race car. We are trying to work out how to dothat and find the sweet spot where we can drive smoothand repeat. We are close.”

1 2

Clockwise from opposite page: JohnZappia's team celebrates after his epic5.68 qualifying pass. Grant O'Rourke andWayne Keys ran out a pedal fest in roundone, with O'Rourke the victor. DanielGregorini tied Marty Dack in qualifying andthe two paired off in the first round, butGregorini was in the unfavoured left laneand overpowered the track. Stuart Bishopwas a surprise non qualifier in his Camaro,rebuilt from its tangle with the wall(s) atSydney Dragway. Pino Priolo carded hisfirst five second pass and qualified for thesecond quickest Top Doorslammer field inhistory.

1 3

"It wants tobe on killevery time."- JohnZappia

FABIETTIBACKSHIS FORM

Maurice Fabietti thinks he's got a package that can take it toseven times national Top Doorslammer champion John Zappia– especially if Zappia's consistency woes continue.

Fabietti made it to the final and had the edge on Zappia before his HoldenTrade Club Monaro put the burst panel out shortly after 1000 feet.“About two seconds into the run it killed a spark plug, so from two secondson it was on seven cylinders, then at five seconds the number eight cylinderhas burnt a piston which caused it to burst the burst panels,” Fabietti said.“I think I was well ahead. If that didn't happen, we would have beenholding the trophy, but it's all shoulda-coulda-woulda. We will go on to thenext meeting and try again.“You don't have to be the fastest. John is a great racer but he is pretty slackon the start line so if I can do my job on the start line hopefully we can get

around him.”Fabietti has had a few different tuners provide assistance overthe years but is now back to doing it himself, using theexperience they have provided.“It's got a good reliable set up in it, we've just had some sillylittle things going wrong recently, but it is all starting to gel,” hesaid.“Stuart (Rowland) helped us set the car up initially and we havetaken it a step further now, we've changed the tune up to suitmyself and between the two we have got a great combinationand we proved you don't need to be the fastest.”Fabietti said being the tuner and the driver again does increasethe pressure.“It certainly helps having someone else worrying about thetuning side of things, I can worry about fans and sponsors, but

that didn't work out, so we are back to the old days,” he said.Fabietti thinks seventies, and consistent ones are that, shouldbe possible from his car and that will keep Zappia honest.“We ran a 5.81 on our second qualifier and it's not like we hadbeen there three weekends in a row on the same race track (likeJohn),” he said. “We should get into the 70s, it won't be low 70s,but we will get into the 70s.”When asked what the rest of the field needs to do to catch up toZappia's pace, Fabietti said it was a case of absolute dedication.“John lives for drag racing, he devotes his whole life to it andhe's not a silly person,” he said. “He lives and breathes it andthat's what he concentrates on, making that car go fast anddoing a lot of laps.”

Clockwise from opposite pagetop left: Shane Catalano struggledto calm his Studebaker down offthe start line. Wayne Keys laiddown a PB 5.83 in qualifying.Marty Dack awaits a pass in thecockpit of his Valvoline FordFalcon. Gary Phillips missed raceday by one lousy thousandth of asecond. Maurice Fabietti thinks hehas 5.7 package in the making.

Top Fuel Motorcycle

A return to strength for the twowheeled nitro brigade was a positivesign for the start of the 2015 season.Thirteen bikes in all made passesduring qualifying, battling for theeight car field.Mark Drew was quite happy to statepre-event that he wanted someseriously quick passes out of his PerthHarley Davidson Nitro Harley, buthad to settle for a best of 6.586/206where he missed the clutch set up. Hetried to improve in the final sessionbut with some handling woes wasonly able to go 6.63.Chris Matheson had his JackhammerNitro Harley back again after aninauspicious debut at the AustralianNationals. An improved 6.925 placedhim second on the ladder with themotorcycle he plans to run for the restof the shortened series.Chris Porter's spectacular, but costly,explosions seemed to be behind himat first with a 6.991 but the gremlinreturned for the final session about150 feet from the start line, leavingthe team shaking their heads andunlikely to make race day.Greg Durack was the final bike in thesixes with the turbocharged Bravo

Resources Kawasaki clocking a 6.994and would also remain the only non-Harley in the field.Mark Ashelford put down a 7.022 inthe opening session which wassomewhat off the pace expected of theAttitude Racing bike, while BenStevens was on the opposite end ofexpectation as he put down a 7.434 inwhat are still his early passes on thebike.The field was rounded out by the two'little' Harleys. Coming from theNB/T class of Competition Bike,Wayne McGuinness and Les Holdendecided to go pro and ran 7.548 and7.873 second passes respectively.Tony Wood was on the outsidelooking in after a 7.92, but somedamage to the multi cylinder wouldprobably have seen them not in raceday regardless.Peter Vanderaa's 8.089, IanAshelford's 8.394 and Danny Makin's8.874 would also miss out. For TerryBurnett, missing the field was theleast of his worries after the teamlifted a cylinder head in the pits,causing burns to son Daniel. We wishDaniel all the best in his recovery.First round time and Ashelford foundsome more pace, belting out a 6.783with an early shut off to defeat

Durack's 7.537. Stevens took a solo8.447 with Porter unable to repair thedamage, while Matheson took a closeone against McGuinness 7.523 to7.618. Also going closer than he wouldhave liked to the jaws of defeat wasDrew, when his 8.017 barely scrapedby an 8.103 from Holden. There wasconjecture as to whether or not Drewhad crossed the centre line, with thevideo footage borderline, but Holdenassured officials that Drew had notcome into his lane and so theAustralian champion was into thesemi finals.It was there that Drew found hisgroove, with a 6.393/220 demolitionof Mark Ashelford was out of thethrottle early. Stevens' dream runcame to an end against Matheson,with a 7.359 from the Queenslanderdefeating Stevens' 8.720.Drew versus Matheson is a match upthat might be common this season.Both riders were wired on the startline with Drew's .083 reaction timegetting out slightly on Matheson's.089. From there Drew was starting torun away with it until the bike startedheading left and he took out the finishline timing boxes, giving away whatwould have been a certain victory.

1 6

Top: Chris Matheson enjoyed achange of pace on Jackhammerand came away with the win.Centre: Mark Drew had theoutright pace advantage but alsoheaded for the centre line onseveral occasions, eventuallycosting him the victory.

1 7

Chris Matheson's switch to his Jackhammer NitroHarley began inauspiciously at Sydney Dragway butdid a complete 180 degree turn at Perth Motorplex ashe took the win for the opening round of the ANDRATop Fuel Motorcycle season.

For Matheson he found it unusually refreshing with a bike thatdidn't demand quite the maintenance of his Nitro Voodoo fourcylinder.“It's a fun deal, the maintenance on them isn't anything like themulti cylinder,” he said. “It is more enjoyable. This is a little biteasier, you're not doing engine swaps and chasing gremlins.“That said, we've put all new ignitions on and new injectors andchanged a few things - the cardinal sin of changing things at arace meeting.“We didn't do a tyre, we didn't do a chain. We put some plugs init, dropped the oil out of it, it's good. It's refreshing notthrowing a whole heap of stuff at it, but no doubt we will haveour problems along the way.”Matheson was pleased with the result, saying there was some

new blood in the team.“We were lucky Mark crossed the (centre) line, but you've got tobe there to be lucky,” he said.“We left it soft early because we didn't want to do an engineswap or do heads or anything, we were picking our way as wewent, in the last one we turned it up a little bit where it shouldbe and it took off. I got a bit out of shape at the other end but wegot through.”Matheson said Nitro Voodoo will be back, but the Jackhammeris going to be the focus for the 2015 season.“We're waiting for cranks for the multi cylinder, so we will runthis until the Winters, do this short season on the twin and tryand keep all these other blokes honest if we can,” he said.Matheson found his energy buoyed by the strong field of bikesand also new riders coming into the category.“Perth has been welcoming to us, it was great to see a big fieldand in particular young blokes that are coming out and having ago on these big bikes,” he said. “It gives me a bit of ticker for thefuture of the sport because all us blokes are getting old. We needthese young blokes to come in and stick it into us; there's afuture for the bracket.”

HAMMER TIME

Mark Drew might have been top qualifier in TopFuel Motorcycle for the Home Group WA Nitro Slambut he was left sounding down despite that.

“I'm never f*cking happy,” he said. “On the first run I didn'tarm the bike so it didn't change gears. On the second run theclutch cannon didn't release anywhere near early enough.Third time I went out there I buggerised around and messed

around with the cannon issue so I got that sorted out but thebike just got a bit out of control, the handlebars were prettywell scraping on the ground, then it took off again, it was justa messy run.”Unfortunately for Drew the handling woes continued toafflict him throughout the event with a close encounter withthe centre line in the first round and taking out the finish linetiming boxes in the final round.

DREW DOWN ON TOP

DREW DOWN ON TOP

Ben Stevens made a dream debut with a semifinal appearance.

The nephew of former rider Kim Stevens has a uniqueback story, having overcome cancer when he wasyounger and then a leg amputation from the knee downwhen a stunt on a quad bike went wrong.Stevens (pictured, centre) said a fuel bike has filled theneed for an adrenaline rush.“I think it's safe to say I won't be able to hang off theback of my bike anymore after my accident and the nextcraziest thing that had come to mind was nitro bikes,”he said. “I have always wanted to hop on one and seewhat it's like, stemming from back in 2003 watchingBrett Stevens on his bike at the time.“Uncle Kim went well on this bike and I certainly havebig shoes to fill riding the machine in anyway like hedid.”

BEN 10/10

1 9

NITRO FUNNY CARS

Fans were treated to two big showNitro Funny Cars as well as twoNostalgia Nitro Funny Cars (comingunder a Retro Funny Car designationfrom the Motorplex).Mark Sheehan and Anthony Begleywere the big show element andprovided some pretty spectacularcontests. In their first pairing Begley'smotor went lean and popped the burstpanel out about 300 feet from the startline, while Sheehan went 5.32 but tookthe finish line timing boxes with him.Each night had two rounds of 'nitroslams'. With body damage, Sheehan

swapped to his blue body andimproved to a 5.02 for the secondFriday night pass but with no chuteswent deep into the sand trap. Begleywas shut down on the start line.Begley's fortunes turned around in thefirst Saturday night pass with a 5.17from Chemical Warfare, while Sheehankicked a rod out and was left unable toreturn for the final pairing.It was something of an anti climax forthe last Funny Car pass of the night asBegley smoked the tyres at the tree andafter giving it one quick pedal decideddiscretion was the better part ofvalour.The two Nostalgia Nitro Funny Cars

were made up of Rory Taylor's NitroThunder Pontiac, driven by Mat Abel,and Andrew Minogue's Ford Mustangdriven by Frank Taylor. Both teamsmade a lot of progress in theirlicensing across the event and will belooking for some full passes soon.There were a few hiccups, with a tyresmoking launch for Nitro Thunderseeing it go sky high in the revs, whileFrank Taylor almost backed into thebridge after being given a shut downsignal. But both cars looked amazingand will be a great addition to theNostalgia/Outlaw/Retro Funny Carranks.

20

Clockwise from top: MarkSheehan laid down two toughpasses, with one ending up deepin the sand trap. Anthony Begleyand Chemical Warfare were backon song with a 5.17 best. FrankTaylor drove Andrew Minogue'sFord Mustang Funny Car in itslicensing stages. Mat Abelsteered Rory Taylor's NitroThunder.

Top Alcohol

An exhibition of Top Alcohol carsprovided fans with a taste of what is tocome at their opening round of theANDRA championship at theWesternationals.We'll skip through quickly to one of thebest pairings of the event as both CraigGlassby and Shane Weston went into PBterritory. Glassby's 5.469/256 raisedeyebrows nationally, while Weston's5.541/252 showed his combination ofquick reaction times, consistency andnow low fifty pace would be dangerous.Check out our sidebar for the insidestory on Glassby's amazing pass.

Super Comp

Perth Motorplex's Super Comp bracketis currently running a uniquehandicapping system where the index isbased off the national record and thereare no recalculations for each round.Four cars were sub record in qualifying.Errol Quartermaine belted out a PB7.676 from his turbocharged FordFalcon to be .274 under in DD/GA,while Kyle Putland finally overcame histyre shake woes for a A/A 6.652 (-.118).Jamie Chaisty's combination of recordpace and the consistency of a ninesecond car is proving difficult to beat atthe moment and his H/MSA 9.287 was.033 under, while David Dequen's 7.416in E/AA was .024 under.In the second round, Chaisty advancedon a 9.320 with Rob Gaikhorst notmaking the start line, Kyle Putland tookit easy with a 7.089 against KirstyCunningham, who was a surprise winneragainst Dequen in round one.Quartermaine had a solo and only stage.Putland had that option in the semifinals and took it, leaving Chaisty andQuartermaine to duke it out for theother place in the final round. A -.008red light from Quartermaine put an endto the race early.The final took a strange turn withPutland losing power in the burnout androlling into full stage. With his hands inthe air he left the car there, givingChaisty the opportunity to take his timeon the green and take a 9.319 win.It was Chaisty's third win of the season,but missing the opening round of theseries while attending the AustralianNationals has given him a big game ofcatch up to play.

Competition Bike

Ross Smith is now the boss ofCompetition Bike in WA and he edgedevery closer to what we are pretty surewould be Australia's first naturallyaspirated, no wheelie bar seven secondpass with a top qualifying 8.075, .625under the B/AB index.He cruised through round one thanks toa red light from Todd Johnson. RossGreen went 8.673 on his C/CB 8.75index to defeat Michael Holister, as

Natalotto soloed with Phil Pattonabsent. Brett Ghedina completed theround with an 8.192 on his CC/CBI 7.94index to get past Ross Townson, whoseBB/CBI has been getting a little crazy onthe start line recently.Green pulled off the upset of the daywith an 8.54 (8.71) defeating Smith's8.603 (8.70), as Smith's Hayabusalaunched in second gear. Natalotto went9.34 (9.52 B/SB) to knock his indexaround a little in his defeat of Ghedina.With Smith out of the way, Natalottohad the light at the end of the tunnelshining brightly. That light was virtuallyblinding once Green stumbled off thestart line and came to a stop in just a fewfeet, allowing Natalotto's BMW to scorea 9.20 victory.Smith's 160 point lead in the statechampionship is looking unassailable.

Supercharged Outlaws

Supercharged Outlaws was something ofa survival of the fittest contest, withplenty of withdrawals after qualifying.Ben Hoar was fortunately not amongstthem and his 6.765 stood up for thenumber one spot.Following a solo filled eliminationround, the B Final was made up of IanFoster and Norbert Claite. A red lightfrom Claite got things off to a bad startand then some engine damage a littlelater made things worse. Foster's 6.974on a 6.95 dial in was a pretty convincingpackage however.Fans were treated to a closer racer in theA Final. Though both Gregory Jamesand Ben Hoar were virtually comatoseon the start line with reaction times overthree tenths of a second, it made fortight race as Hoar's 6.674 on a 6.67 dialin pushed James to a 7.160 on a 7.17break out.Wayne Batson and Ian Foster sit atopthe WA track point score, with JonFerguson staying in touch in thirddespite missing the event.

Modified

Simon Lekias put a new engine packageinto his A/MD and was promptlyrewarded with a personal best 7.235 inqualifying to lead the way and claim thetrack record.By the quarter finals Lekias remained incontention but had points leader SamTreasure now standing in his way.Lekias was lazy on the tree with a .168 toTreasure's .017 and it cost him asTreasure took a 7.73 victory on his 7.69dial in. Two ladies matched up next inJodie Mellitt and Robyn Butler. Butler's.083 and 7.885 on a 7.82 easilyaccounted for the superchargeddragster's .196 reacted 7.684 on a 7.62.Cousins Michelle Katavatis and AleshaAdamos got to race for bragging rightsbut despite a .006 to .028 holeshot forKatavatis, Adamos clinched the win lightwith Katavatis going 7.966 on the 7.97dial in. Brad Baker wrapped things up

with an 8.110.Treasure and Butler staged up for thefirst of the semi finals. Treasure's .018and 7.73 on a 7.70 dial in was way toogood for the .167 and 7.832 on a 7.84break out in the lane opposite. Adamosand Baker left identically on .014s, but abreak out 8.070 on an 8.09 dial in fromBaker gave Adamos' 7.791 on a 7.74 thewin.The top two in the points now had theirchance to take the gloves off for the finalround. Adamos nipped Treasure on theline with a .020 to .026 advantage andher 7.797 on a 7.79 saw Treasure take alittle too much stripe with a break out7.678 on a 7.69 dial in.

Super Sedan

The turbocharged Holden VKCommodore of Ben Peters is a regulartop qualifier at Perth Motorplex and theHome Group WA Nitro Slam was nodifferent with a 7.965 pass doing the job.Unfortunately Peters was out early buteight other very competitive SuperSedan drivers were still going for thequarter finals. Martin Mirco marchedthrough with Clinton Carameli notmaking the line, while a tight .012 RTand 10.088 on a 10.08 dial in allowedPhil Restifo to knock out David Powell'srather good .040 and 8.945 on an 8.93.Matthew Gullotto gave the stripe toCraig Thorstensen and it paid off with abreak out giving Gullotto's 9.504 on a9.47 the win, as Leigh Fallon'swheelstanding 9.114 on a 9.11 dial inprovided him a popular victory upagainst Rob Hickey.Gullotto was really on his game for thesemi finals, with the James Bond .007light and a 9.479 on a 9.46 sendingMirco to a 9.190 break out on his 9.20dial in. Restifo's .103 light wasn't goingto cut it for this round, with Fallon going.034 on the tree and 9.127 on a 9.09 dialin at the finish line.A note on Leigh Fallon's Ford ute – thisthing leaves like a Super Sedan should.It carries the front wheels ridiculouslyfar and ridiculously high and is stilldeadly consistent. Gullotto'sCommodore is no slouch in the wheellifting game either and so the final wasset to be spectacular. Gullotto repeatedwith a .007 light but Fallon picked acherry on a -.010 and Gullotto was left ahappy racer.

Modified Bike

Graeme Goldsworthy held court at thetop of Modified Bike qualifying with an8.361 effort from the turbochargedSuzuki.The 17 bike field meant plenty of soloson offer and Brett Allen took advantageof that with an 8.791 in the quarter finalsafter a clutch rebuild for the no barSuzuki Katana. Darrin McDonald wasdue to face Goldsworthy but he topqualifier did not front, McDonald takinga 9.690 by himself on the Kawasaki. In

22

the round's only pairing JustinTownson's Honda ousted Geoff Smith ina great race, Townson's .038 and 8.811on an 8.79 defeating a .021 and 10.31 ona 10.28.McDonald headed off by himself againin the semi finals, this time his allocatedbye run. He simply staged and back out.Townson went .112 on the tree to Allen'sslow .325 and with an easy 8.90 on an8.79 dial in took the win.For the final round McDonald finallyhad someone in the opposite lane but hewasn't rusty, going .015 on the tree toreally put Townson's .148 on the backfoot. There was a glimmer of hope forTownson but with an 8.818 on an 8.85that was put out and McDonald's 9.792on a 9.65 took the win.Allen and Townson remain as the toptwo in the WA points respectively.

Super Street

Jayme Smith took charge of Super Streetin qualifying with her 11.015 in theHolden Commodore the best of the 22car field against the 11.00 minimum.Smith was still racing come quarterfinals and with a tidy 11.043 on an 11.04dial in put out Georgia McSweeney inthe Holden HK ute, who ran a personal

best, but breaking out, 10.93.McSweeney's day was very up and down,earlier having to find replacement fuelafter the avgas she was using tested outof spec (as did your humble editor's inModified Bike!). Nicholas Wroe wasstrong against Craig Caton with an11.071 on an 11.03 combined with a .021RT sending Caton into breakoutterritory. Ian Taylor took threehundredths on the start line from LeeWatson and didn't give them back, going11.052 on an 11.01 for his win.Taylor was rewarded with a bye run forthe semi final, leaving Wroe and Smithto argue for the other position. A .051 to.143 holeshot from Wroe's VPCommodore set him up well for an11.144 victory on his 11.03 dial in toSmith's 11.061 on an 11.02.Wroe was runner up at the last nationalopen at Perth Motorplex and sosearching for a win. Alas he was left tocontinue to search as a -.019 red lightended his chances and gave Taylor's bigValiant coupe the win.

Junior Dragster

Taylah Batson qualified top in JuniorDragster with an 8.004, narrowly aheadof an 8.008 from Connor McClure.

Points leader Katrina Bowman went bigon her break out in the quarter finalswith a 7.832 way under her 7.91 dial in,giving Brodie Zappia's double breakout12.014 on a 12.08 the win. The break outblues affected Kyle Higgins too with a7.956 on his 8.01 seeing Bailey McCluretake advantage with an 8.037 on his8.03 dial in. Another pairing, anotherbreak out next with Brendan Kantersgoing 8.755 on an 8.77 dial in to giveConnor McClure the win while AlanahCope made it a perfect round of breakout deciders with her 8.669 on an 8.70dial in sending Tyler Gavin into thesemis.Gavin went -.006 red to hand away therace to Bailey McClure, who was also inthe negatives with a -.023, butfortunately a tenth of a second afterGavin. Brother Connor McClure was notso lucky with a -.031 taking him out ofcontention against Zappia.Zappia and McClure might be namesmore suited to a Top Comp final buthere they were in Junior Dragster.Unfortunately young Brodie, thenephew of John Zappia, went red by-.029 and Bailey McClure took home thewinner's trophy, along with starting toreel in the points lead of Bowman.

Clockwise from right: FrankTaylor picked up a win for the bigValiant in Super Street. DarrinMcDonald used a big holeshot inthe final round of Modified Bike tohis advantage. Matthew Gullottowon a wheelstanding final ofSuper Sedan.

23

Craig Glassby knew he was on a mission when his Top Alcohol FunnyCar took off on a very special pass at Perth Motorplex.

The 5.469 made him the owner of the third quickest Top Alcohol Funny Car in thecountry and was rewarded for a switch over to a new, high overdrive combination thatis now yielding dividends.“To keep up we decided to join the likes of Gary Phillips and Steven Ham and uppedthe overdrive,” Glassby said.“That has changed our whole set up, so we had to get a handle on where we were withit again. At the last event of last season we went 5.54 and then we changed the comboafter that.”Glassby said, as is often the case with altering an engine's horsepower, the next stepwas to match up their clutch settings again.“It was a matter of redoing our clutch program. We had a successful clutch programwith our old combo, so we had to figure that out,” he said.“We've always been very successful at getting on to our clutch program fast and it tooka couple of meetings to work out what the car wanted. We had three meetings in threeweeks which was kind of good, so we made a pretty radical change that got the cardown the track in a low 70 with a huge pedal, so then we just needed an idea aroundtiming curves.“The 5.46 was with a lift, I got to 1100 feet and one of the fuel lines came loose and itstarted spraying fuel on the windscreen. I didn't want to torch a piston, so that's whyit only went 255mph. “So progressively from blowing the tyres off it was a matter ofgetting runs on the board and then look at all the data and work from there.”Glassby tried to improve for his final run of the night, but an oil fitting came looseabout 900 feet into the run, giving him a skatey end to proceedings.But fortunately there was no damage, as many punters expected when seeing the carsliding about in its own oil, and the team were left thrilled with the way the car cameback.“It would have been nice to run 40s back to back, but it ran good up until (the oil leak)so we were pretty happy with the progress,” Glassby said. “The engine came apart likebrand new and we know we have a fair bit left in the car.”Sometimes racers will say that quick runs feel slow. This was not the case for Glassby.“I knew it was fast, really fast. It went .930 to the 60 foot and normally we have notbeen big on 60 foot times, so I knew it was on a mission,” he said. “I punched top gearand it was like I had dropped the clutch again.“It was flying, it was one of those runs that at the time you know it is fast and youdon't have time to panic about it, it wasn't until I stopped when I got on the radio andI was thinking 'what the hell just happened'.“One of the firies came over and told me I ran a 5.46, I jumped out of the hatch feelinglike a school kid - it was an amazing feeling.“Going from a 50 to a 46 doesn't sound much but it was definitely a quick run, itpushed me back in the seat for the whole track.”Glassby was quick to credit the role of Gower and his Alky Pro program which assistsin their tuning.“Greg was pretty stoked to come back after a couple of meetings in the wilderness andto pull it apart and find it was all beautiful and clean and it didn't hurt nothing,”Glassby said.“The Alky Pro program has tidied things up. We find it very accurate and we cancontrol the fuel system much better through the range. It has helped ourimprovements because of confidence in where we are heading.“It wasn't until we had some hard core racers congratulating us that we realised it wassomething special. Not many people can say they have run 40s in an alcohol car. Wedid it at home, that was the biggest thing, in 2200ft of air on a track that nobody elseran real fast on that night.”While Glassby made it clear that the team was about long term fulfilment of goals,they will go into the opening round of the ANDRA Top Alcohol season with a level ofexcitement.“I'd be lying if I didn't have that little bit in the back of my mind about having a quickcar for the Top Alcohol round,” he said. “I've runner upped at both rounds we haverun previously so I am definitely excited that I potentially have a car that could be inthe top two or three.“We're not getting cocky. Things can change dramatically, we are about taking it easy.This was a long term thing for us and I had no expectations for the Westernationals.“It's not for championships, its not for gold Christmas trees, it's about having the bestpossible car we could and setting benchmarks for ourselves. We are gentleman racersdoing it for our own satisfaction. Phillips and Ham are the best and I want to be therewith them - I want to be at the front of pack.”.

GLASSBY GOES 5.46

24

GLASSBY GOES 5.46

25

NITROSLAMPHOTO BONUS

26

Clockwise from top: Justin Townson stayed sun safe during the warm weather. Peter Bellsmokes it up in Super Street qualifying. Brett Ghedina's turbocharged Honda runs a nearstock motor - just with plenty of go fast bits attached to the outside. Madison Brown'sskyline themed Junior Dragster is a stunner. Shane Joyce stages under a setting sun. SamTreasure in stage for the Modified quarter finals.

FROM THE

TOPDOWN

Bruce Read has never been afraid to speak his mindon the state of drag racing.

His father Jim Read is one of Australia's most famous drag racers,famed for his exploits driving Top Fuel dragsters and then forcampaigning to have Sydney Dragway built.The drama that followed could have filled a book – indeed, it did,when Jim released his infamous The Jim Read Story – The Good,Bad & Ugly.Bruce is the more moderate, calculated version of his father.While the team races more sporadically than they used to, Brucestill plays an active role in racer body Top Fuel Australia, whichunites teams and provides them a common voice, something thathas proved useful in dealing with ANDRA and tracks.Read makes no bones about declaring that Top Fuel needs to leadthe way for the sport at a national championship level. Thatmeans both investment into the category and commitment fromthe teams.“The governing body needs to invest in the premier product,”Read said. “Imagine if Coca Cola took all their marketing moneyand put it into Sprite - they would go broke. As unpalatable as it isthe sport needs to look at that.“The super stadiums of drag racing were built so the spectatorswould come to watch the kings of the sport, which is Top Fuel,Top Doorslammer, Top Alcohol and the rest of Group One.”Read acknowledges that Top Fuel sometimes misses the mark,but it is still the 'bait on the hook' that brings people to the track.When Top Fuel is having an off day, that is when the othercategories step up and make everyone look good.“Some of the classes need to work a lot closer together for thegood of the sport,” he said. “We in Top Fuel have alwaysmaintained we know we bring the people but we also know thatnot all the time are we the show.“Some of our other Group One classes don't share the samesentiment. The people are already there because of Top Fuel.“People come to see the fuel cars, but are entertained by theDoorslammers. The racers don't want to acknowledge that is thecase.“On the flipside, Top Fuel is a hit and miss thing. Sometimes it isa barn burner but sometimes when we misfire, Doorslammerpicks up the slack. We are mindful that they are right there besideus to pick us up. There needs to be cohesion and cooperation.”Read commended ANDRA for bringing Summit to the sport inAustralia, saying it lent much credibility and they would find a lotof value in sportsman racers, but more sponsors were needed toinvest at the higher levels.“I don't know how to fix it but the focus needs to be on the maingame and if the people aren't coming to see it and not putting the

28

29

STORY BY LUKE NIEUWHOF. PHOTOS BY CACKLINGPIPES.COM.

money in the turnstile then the sponsor won'tsee any people at the track or on TV,” he said.“We try and do our own thing promotionally(with Top Fuel Australia). We employed a guyfull time, but our sport is on the nose withcorporate Australia. I don't know why.”Read suspects the competition is intense andwhen drag racing is dealing with onlythousands of spectators instead of millions, itleaves little but the sponsorship scraps.“You have the AFL and 16 teams taking bites atthe sponsorship pool, the NRL and 16 teams,Football Federation Australia, the Big BashLeague, Cricket Australia with the nationalteam and state league and one dayers, V8Supercars of course - all of those sports andentities have their nose in the trough,” he said.“Throw in a minnow like Australian dragracing and there is not a lot left. We get thescraps, or companies that want to be involvedat a hundreds of thousands of dollars level andnot millions.“I think the sport is in fear of itself forbecoming popular. We know how good it canbe and we loved it to death, but everyone wassitting back and letting everyone else do thework.“You can't have the ice cream if you don't payfor it.”Read acknowledged that times are probablypretty good for sportsman racers, with lots ofevents on that can subsidise themselvesthrough entry fees alone. But he believes fortrue growth there needs to be a charge led fromthe top categories of the sport.“If you want a simple drag strip that(sportsman events) is great and the sportsmanracers will subsidise that kind of culture,” hesaid. “If they want the bigger crowds they needthe bigger cars. It's not like the AFL pours allits investment into Auskick.”Criticism without answers is empty. And Readsaid that if racers want to be the ones tocriticise then they also need to be the ones tostep up with the answers – and the dollars.“The first thing I would do (if given charge fora day) would be to get a forum of the GroupOne races only, two members from each team,with an absolutely brutal MC and there wouldbe no sacred grounds, no prisoners, nosecrets,” he said. “If we told someone to shutup, they shut up, then open the floor.“We would ask their ideas and how we goabout it. Tell them not to expect miracles,sensible and practical ideas.“We would create a Group One commissionwith one representative from each class on thecommission,” he said. “Talk about what theyexpect, what their members want, come with aclear and concise direction from yourcategory.”Once the idea were on the table, Read saidaction should come, but it would not happenfor free in his hypothetical scenario.“I know people bleed about $1500 licences, butif you want to do something it is going to cost,”he said. “Do you want to be on Channel Nine?Well it comes at a cost. It can't be the guys with

Junior Dragsters, Super Sedans and Modifiedspaying for G1 excesses. But on the flipside theyneed to sacrifice as well - they should not bepaid for their hobby.”Read said he would have the sport paying forcoverage on a major TV station and maximumtwo day events or even sharp one day showswhere the show was held at night, while racersget adjusted to the track during the day.“The paying public is into more bang for yourbuck,” he said. “Let the race teams dial into thetrack earlier in the day before the spectatorsarrive, then open the gates at 5 and then at 6all the finely tuned cars are all ready to go.”Top Fuel, in contrast to its racing nature asexplosive and quick, tends to be more of a slowburn when it comes to team numbers. Theinfrastructure takes years to build up andteams generally commit to racing for a longtime.Read said there aren't any new teams on thehorizon that he is aware of, but what is beingseen is growth within the new teams such asthose of Peter Xiberras, Mark Sheehan andAnthony Begley. Not to mention thecommitment of Lamattina Top Fuel Racingand Rapisarda Autosport International to fieldat least two cars each for every round of theseries.“Premiair (Peter Xiberras) will emerge as amajor force, I think they have already shownthat,” Read said.“Anthony Begley will make appearances at theMotorplex and Willowbank, they will bearound to keep everybody honest. Terry Saintyhas a new car coming.“Wayne Newby will be racing for Santo, he willbe a revelation in the class. John Lamattina is anatural. Rob Cavagnino will be back withMartin Stamatis.“As for us we are looking for funding, Darren(Morgan) and Ben (Patterson) are the same.”Last season Top Fuel Australia had anincentive scheme which gave financial backingto teams to make it to rounds of the series.That scheme will not be in place this season.Read said that the short 2015 season runningform January to June could be a model withwhich to move forward on, as teams would notmind having a more condensed season.“There is a very big push on to shorten theseason right now,” he said. “A lot of the puristswon't like that. But the general consensus is weshould race once at each track and have goodquality car counts at one off events.“With the demise of the Calder meeting, whichwe always knew was going to happen, theseason is down to four meetings through to theWinternationals which should be doable and Iam hopeful most meetings will see eight cars.Perth will have a minimum of six but hopefullyeight (for the opening round). The rest of themeetings on the east coast are normallyoversubscribed.”Read believes that Top Fuel Australia was adriving force behind the change in calendars.The original change to a calendar year formatwas made following an ANDRA summit in 2011

30

31

but has since received mixed reviews.“I have to give ANDRA and the tracks credit where credit isdue, we requested a swap around of the season and theylistened,” he said. “I would proudly boast that was a TFAinitiative to change it back. A lot of the companies beingapproached for sponsorship couldn't relate because of the biggap between June and September.“The summer season has been handed to speedway on aplatter. Drag racing was built on Saturday nights in thesummer up and down the east coast. We don't do thatanymore. We haven't kept with the times.”Bruce's brother and three times Australian Top Fuel championPhil Read still wants to drive, but Bruce said the events aroundSydney Dragway and their father's excommunication from thevenue left Phil jaded.Without getting into details or sides of the debate, Phil hasdistanced himself somewhat from the sport. That distance canbe seen in what he now chooses to do on weekends.“Phil bought his son a championship winning Junior Dragsterand never let him race it,” Bruce explained. “He saw what itdid to his own father and his working relationship with hissponsors. He thought he doesn't need to be part of it.“He had the Junior Dragster sitting in his garage for four yearsbefore he sold it. Every Saturday they now go go-karting.”Top Fuel is expensive, carries the expectations of an event andis often filled with politics. One might wonder why someone is

drawn to it – so we asked.“I love working on the cars, the least enjoyable day to me israce day,” Read said. “I enjoy the camaraderie of my crewguys, my brother, my dad; we've been travelling thecountryside since the 80s.“It's the nights in the hotel or at a pub having a counter mealor fixing the truck with a flat tyre, digging racers out ofditches.“Then running the car and analysing the data and wonderingand calculating what I am going to do next, the analytical sideis what I love most.”Top Fuel is a team sport and Read said is where reward foreffort can also be found.“One of my most memorable runs would have been secondround at an Australian Nationals when we raced Aaron Lynchfirst round, we got past him but blew up,” Read said. “ConnieKalitta once said if you run your car and it runs 4.6s all dayand out of the blue it blows up, don't go looking for theproblem. It's just one of those things. Go back and do whatyou always have done.“Dad asked why we were going back out doing the same thing.Then it went 4.58 and the looks on my guys' faces afterreplacing a motor and clutch and replumbing it, that's likewinning lotto.”“When they all turn around and look at you and you look atthem, that's when you feel like the king of the world.”

32

GASGIRL

Tears and fearstransform to cheers.How NaomiLightowler went froma junior scaredwitless to a SuperGas natural.

Story by GrantStephens. Photos bycacklingpipes.com.

Since its introduction in the 90s the JuniorDragster program has been a phenomenalsuccess in providing the younger generation anintroduction and stepping stone into drag racing.Naomi Lightowler is one of that generation andnow taking on the challenge of Super Gas.

The bright lights of Sydney Dragway held an attraction forLightowler from an early age.“I remember being at the opening of Sydney Dragway, themassive crowd and from that day onwards I went to prettymuch all of the events that were held at Sydney Dragway,”

she said.Going drag racing can be daunting prospect at any age andit took some time for Lightowler to put a toe into the dragracing pond.“I remember being in my lounge room one night watchingthe movie about Erica Enders in Junior Dragsters onDisney Channel, my parents then came in and asked me if Iwanted to race a junior dragster,” she said. “Without eventhinking I said no, I was eight so I was the age that I couldstart racing but I just didn't want to, I was way too scared Iwould stuff it up and people would laugh.“We kept going to races and I loved it so much but I wasstill hesitant, I knew racing was an expensive sport andcould never ask my parents for that much money and

GASGIRL

commitment so I just left it.”Lightowler's parents definitely detected a love for the sportin her and persisted with their offer. Eventually Lightowlertook that step, enlisting the help of a junior drag racingoriginal.“Two years later at the age of ten they asked me again, thistime I gave it more thought and soon enough my answerwas a definite yes,” she said. “By this time we had madefriends with a fair few people in the sport and one of themajor friendships we formed still to this day was with RickyDudek and the whole Dudek family.“Ricky helped my parents find a junior dragster and spentso many days and nights at our house getting his old slowmotor prepared to put in it, the junior came with a faster

motor but because of my age I had no choice but to run theslow one.“We took the junior to an area that we could test and driveit around a bit and see how it went. We had one mishapthat day and had to pack it up and go home, I wasn't toldwhat happened that day until a while later (more on thatlater.”The younger Lightowler was a far cry from her nowconfident self. The culmination of all the years envisioningthe moment created a wave of uncontrollable emotion.Racing in front of thousands of people for the first time cancreate self doubt and nerves in anyone - let alone a 10 yearold.“I went off to the back paddock to do some practice

Naomi Lightowler's first trips in her JuniorDragster were far from confident, but hergrowth in drag racing has seen her nowable to drive a hard charging Super Gasserwithout fear.

36

launches and drive around some cones and answer a fewquestions before going to face the huge crowd and to do threeruns and be signed off,” she said. “Once I was told this I justburst into tears, anyone who was there that day will rememberthe waterworks I put on to get out of doing it. I remembercrying at mum and Shane (her stepfather) telling them to sellthe car - I wasn't cut out to do it.”Positive support from her parents and friends would helpLightowler push through her fears.“February the next year we went to a test and tune to try againand see if I could move past it,” she said. “I think we went tothe staging lanes three times, each time I would put my helmeton and cry, or get to the next step of strapping in and startcrying again and have to tow back.“The next time, Shane's father told me just to do it because heknew once I did that first past I would love it and never stop. Idon't know why but I had pretty strong faith in him and gave ita go. The car ran a 10.40 which for my age was way too quickback then. At the next meeting we went fast again, and themeeting after and the one after that. I couldn't understand why- a slow motor was meant to be slow!”The team then revealed their secret from that first day testdriving the car.“On the way to the track for another meet I asked Mum andShane why it wouldn't slow down and why we kept goingquick,” Lightowler said. “They then decided to tell me that theday we tested the slow motor before we raced it, I had actuallyblown it up and they had no choice but to put the big motorthat came with the car back in it and didn't want to tell me incase I would panic. I was stoked!”So begun Lightowler's Junior Dragster career, conquering afear of failure and converting that into major successes, butdrag racing still was not finished testing young Lightowler yet.“I didn't have long until I could go fast which was 8.50, one ofmy first meetings as a fast Junior I made a final, I loved thatfeeling, the feeling of being recognised, of being one of the beston the day, you just can't put a price on it. I never looked backfrom that point, we had our game faces on,” she said.“My time in Junior Dragster was eventful to say the least, as afamily and team we had so many highs and so many lows.“I had been in a few finals since starting, but then out ofnowhere I just went downhill. For about a year or two I lostfirst round every meeting, we used to go to theWinternationals every year but in this massive low my parentsdecided not to go for those years.“That hit home hard, I got motivated, pulled my head in anddecided I needed to win, not just for me but for everyone whohad put in time and effort in my racing.“Then, we hit the highs, I was getting to more and more finalsat track and national levels, and soon enough I became theNSW Divisional Champion, Sydney Dragway Track Championrunner up, and equal third in the Australian points series.”Lightowler was moving into the twilight of her Junior Dragsterdriving when Joe Princi, a godfather of junior drag racing inSydney, had one last challenge for her.“At the end of that season Joe Princi, who we had becomequite good friends with, offeredme to drive one of his best juniors, without even thinking Iaccepted and we put the old junior up for sale,“ she said.“Somehow the first meeting I competed in the new junior I gotto a final, but then the effects of driving a new car began. Istruggled to find my point of reacting on the tree and where tostage because the new junior reacted a lot quicker, but within acouple of months I adjusted and we were back.“Those last few months before the season ended and I turned17, we didn't lose first round, I made it to a few finals and thenit came to the last ever meeting I would compete in as a juniordrag racer.“Emotions were high but I just went into it thinking I'veachieved what I wanted from juniors, and this definitely won'tbe the end of my racing career, so I wasn't as upset as Ithought I'd be. We ended up winning the event and I honestlycouldn't have been happier and I can't thank Joe and ConniePrinci enough for what they did for me in that last season.”All the time spent crewing on Super Gassers in her teens had

rubbed off and Lightowler would quickly find herself raring togo in a piece of Australian drag racing history.“Shane had just finished building his 1970 XW Falcon wagonso our plans were for me to go to a few streets meets, get use toit and then compete in Street Fighter until we got ourselvessorted with a race car,“ she said.“During Christmas in the year I finished in juniors, JohnSomoracz (JB) told us about this race car that was advertisedonline. He knew Shane and I were constantly fighting overwhat race car we wanted and we just couldn't find somethingthat we both really loved. So we looked at this car and straightaway and I fell in love just from the photos, I showed Shaneand he liked it too, so that was it - we had to have it.“Still today people are telling me about the great man whoraced our car previously - Wayne Missingham. The car is mostfamously known for the paint job he had on it with theAustralian flag. We bought the 1986 Pontiac Firebird prettymuch as a roller, then bought an engine, diff centre, converterand had a transmission that had to be fixed up, and Shane, JBand Terry Koukides spent endless hours getting the car ready.“Next we had to think of what bracket I would race in, SuperSedan or Super Gas. After nearly eight years in JuniorDragster with dial ins, my whole family were over it. I liked theidea of a pro tree and everyone running to the same index andlet's face it I'm a Super Gas girl through and through. I likedthat I already knew the majority of the racers in Super Gas andthat they are some of the nicest people I know in this sport andI wasn't thrilled about the idea of massive field sizes and dialins in Super Sedan so Super Gas it was!”Soon enough Lightowler would be now racing against thoseshe crewed with and looked up too, but not before a thrash toready the car and license before her planned debut.“The deal was that I had to race the wagon for two street meetsand then I could jump straight into the Pontiac so we haddecided that no matter what we were going to theWinternationals, we entered the car and hoped for the best,”she said.“We decided the APSA event in May would be the best time toget my license, then race at the next track meeting and gostraight to the Winternationals two weeks after that. I've neverseen men work so hard, they put every hour and every inch ofeffort into having the car ready for May.“To be on the safe side we asked JB to drive it first before Ihopped in, so before the APSA event there was a three dayprivate hire and we had aimed to race those three days withme licensing on the Friday and racing the Saturday. Wepushed and pushed, but we couldn't get the car out there untilthe Friday. By that Thursday night we had fired it up and hadit ready with only a few small things left to do and decided thatwe would just do it at the track.“We spent all of the Friday morning getting the car 100% raceready and it was such a rush that I didn't even think aboutbeing nervous. But when JB was in the car at 3pm that day inthe start up box that changed and I thought I was going tocollapse.”Lightowler could see her drag racing future ready to go downthe quarter for the first time.“I was so excited to finally get it going because that's what wehad spent all this time and money on, there was no one I trustmore than JB to drive a race car,” she said. “Despite my trustin him I didn't know how the car was going to go, all I couldthink was I bet something major will break and it'll be just myluck, and I won't get to even go to the Winters!“Standing on that starting line watching him do a burnout inmy beloved race car, then staging it, I was shaking. With a newrace car you never ever expect everything to workharmoniously and go down the track without a flinch, but thisdid. This crazy freak of nature car never missed a beat and JB'sfirst run was a 9.94. That was the moment I knew I wasdestined for Super Gas - it was real.”With the car sorted it was Lightowler's turn to prepare herselfand license. Though the nerves still existed, her experience inthe junior ranks has prepared her to control them for thismoment – with no repeat of her junior licensing episodes.“We left the car at the track and came back the next morning

37

Left: Trophies eventually came to Naomi Lightowlerin her Junior Dragster days, despite a lull where theteam felt like they could not escape the first round.

Below: Family has been a critically important factorin Lightowler's drag racing. Without their support,she doubts she would have found the confdence tokeep going.

Opposite page: Penrite have come aboard tosupport Lightowler's racing in Super Gas. The car isthe ex-Wayne Missingham Pro Stocker, famed forits Australian flag paintwork back in the 90s.

38

and nervous was an understatement, I tried so hard to keepcool around everyone but inside I thought I was going to besick,” she said.“I took the car for a drive around the pits to warm it up and atthe same time I got in they called us to the staging lanes soimmediately everyone stressed but I just got in, suited up,belted up and drove it around. I think I went around the blocktwice, brought it back and said let's go.“I was in the staging lanes when it hit me. Not only is the car abillion times more powerful than a Junior Dragster, but I'mnow driving on the left hand side. I'm also not the smallestperson so in a Junior Dragster I was pretty crammed in, butnow in the Pontiac with a funny car roll cage and all this roomaround me it felt so strange, but as always I had to adjust andadjust quickly.”The quarter mile now stretched out in front of Lightowler forthe first time in a full size race car and she had to recall all theprocesses that have been hammered into her in preparationfor her first skid.“My first burnout I will never forget. Terry Koukides had toldme the process over and over so I just did what he said andwent to stage, launched off the foot brake and went to halftrack,” she said.“When mum and Shane came to pick me up all they said was,'that burnout was so good, we never expected you to do it sowell' then they showed me the video footage and I had a grinfrom ear to ear.“I just kept telling everyone that I did what I was told, as soonas the car started the nerves and all the fear disappeared, so Iwas able to do what the boys were telling me and execute that,apparently quite well.“Next was the full track pass which I just did the same butwent all the way to the finish line, most of the nerves hadsettled by now so I was okay that run.“After that was another full track but with chutes and theyscared me. Over my time in drag racing I've heard so manytheories about chutes, when to pull and when not to pull them,stay on the accelerator, get off it, so all the nerves and fearscame running back. The message from JB was get off it andpull the chutes, done, I could do that. Everyone agreed thatwas the way to go so that run I did it and it was all fine.“Next race was the first round of eliminations. I checked withANDRA about my license and was told I had been completelysigned off, so straight into eliminations I went.“By this stage I had had enough, enough of the nerves, enoughof the fear and everyone's fuss and I just wanted to go home.So I thought great, I'm new and I'll probably race someonewith experience, they'll put me on the trailer and we can go,

great, but oh no. This racer had other plans, he decided to redlight and down the bottom end he wasn't happy because hewent red and I wasn't happy because I had to race thisdaunting car again.“So we came out for second round and as much as I wanted toleave, I still did what I was told and tried my best. We lostwhich I didn't mind, but I was signed off on my license andthat's all I cared about.”Now that the nerves and fears were fading with licensing andracing, it was time to concentrate turning the Pontiac into acompetitive Super Gas machine and honing Lightowler's skillsfor a pro tree start.“Despite having decided to race in Super Gas, we were missingone major component, a throttle stop, and they don't comecheap,” Lightowler said. “So it was agreed we would just runwithout one, because I refused to go into Super Sedan and racethen come back to Gas and try and race on pro tree. I wouldn'thave it.“So we raced the following track meeting, the Winternationalsand a few more meetings after the Winters without one, weweren't very successful but I still wasn't using transbrake andstill had trepidations to get over before we could think aboutbeing competitive. I finally got the courage to use thetransbrake and started cutting a lot better lights and not longafter that we bought a throttle stop from another racer andhad Terry Koukides, who I now call my magic man, come andset it up.”The partnership with Koukides knowledge and Lightowler'sdriving has been perfection with the car on the numbersimmediately.“Since having the throttle stop and Terry I've achieved somemajor goals in Super Gas, we run a 9.9 almost every run,” shesaid. “Terry waves his wand and the car performs to exactlywhat he wants. It goes without saying that I would be well andtruly lost without him and his wealth of knowledge. Anyonewho knows Terry knows he can be very determined. Well hehad one goal in mind and he wasn't stopping until it wasachieved.“Our second qualifier at the 2014 Australian Nationals we ranour first ever perfect 9.900, he had done it, all the data, theeffort, the number work, the weather stations everything, ithad all worked thanks to my magic man.“We were on such a high that weekend, I felt like a realcontender, like I was capable, that I was a threat, and thatfeeling gives me so much courage and confidence that I didn'thave before. First round came along and out of nowhere I cut a.000 reaction time, the perfect 9.900 was the kick in the buttthat I needed to do my job. Terry could make the car run 9.90

39

all day but if didn't react we still wouldn't win, so I got ittogether but never expected that.“I also made it to the semi finals that weekend which is sofar the biggest highlight of racing Super Gas. The Super Gasdrivers are strong drivers, a lot of them have been racingfor 10 to 20 years or more, so to make it that far in such atough field was definitely a massive accomplishment forme.”In only a couple short months since debuting Lightowlerhad the confidence brewing in the ultra competitive andtechnical Super Gas to be a contender at any event.Luck plays it part in all sport and quick achievements canbe easily dismissed as luck by some, but often with hardwork luck will follow.“Some may say that with the Pontiac I've been lucky that ithas run as well as it has, lucky it hasn't broke, lucky that Ihad no problems driving it,” she said. “It's often said 'it'sbetter to be lucky than good' but I believe that if your luckruns out or you're not lucky that day, you still have to be

good as a backup.“It may seem like I have effortlessly taken to the new car,but I have had my struggles, I was so afraid of the car that Ihad to force myself mentally and physically to drive it. I'vehad the knob on the shifter come off so it didn'tautomatically shift in eliminations, I've had my foot slip offthe throttle and had to do a tricky manoeuvre to get theother foot on to not lose too much time, but still was awaste of a run. They are not major struggles but they arethings we have all learnt from.”The ultra competitive Super Gas community have been veryaccommodating to their new combatant.“Everyone in Super Gas has been so friendly, welcomingand accepting of me in the bracket. The boys in Sydneyhave made my Super Gas experience so enjoyable and fullof happiness, every single one of them feels like family andI am so grateful for their kindness,” Lightowler said.“Super Gas is so daunting coming from juniors, I'm playingwith the big boys now, but the way they have accepted me

into the class has made me feel like I've been with them allmy life, they've just made racing so enjoyable, so thank you.“The one thing I love about drag racing is the people, thepeople make the sport what it is, my family and I havemade lifelong friends and extended family in this sport.And if it wasn't for the people I may not have been able toachieve what I've achieved.“The one person I look up to is JB, that man can be abruptand tell you how it is even when you don't want to hear it,but he always means well and I wouldn't have him anyother way. He is my idol, my hero, my extended uncle andmy best friend, he is the racer I aspire to be like and hisattitude to racing amazes me every race meeting. He is theperson that taught me to have a tough skin and to smilewhen you lose and to take a loss as good as I can take a win.He may not know it but he has made me the racer and theperson I am today and for that I will be forever grateful.“And there are so many people and businesses that I needto thank for making my dreams come true. Penrite have

been the most amazing sponsor, I can't thank the PenriteOils team enough for their contribution to my racing andtheir promotion of me as a brand ambassador along withCarbon Mechanical, Somoracz Race Cars, Craig'sAutomatics and Westend Performance.“Shane and mum, you guys make everything possible,without you guys putting up with me, funding my racingand letting me live my dreams I wouldn't be where I amtoday. Terry, Nicola and Erin Koukides, you guys are mysecond family and without your help, support and Terry'sendless help with the car I would be so lost. JB, you areamazing, you help me with everything no matter how big orsmall, you always give me encouragement, confidence andbring me back to reality when I get carried away, I reallycan't thank you enough. And to everyone else who I amclose to and those who I may not know so well but havegiven me words of encouragement, praise or support.”

FAMILYAFFAIR

The Welch family have gone through the highs and thelows, vehicles of all kinds and generation aftergeneration. And it is all still about the drag racing.

Story by Grant Stephens. Photos by cacklingpipes.comand Welch family.

42

The Welch Family from Sydney are a true generationaldrag racing family spanning the last 45 years on theblacktop.

New Welches seem to hit the track with high frequency and theorigins lie in one of the famous American tours from the earlydays of Australian drag racing history.Brothers Richard and Bill began their love affair with drag racingin the mid sixties when father Tom took the boys to Sydney'sCastlereagh drag strip, where Bill recalled seeing the Americandragster Yellow Fang race.“I had read about this car from car magazines that dad used toget, I wasn’t all that interested in who drove the car, only the caritself, I was fascinated by the way the cars looked and sounded,”said Bill.“To this day I think there is nothing more beautiful than a frontengine dragster and at 13 years of age I decided that when I wasold enough I would go drag racing.”From then on Bill and Richard set about learning up on the craftand planning their first drag car, it was all they wanted to do.“I read everything I could get my hands on about drag racing, soaround the age of 16 I started looking for a car, I decided on a FJHolden as there was a lot of them around and I was luckyenough to get an apprenticeship as a motor mechanic,” said Bill.The brothers were offered an FX ute from a friend's brother andthough they expected a wreck, they were pleasantly surprised tosee a car that looked the part – and was given to them fornothing.“I owe a lot to those two brothers,” Bill reflected.Bill was the primary builder of the ute and so had the drivingduties, with Richard cracking his neck to get behind the wheel,and they all joined the Panthers Drag Racing Club.“We would hold club meetings at the race track on the provisowe would do work around the track to keep and maintain thevenue,” Richard said. “Well I think we spent more time drinkingthe kegs of beer we took with us and racing than working, butbloody great times.”Bill continued to race the ute until he destroyed the red motorinside and with a girlfriend on the scene Bill decided to give theute to Richard.Richard went on to buy the Red Eye T-Bucket altered which wasaptly renamed Grog On. The boys used to frequent the PlumptonInn and Richard managed to squeeze some dollars out of themfor sponsorship. Being located next to a pig farm, the pub wasdubbed The Pig Shit Inn and so the sign writing on the side ofthe altered read 'We GROG ON at the Plumpton (Pig Shit) Inn'.The brothers ran their way through a variety of combinationsuntil the closure of Castlereagh. There were no event wins butthe brothers weren't in it for that.“We just enjoyed everyone's company and had fun, we made alot friends and some we still see today. I had wished we had havekept all our race cars but could not afford to do so,” lamentedBill.Richard amusingly recalled putting one of those lifelong dragracing friendships at risk early on.“During the late 70s I was working at Sydney County Councilwhere I met Bill Crealy (the current starter at Sydney Dragway)and he started coming to the track with us,” he said. “Iremember Bill was pretty handy with a movie camera in thosedays of Super 8 film, so we went about mounting his camera onthe roll cage and the like. Then at one of our club days I said toBill how about you stand in the braking area and film me comingat you, just don't move, I will go around you when I get close.Imagine doing that these days!”The closure of Castlereagh put a hole in many NSW drag racerscareer and for the Welches it was no different. Bill moved toQueensland and would not race again until 2000. Richard soldhis dragster and went about raising his two young sons Ron andMatt, while biding his time until drag racing returned to thestate when an opportunity arose to make the switch to dragracing a bike.“We never strayed too far from drag racing, taking the boys outto Oran Park and trips to Heathcote and Willowbank to watch,”Richard said. “Then in about 1990 I was approached by my

Clockwise from opposite page: The 'Grog On' alteredwas one of the family's first explorations into seriousrace vehicles. It was sponsored by the 'Pig Shit Inn'.Racing at Castlereagh ensured a life long passion for thesport would ensue. A dragster even made anappearance, one of the team's favourite vehicles.

43

44

cousin David Flood to go into partnership with him with a dragbike.“It didn't take me long to say yes, with kids being older and lifesettled I was back in the sport I loved. David rode the bike for alittle bit when Eastern Creek Raceway was opened, then hewent off to start a family so I bought him out of his share of thebike.“Then in 1995 with my eldest son Ron being old enough to raceit was decided that he would start sharing the riding dutieswith me.”Richard's sons Ron and Matt did most of their growing up inNew South Wales' 1980s drag racing drought, so the pair cuttheir teeth in motocross before the drag racing bug camecalling.“My earliest memory is of watching dad race in the early 80sand thinking I just want to be like Dad,” Ron said. “Back inthem days with no such thing as Junior Dragster so I had towait until I was 17 but in the meantime I was running aroundthe pits with all the other racers' kids watching and growing uparound the greatest sport in the world while racing motocrosswith my younger brother.“In 1995 I was finally old enough to get my ANDRA dragracing licence and in doing so I became the first ever thirdgeneration drag racer in Australia.“I was able to race Dad's drag bike but it was decided by Daddue to being so young that I would only race at Canberra so Iwasn't distracted by having all my friends out the track.“It was the best thing I've ever done, that first burnout, thatfirst pass. I was drag racer, a lifelong dream had come true andit's a feeling, a rush that I still get today from racing. I can'tdescribe but it's the best thing in the world.”NSW racers were struck down again by Eastern Creek's closureand then Canberra's, so with no place to race, Richard offeredthe bike seat to Bill who was still residing in Queensland.“Richard asked me if I wanted to race his drag bike I thoughtabout it for about ten seconds and said yes, much to my wife’sdisgust,” said Bill.“So in 2000 I started racing again and have been racing eversince, my eldest son bought a HT Monaro in 2001 so I gavethat a couple of runs at Willowbank too and it ran 12.60 off thestreet. I moved back to Sydney in 2004 to look after Mum andDad, I did say my wife was not impressed with me racing againso she soon got the flick too.“I bought a Suzuki GSX 1100 off Mick Withers and built thatup to run in Modified Bike and have some fun again. I ran anine something at 140mph and I thought that was pretty coolfor a 50 year old.”During that time Sydney Dragway was coming to fruition andthe other half of the Welch family were planning their returnto the strip. Ron and Matt had bought a bike identical to theirDad's which was sent to Bill for a makeover in the team livery

and the bike was raced at Willowbank and Sydney by Ronbefore moving on to his next project bike.“I bought Matt out so he could go off and buy a house and thelike, then in about late 2003 I met my great mate PaulSobolewski and he joined the team as a crew member and soonit was decided I would sell my bike to him and build a newproject,” Ron said.“So now Paul joined the team as rider and with the theamazing help of both Wayne Quinnell and Bill I converted mystreet bike Yamaha R6 into a drag bike.“After I had a run and I found due to my height that I wasn'tcomfortable on the bike, Matt was handed the riding duties.”Matt was a late bloomer to the racing side of things. Like Ronhe grew up with dirt bikes and it wasn't until 2005 that Mattactually decided to throw the leg over a drag bike.“I guess it wasn't really until Sydney got built and there was abit of order that I really understood what was involved in dragracing,” Matt said. “I then appreciated what was involved inthe whole aspect racing and the time, effort and money thatgoes into it“I never showed much interest in racing until 2005, I was justhappy to help out. But Dad finally put his foot down and saidyou're getting a licence and I'll even pay for it, so then that wasit.“I remember being so nervous for the whole week leading up toracing Dad's bike for the first time. I was more nervous aboutdoing a burnout. A lot of people probably don't realise I'venever ridden a bike on the road and by now I was in my 20sand had not ridden a dirt bike for a long time.“Once I got that first pass out of the way I soon realised that Ihad wasted so many years of standing back and not racing. Iloved it.”The Welch family were back in full force on the track and thefour family members continued to race bikes together until2007 when Bill crashed off the start line.Deciding that his body no longer bounced off the concrete likeit used to, he stepped aside, repaired the bike and passed it onto Matt, but would ultimately come back in Super Street withthe HT Monaro he had since bought off his son.In the same year that Bill crashed and retired from riding,Richard won his first ever event after 35 years of trying.“It was on was September 29, 2007 that I broke my duck andwon my first ever race meeting,” Richard said. “It only tooksome 35 years. Then going on to get runner up in trackchampionship the following season ranked up there as well.“I continued to race until two years ago when I had to retirefrom racing due to health reasons, bloody doctors! When I hadto stop racing I handed the riding duties over to great friendand long time crew member Wayne Quinnell who has beenriding the bike for me since and I get just as much a thrillwatching Wayne ride my bike as I did riding it.

The pro-style bike ridden by MatthewWelch was arguably one of the family'smost successful vehicles, earning anAustralian Nationals title.

45

For Ron, he had found his calling in a fledgling bike class.“A new bike class was started for Harley Davidson's calledScreamin' Eagles so I decided this looks cool and owning aHarley Sportster that was the class for me, so you beauty I'mback doing what I love,” he beamed.“I raced the Sportster for around six seasons and achievedmany event wins and runner ups, the highlights were winningthe USA vs AUS Scott Kalitta Memorial meeting against myteam mate Wayne Quinnell and becoming Track Champion in2006/07.”But reflecting the important of family, his proudest moment inracing was not one of Ron's own highlights.“My proudest moment in racing was watching my brother winthe Australian Nationals and Dad, my racing hero win his firstever meeting,” he said. “The emotion and feeling wassomething I've never felt before, to see them achieve that issomething that will last a life time.”After Bill's crash and in his quest to go quicker, Matt took thereins of the repaired bike, but not for long.“I jumped on Bill's Suzuki which was a wild old bike and ran a9.5 the first time I rode it, after that I couldn't get much elseout of it because it was just too wild off the start line,” he said.“It used to scare the life out of Belinda, who I had just met atthe Summer Nationals in 2008, she hated me riding that bike.“I saw a newer Suzuki for sale which I'm sure was an oldPro/Comp Bike from the 90s. We grabbed it and put Bill'smotor in it and that bike was good, it went straight, but it tookus a while to get on top of setting it up.

“We finally got it running in the eights, the best it did was an8.79 at 147mph and in the time we raced the bike we had a lotof fun and success. We won the first Darren ShepherdMemorial Trophy which was a great deal to us and a veryproud moment and winning a Gold Christmas Tree at the 2011Nationals was by far the best thing I had ever done in dragracing.”A crash saw that bike retired and an ex-Pro Stock Motorcyclepurchased, a Col Linney-built 1500cc motor was fitted for ashot at Comp Bike but bad luck unfortunately prevented thebike's potential from being reached.“Unfortunately I came off it at Sydney Dragway past the finishline and that put a end to the bike,” Matt said. “My father-in-law Brian Vernon has it now and is slowly rebuilding it.“Then Bill brought Locky Ireland's old Pro Bike and butunfortunately we hurt two motors in that and Bill couldn'tjustify spending any more money on it.“We were so close to running a seven second pass on it whenwe hurt the motor the second time at the X Champs. But Iguess it was never to be and the bike has been sold.“After that I spoke with Belinda and decided to take a breakfrom racing as I really wanted to get her set up racing. I hadseen since she started racing that she is a damn good racer. Soafter watching her win back to back championships in StreetFighter it's now time for her to step up into Super Street in theVT Commodore and prove to everyone that she really is a goodracer.“Whatever she does she will always make me proud, so for now

Clockwise from left: Ron Welchfound his calling with theScreamin' Eagles class atSydney Dragway. All manner oftwo wheeled machines havepassed through the possessionof the Welch family. BelindaWelch is the latest driver to jointhe clan. Her Street Fighter FordFalcon has been verysuccessful, winning twochampionships. With a big teamcomes a big pit operation.

46

I'll just continue working at the track which is something Ireally love doing and helping Belinda realise her dreams indrag racing.”So let's speak about Belinda for the first time!Belinda got hooked on the sport through her father BrianVernon, who had begun racing Modified Bike at SydneyDragway. Soon Belinda wanted to race after meeting Matt andthe logical conclusion was that it would be on a bike, but thatidea was soon changed.“I had never met any of the Welchs but I had heard from myDad that they were lovely people,” she said. “I had seen Mattaround the track a few times and really wanted to meet himand I finally worked up the courage to talk to him at theSummernationals 2008. We have been together ever since,”Belinda said.“I started to pester Dad and Matt about racing in 2009, andRichard (Welch) offered to let me ride his bike, but my Dadwould not have a bar of it. I can ride a motorbike and havedone since I was seven but racing one would be a bit toodangerous for his liking. Dad decided that he would build me acar to race but after two very long years it was nowhere nearfinished so he decided to buy me the XR8 in January 2012.“Once I was in the driver's seat and made my first pass I waseven more hooked than ever before and I just wanted to gofaster. My wonderful husband stepped aside from racing sothat I could concentrate on my racing and I hope I have donehim proud, though I always give the boys a bit of stick andremind them that I am the only member of the Welch family

that races and hasn't crashed.”It was not long before Belinda began racking up wins in StreetFighter with the XR8 and then Track Championships and nowshe has made the progression to Super Street with thepurchase of a dedicated race car in the form of a VTCommodore and hopes to continue to prove her worth inracing.“Since I started racing I have been lucky enough to win back toback NSW Championships in Street Fighter as well as beingawarded the Coral Dyer Memorial Trophy for the HighestPoint Scoring Female for the NSW Championship in 2014 andI feel incredibly honoured to receive such a prestigious award,”she said.“The 2015 season will see me step up a class and compete inSuper Street, competition is going to be tough but I'll be givingit everything I've got. I would love to go faster in the future, mydream is to race a Doorslammer or Top Alcohol Dragster.”And as the old the family adage says, those that race togetherstay together.“Racing is a very important part of our family life, with myparents living two and a half hours away we don't get muchtime with them except at race meetings. It's an awesomefeeling being in the pits and knowing that your whole family isthere supporting you, I couldn't do it without them. Hopefullyone day my dream will become a reality because as I always say'follow your dreams and never say never'.”

47

48

FIRESTARTER

The young jet dragster driving sensationcreating a legion of new fans in the west.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY LUKE NIEUWHOF.

49

50

Craig Allison rolls daughter Rhiannon out tothe start line of Perth Motorplex for her firstcompetition pass in a jet dragster.

51

Rhiannon Allison is the newest 'queen of the kids' inWestern Australia as the pilot of the Felicity Dragwell jetdragster.

She made her debut at the Jet Car Max event on December 28(which extended out to January 2) and impressed with her fivesecond passes and candour with the fans.Allison was the Rookie of the Year last season for PerthMotorplex's track championship and that opened up somedoors to drive one of these thrust-powered beasts.“I never thought I would be offered a drive in a jet car, butwinning the Rookie of the Year and driving the (SuperchargedOutlaws) dragster last season kickstarted my career prettywell,” she said.“Gary (Miocevich, owner of the cars) came to me. I alwaysstayed in touch with Chuck (Haynes, jet car driver) and hebasically spoke to Gary and said I was suited for the drive andshould consider it.“Gary and I and the family had a meeting and he wanted me todrive and I was really keen.”Despite some incidents involving the jets in recent events atPerth Motorplex such as Pieter De Wit's death defying brakingarea crash, Allison said she was impressed with the level ofsafety now put into the cars including timer activated shut offsand chute releases.“I'd put the crashes and stuff behind, the safety wasphenomenal,” she said. “There was no way I would knock itback.“I was going to the jet workshop almost every night to get thefour cars ready. I never thought I would be in a jet car to behonest. Going fast is my dream, so I get to live my dream in ajet car. I loved watching them and now I am lucky enough todrive.”

52

The process of learning to drive a jet dragster was veryinvolved. Given the unusual techniques required to drive athrust-powered vehicle, even experienced drag racers arerequired to start from the bottom up.“They're not just like a normal race car,” Allison explained.“Coming from the dragster it was left foot brake, right foot go.“We basically started talking about what our licensing wasgoing to be. Most of the time we worked on the cars it was megetting to know the race craft itself, getting to know the teamand how they run because I wasn't familiar with that andneither was dad. We became very comfortable with them and Ifelt a lot more comfortable to drive the car.“I knew my Supercharged Outlaws dragster so once I got toknow the jet car I felt heaps better.”One unusual part of her training was learning how to do the jetdragster fire shows that impress the crowd before a five secondpass as well as the tricky staging routine.“Before we went down the track we did two weekends of startline, basically the fire shows and bringing the cars into stage,”she said. “As you bring the RPM up the car starts to drive intostage. You stage with your front brakes, that was my biggest

thing, When you are out there it is completely different. I wasgetting the hang of staging so then we started licensing proper,it was a really good process.”From there is was time to start learning the rest of the track.“Chuck flew in (from the USA) and basically my first stage wasto do no burner passes, then do a half track burner, threequarter track burner and a full track burner,” Allison said.“With the burner on it is 40% of your power, but going downthe track with no burner it was still really quick.“The process was very long but very beneficial. Now I amlicensed and safe. Chuck has been a great mentor, he definitelyknows his stuff, he has been around jets for a long time whichhelps a lot.”We asked Allison what she found most difficult about theprocess.“Basically the hardest part was to learn the whole differentrace craft. I don't have any accelerators at my feet,” she said.“I had to learn how to use the burner and the hot streak. Theburner fuels the jet and the hot streak is on my steering wheel- that is like a transbrake, putting fuel in it and then the hotstreak makes it go. Without the hot streak, you are just putting

53

fuel in it and it only becomes raw fuel.“How to do the fire shows was a big thing, getting to know howto use the burner with different RPM. It's like learning how todo a burnout all over again. It was a good learning curve forme and for mum and dad.”Despite being just 19 years old, Allison has made plenty of runsin the family's Supercharged Outlaws dragster. She would havehad plenty of reasons to be a bundle of nerves, but she battledthrough.“The first feeling was trust yourself, because I am in control ofthe car,” she said. “I know what to do out there - no brakes, nobrakes, no brakes.“Going out there I needed to have confidence because withoutthat I was going to do no good. I had a lot of nerves once theengine started winding over but I had dad there and the wholefamily and I knew I could do it. I had that belief in me andonce you hit the burner and you do your fire shows the nervesjust go and you feel like you are a natural. I thought I can dothis. I put the car into stage, I was settled and calm and off Iwent.“Mum couldn't watch the first run because she was so nervous.

I guess I understand, I'm driving a powerful beast and it wasthe first time I went down the strip. I'm wary of what the carcan do, like any other race car, but I am definitely well awareof what I am doing and also through licensing I just had tolisten to Chuck and what he was telling me, anything wrong hewas pointing out.”Licensing complete, Allison was able to move on to the funstuff – proper racing with a car alongside and spectators onthe hill.“While I was testing it was the team and no audience, I knew Iwas going to be nervous on race day because I wanted toperform the best I could for the show,” she said. “Before ourfirst run of the first Jet Car Max event I was just stayingfocused. We towed around and Corey Marriott interviewed mebefore I jumped in the car and it calmed my nerves downmassively and I just relaxed. Having dad there beside mealways helps to. The monkey was off my back and it was gameon.”As it turned out, Allison got one pass in at version one of JetCar Max, before a power outage brought an early end to theevent. She returned for the continuation of the event and was

Learning to perform the pre-race fire showwas a critical, and difficult, part of learningthe jet dragster for Allison. She said it waslike learning how to do a burnout all overagain.

able to run a personal best of 5.83 at 260mph.“I achieved my goal by far at the Jet Car Max event. I'vewanted to crack 400kph for a while now and I finally hit it at418kph,” she said. “I thought my seven second dragster wasquick.”The other bonus was getting to interact with fans after eachpass.“Being 19 I guess and racing since a young age, a lot ofyounger girls come up to me at the drags and ask if I race andthey think its awesome,” Allison said.“For me to know I'm a role model to them is great, doing whatI am doing and having fans like that it is good for them to seegirls can do it as well, because it is a male dominated sport.“I've always looked up to Courtney Force and when I wasyounger Ashley Force was there. Courtney Force is my idoland she has been in the back of my mind, so I might be in theback of another young girl's mind. There are plenty of ladiesout there who think it is male dominated but I'm a young girland I can do it.“I couldn't believe after my first pass how many young kids

and adults came to ask me to sign posters, shirts, phones, hatsand the event magazines. It was such a great feeling to chat toso many young kids who were so interested in what I do. Kidswere so excited to meet me after hearing the radio advertsthanks to my sponsor 92.9. My first meeting will be one of myfavourite memories in my racing career. I felt proud andspecial that night.”Allison would like to one day get on to the east coast to dosome jet shows, or even overseas.“I definitely think we will look into doing the east coast, itdepends on what Gary and the team want to do but I am surethere are plenty of opportunities there for us to go over,” shesaid. “I would love to travel to America and to see Chuck andsee their jet cars and how they play jets. Just to experienceanother drag strip and a bit of the world. Seeing that mightopen up so many more things. I definitely want to travel andrace it just depends how it works out.“I would just like to thank the entire team involved at the trackand off but most of all Gary Miocevich for making thishappen.”

Allison said that just havingher family present duringlicensing helped ease thenerves. Father Craig andmother Mel have been asmuch a part of the learningcurve as Rhiannon.

CLUTCH

101

56

One of the most crucial parts of getting a highhorsepower car or bike down a drag strip is clutch set up,so Drag News went to Michael Marriott, crew chief for theSpinozzi Racing Pro Stock team, to find the friction point.

THE BASICS

Marriott explained that first we must understand there are arough three components to set up – 1. Engine (power), 2.Clutch and 3. Traction.“Any time you change one or three, it will show you in themiddle,” he said. “If you put more power in there and there isstill enough traction you will see more clutch slippage. Or if youhave the same amount of power and you increase the amount oftraction the clutch will also slip more. The clutch will be anindication of how the track is.”An adjustable clutch tends to be a rarity in Group Three, butwill be found more commonly in Group Two and almostpredominantly in Group One.“The clutch in a nine second Super Sedan most likely won'thave any adjustment, it will have its total clutch load built intothe clutch,” Marriott said. “There are a lot of different types ofclutches, but generally speaking it would be non-adjustable inthe Super Sedan.”That makes the initial clutch choice extremely important. Thefirst priority of the clutch is that it must be able to generateenough force to give the car 1:1 drive at a given RPM in eachgear.“One of the things is that the smaller the clutch, the smaller thewindow the clutch operates in,” Marriott said. “It makes theclutch less forgiving. It comes down a lot to the clutch surfacearea, a bigger clutch or more clutch plates and floaters will endup with more surface area and is able to dissipate heat quicker.”Moving up the clutch hierarchy, fine adjustability is critical. Itbegins with the amount of base pressure in the clutch, which iscontrolled by an allen key which adjusts the install height of thespring and is measured in turns of base pressure wound in.

57

STORY AND PHOTOS BY LUKE NIEUWHOF.

“Generally speaking there will be six small springs anddepending on the style of engine that base pressure will varyfrom 150 pounds to 1000 pounds,” Marriott said.The next part of the clutch that is adjustable is the centrifugalforce which is controlled by the levers that throw out as theRPM increases. Adding and decreasing weight changes therate of application at which the clutch comes in. Each clutchlever has a set force unique to each design and the weight isthen increased by adding and removing a small nut, washerand bolt combination. The lever has a hole to place theadjustable weight. Pro Stock adjustments can be so fine thatlighter nylon nuts and bolts are sometimes used.Though not an adjustable variable, clutch size is dependant onthe horsepower of the engine being used.“A Pro Stock car has a much smaller clutch between six andseven inches, versus a Top Doorslammer which is 10.5 or 11inches,” Marriott said. “That clutch will have much moresurface area and can withstand more heat.“You can go one step further in something like theDoorslammers where they run a lock up clutch so in first gearthey might use their four primary levers and two levers as theirsecondary lock up levers (activated by the driver, RPM, time orshift), depending on how many levers that clutch set up has init.“A Pro Stock car reaches a 1:1 point on average around 8500rpm where it locks up.”

APPLYING A SET UP

Going back to Michael's earlier point, the basics of a set up arein the amount of power you have available and the amount of

traction you have available. It's a very simplified version, butthose two factors are essentially what determine how you needto get the power to the ground.On a better start line surface you can apply more clutch basepressure.“That is what happens when you first release the clutch, thefirst hard bang that the tyre sees,” Marriott said. “The betterthe surface the more base pressure you can run. If the surfaceor the start line isn't as good you have to reduce the basepressure you run. You also reduce the application rate theclutch comes in at.”Getting more in depth and the more things start to whizstraight over our heads. We'll let Michael explain.“The clutch is a very mathematical thing,” he said. “All theclutches I work with I must have the maths for them, that givesme a load rate versus RPM.“Every time you shift gears with a Pro Stock car it determineswhere the clutch RPM drops to on the shift. If the driver ismore than 200-300rpm out on the shift it has a very big effecton the clutch.“If the driver shifts too early you won't have the centrifugalforce at the bottom of the next gear and so the clutch may thenslip too much. If the driver shifts too late you have too muchforce and it may make it too aggressive on the change and thecar will shake. It can also unsettle a car further down track(risking breaking traction and an accident).”If there is one thing going in Pro Stock's favour when it comesto clutch set up, it is that engine power stays relativelyconstant. Marriott said that with turbocharged applications,the temptation to increase horsepower can be very high, butthat will unsettle hard work you have done in setting up the

58

clutch.“Where it is difficult in the turbo cars or the blown cars is thatboost can be adjusted so easily and that makes tuning of theclutch very difficult,” he said. “On the turbo cars you need toincrease the power gradually and bring the clutch programwith it otherwise it makes it difficult to know how much clutchyou have in.“The tuners have that adjustability at their fingertips so theytend to make bigger changes quickly. I do suspension on turbocars and Top Doorslammers but you definitely see it a lot inthe turbo stuff where the engine tuner suddenly increases thepower considerably and it makes it difficult because you thenneed to change all your settings from clutch to shockabsorbers.“The Pro Stock approach is more methodical. Pro Stock isabout repeatability and the clutch is a very repeatable part.”

BETWEEN ROUNDS

Each crew will always have an allocated clutch person thatspecially looks after the clutch.“They are specifically there to build consistency in the clutchand set it correctly each time,” Marriott said. “As a crew chiefyou are always working with your clutch feedback. He looks atthe clutch after each pass to determine what has happened.”As soon as the Spinozzi Racing Chev Camaro gets back from apass it gets put on to stands. The driveshaft gets taken out, thegearbox comes out, the bellhousing is taken off and then theclutch is removed and inspected. It is determined how muchheat has been in the clutch by what the plates and floaters looklike.

All the clutch discs are reground ready to go back in anddepending on the track conditions and how the team believesthey are going to change, the clutch load is adjusted bychanging the base pressure and centrifugal weight, with theclutch set up to a known stand height so that everything elsegoes back in exactly as it was.“We are also monitoring the weather because that is having aneffect on how much power we are making,” Marriot said.Remember that if your power changes, so must your clutch.

IMPACTS ON SET UP

Heat can be a real killer when it comes to clutches and yourchances of a win.Too much heat will warp the clutch and reduces its surfacearea, making your settings inconsistent.“The trick with a Pro Stock clutch is to make the carconsistent,” Marriott said. “The burnout builds in X amount ofheat and seats the clutch in.“Every time you come back from a pass in a Pro Stock car theclutch plates are refaced and that keeps the surface of theclutch consistent from run to run. We try to be as consistent aswe can in the burnout so wear and heat is consistent.”Marriott said by the nature of racing where a car might be shutoff after a burnout for any number of reasons, it will have animpact on the run to follow.“It happened to us on a couple of occasions,” he said. “AtWillowbank during the sunbreak they allowed the car to do theburnout and then they stopped the cars and made us go andredo the burnout. The clutch ends up with more heat in it and,the clutch settings often change and you don't have enough

59

Sam Gullotto attends to the clutch betweenrounds in his 500 cubic inch DS RacingPontiac GTO.

60

load. So the clutch then slips too much, which exaggerates theproblem by creating more heat. Pro Stock is the most sensitivethere.”While the burnout might be considered mere ceremony insome categories, for a Pro Stock car it can make or break a run.“The art of it is to try and stay fussy and not damage theclutch,” Marriott said. “That makes it difficult to drive throughthe burnout. You have to be extremely cautious to get theburnout right so you don't overheat the clutch and lose theconsistency.“The burnout sets the clutch, it sets the tyre temperature, itcontrols the engine temperature, so it is a massive part of therun.“You wouldn't be as successful without a burnout because youcouldn't get enough heat in the tyres, but you can reduce thesize of the burnout on a hot track.“A Pro Stock requires a lot of water in the burnout box becauseyou can't drag the clutch down whereas a Top Doorslammerwill do more of a rolling burnout, the way that the clutch worksthey have don't have troubles. The Pro Stock car is the hardestcar to drive full stop.”Pro Stock teams often choose to use a 'coated' clutch floaterdisc. Floater discs separate clutch discs from the rest of thedriveline. A three disc clutch will have the flywheel, a clutchdisc, a floater disc, second clutch disc, a second floater disc,third clutch disk and then the hat.Floating discs are typically made of steel and can be treatedwith a titanium coating.“It makes the floater more resistant to heat but it also has a lifespan,” Marriott said. “After X amount of passes you have toturn around and go and get those floaters re-coated.“You don't grind it as much as a non-coated floater else youremove the coating.”Marriott explained that for a high heat application, such aswhen he works on turbocharged cars, they are better offrunning non-coated floaters and grinding the plates after eachpass to produce a consistent surface.

THE TECHNOLOGY CHOICE

With Mr Marriott's vast knowledge at hand, we decided to askhim a few silly questions. But hey, if we were wondering,there's a good chance someone else might be too.Given the growth of automatics as a choice in TopDoorslammer, we wanted to know if this was a possibility forPro Stock too.“At this stage the manual would be the better mousetrap,”

Top: Mick Marriott analyses a run and notes down whatmay need changing between rounds.

Bottom: The new Leanders clutch (11 inch versionshown) is attracting much attention.

"You have to beextremely cautiousto get the burnoutright so you don't

overheat the clutchand lose the

consistency."

61

Michael said. “I know somebody has tried to run a convertorsituation, but it's not as competitive. At this stage I still see thatthe clutch, with the amount of variables we have in gear ratios,ends up being a better package.”Marriott said there is some variance in what clutch people usein Pro Stock.The choice is mainly between a six inch triple disc clutch or atwin disc seven inch clutch.“The triple disc clutch is a smaller clutch and so it has lesscentrifugal mass so technically it can be easier to drive andmake RPM,” he said. “The bigger clutch tends to be moreforgiving and so has its advantages too.”This year Spinozzi Racing worked with Ulf and JorgenLeanders to help develop the Leaders clutch for the AustralianPro Stock application.“That clutch is very unique and the first one in the country, wehave been extremely happy with it but it has been quite adevelopment process,” Marriott said. “I think that theLeanders clutch is a high quality piece and being at adevelopment stage it took a little bit to get the tuning windowto where we needed it to be, but now we are there. The car isthe fastest 60 footing Australian Pro Stock car in the history ofthe sport.“We choose that clutch because of the quality of the build andthe fineness of the adjustment and it is also the smallestdiameter clutch in Pro Stock racing.”Marriott said with the performance of Australian Pro Stockcars moving into the 6.8s and over 200mph, they are lookingmore at what the NHRA teams are doing than ever before.“The engine power is creeping ever so slowly closer to what theNHRA is doing,” he said. “What we look at now is much closerto what NHRA Pro Stock was using a few years ago, or whatthey run at Mile High (Bandimere, a high altitude track inDenver). The NHRA Pro Stock cars at Mile High and our carsrun very similarly. Those teams run completely differentclutches for that one event.”

LOOKING AT THE OVERALL

While the power, clutch, traction arrangement simplifies howset up works, there are many more elements that can beintroduced.One is gear ratios.“Clutch and gear ratios go hand in hand, both are verydetermined by the track surface,” Marriott said. “The better ortighter the surface, the more aggressive we can be with ratiosand also with clutch.“Revving the car harder through the top end has a lot to dowith atmospheric conditions and that affects the choice of gearratio.“In a Top Doorslammer or Top Alcohol car the track conditionsare the primary situation and quite often as the track getsbetter they need to become more aggressive with a shorter gearratio so that they don't underpower the track. Ultimatelytorque drives the car, it's the amount of torque you can applythrough the rear wheels to the track.”Tyres might seem like a constant at first but in fact they changewith every pass.“We measure the tyres every run and the tyre has a direct effectbecause it is the last part of the ratio,” Marriot said. “You haveyour gearbox ratios, then the diff ratio and the tyre is the finalin the drive ratio. We do measure the tyre and monitor the size.“When the tyre is brand new you need to be less aggressive.Depending on what type of car, we will use a figure of five runson most cars, the tyre then starts to come in.“Each tyre then has a certain amount of life and what you findis that you measure a tyre brand new, but by the time it hasdone 200mph the tyre will then grow. You don't really knowwhat your final tyre height will be until you run the car.”Thanks to Michael Marriott for his time explaining drag racingclutches to us.What technical topics would you like us to cover in futureissues of Drag News Magazine? Send an email topress@dragnews.com.au and let us know.

Top: Mick Marriott applies some changes to SamGullotto's Pontiac GTO in the pit area.

Bottom: Many teams have an allocated clutch person intheir pit crew to ensure consistency and repeatability inclutch set up.

THESMILINGASSASSIN

62

THESMILINGASSASSIN

Courtney Force is all smiles with her fans, with hersponsors and with the media. But underneath herhelmet with the body closed and the nitro flowing,

she is as determined as they come.

63

STORY AND PHOTOS BY LUKE NIEUWHOF.

THESMILINGASSASSIN

THESMILINGASSASSIN

Force has quickly become one of the most popular drivers onthe NHRA tour.

Whenever she leaves the sanctuary of the pit area, she is quicklypursued by autograph hunters and her many young fans, keen tospend a moment with the seven times NHRA Funny Car eventwinner and daughter of 16 times national champion John Force.But the ease with the fans and the word perfect sponsor recitalsshouldn't be confused with a lack of hardcore drive.Courtney gave up some of her off season time to answer a fewquestions for Drag News Magazine.

Drag News Magazine: What was the biggest highlight foryou last season?

Courtney Force: The biggest highlight for me was becoming thewinningest female in Funny Car history, after our Traxxas teampicked up our fifth win of my career, in Sonoma, California. Goinginto the Countdown and getting back-to-back wins totalling sevenof my career, made this a highlight in itself.

DNM: Can you talk about your growth as a driver in yourthird season?

CF: It’s unbelievable to think I have just completed my third seasonin Funny Car. As a driver I think I’ve pushed myself harder thanever before and am learning with every pass, at every track on thecircuit. I think we have reached a point where we are strong as ateam and I’ve been working hard to make less mistakes and try toimprove my lights. Plus we made our best finish yet, concluding the2014 season where we finished fourth.

DNM: You reached some personal goals in 2014 but whatare you looking forward to in 2015?

CF: I’m looking forward to hopefully more wins and records to bebroken. Obviously my personal goal is to become more consistentas a driver but as a team to go after that championship in the 2015season.

DNM: 2014 was a year where women did very well inNHRA competition, what do you think about that?

CF: I think it’s amazing and I’m honored to be a part of such amonumental year for women. It’s exciting to be a part of historyand to watch so many great female drivers breaking records weekafter week. This really goes to show how far our sport has comeand it makes me excited for what is in the future.

DNM: What do you think will motivate you the mostheading into 2015?

CF: The fact that we have a great team and car and had such animpressive season last year gives me the motivation to have moreconsistency in the Countdown next year. My main motivation is toget the win for my team and my sponsors, and for the new onescoming on board. I want these sponsors to be excited and proudthat they have come on board with our teams at John Force Racing.

DNM: What excites you the most about being a Funny Cardriver?

CF: The most exciting thing about being a Funny Car driver is thesheer competitiveness between drivers on the race track. There areso many impressive cars competing week after week, and you haveto fight to the end, because there is only one winner. Theadrenaline, the competition, the unexpected, the team work, thespeed and the smell of the nitro excites me most about being aFunny Car driver.

65

DNM: Where do you think you improved the most this past season?

CF: I think I’ve improved the most with knowing the lanes at each race track. Sometracks are entirely different than others, although we are only going one direction,but from a driver’s stand point, the feeling of each unique track, the car, and the laneis something I’ve continued to understand and memorise throughout the season.

DNM: Congratulations on your recent engagement. How did Graham(Rahal) pop the question?

CF: On a trip to Venice, Italy on a gondola ride up and down the canals. He poppedthe question while going down the Grand Canal with St Maria Basilica in thebackground. And yes, he got down on one knee, in the boat.

DNM: You're in the off season now, what does an off season consist of foryourself and the Force family? Is it a chance to get away or is there a lotof work going on behind the scenes?

CF: There's always still a lot of work going on behind the scenes, both at our JFR HQin Indy and our shop out in CA. We are prepping the teams and the cars for the newseason while also trying to work new sponsor deals, go to driver appearances, etc.However, we do always force my dad (no pun intended) to take a vacation overChristmas and our family will all head up to Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

DNM: During the season itself, what do you do to try and relax betweenevents?

CF: Between events when I don't have an appearance or am not catching up on otherwork, I'll be with my family, especially my niece and nephews, and go see friends thatI don't get to see a lot. I love being home in between events to have friends over tobarbeque!

DNM: At events themselves you are one of the most sought­out drivers byfans. Can it be tough to balance the demands of fans with the need to stayfocused?

CF: I know at every event my focus needs to be with my car and team but in betweentrack signings and appearances, I always make time to go out and see the fans thatcame a long way to see us Sometimes it's hard to juggle it all but it makes it moreexciting when you jump back in the car and get to do your best to give the fans a goodshow.

DNM: Do you get recognised much away from the track, around yourhome town and that kind of thing?

CF: Every once in a while in a random place I'll get recognised but not very often.Definitely not like my dad!

DNM: You've got a pretty unique job really, are there ever any strangemoments having to explain just exactly what it is you do?

CF: It's always very awkward when somebody asks what I do because I know everytime they will respond with a surprised look on their face. One time someone actuallygot irritated and just thought I didn't want to tell them what I did for a living!

DNM: What's the strangest reaction you've ever had when tellingsomeone you drive Funny Cars, if you can think of an example?

CF: Probably this one time when someone asked me and I told them I drove FunnyCars, and they asked if it was only girls that I compete against. I said no and theywere pretty shocked when they realised I compete in the same "league" as the men.Another time someone asked if they could ride along and I told them it's not really apossibility with these cars, when it's a one seater and the fact that they go over300mph!

DNM: Thanks for your time!

66

67

RECORDS THENRAIN IN PORTLAND

STORY BY LUKE NIEUWHOF. PHOTOS BY DRAGPIX.NET.AU.

The Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Carsheaded to Victoria and Fuchs SouthCoast Raceway for their first round of2015 on January 3.Rain after the second round of racingbrought an early end to the show, whichwas already taking place in warmweather. Bushfire risks limited the fireshow at times but fans were still given agreat entertainment package.In round one, Anthony Begley in'Stormtrooper' got by Paul Messineo in'Dark Horse' with a holeshot 4.47 toMessineo's 4.24. Justin Walshe in 'Let'sBoogie' used a 4.20 to defeat AaronRussell, who was getting a drive in 'Backto the Future' as his own car is stillunder repair. Rick Gauci made historyby becoming the first driver into thethrees at Portland with a 3.90 charge, asDaniel Schultz found form againfollowing a lacklustre performance atthe Sydney Night of Fire, carding a 4.01to get by Greg Leahy's 4.12. The record

books were in for another beating in thefinal pairing of the round as three timesAustralian Top Fuel champion DarrenMorgan, in his first drive for GraemeCowin's series, took 'The Bandit' to a3.89 win against Shane Olive's 3.93 in'Fast Company', marking the first sideby side three second pairing at thevenue.Anthony Begley scored his second win inround two with a 4.12 but would havesome damage to repair after getting intothe braking area wall. Daniel Schultzwas unable to fire for the pairinginitially so while Begley got the points,Schultz was able to make a runafterwards and clocked a 4.27. Morgancouldn't improve on his earlier stunnerbut still took another win for his tallywith a 4.22. Leahy then unleashed astunning 3.86 against a 4.14 fromWalshe in another change to the recordbooks. While Leahy's team celebrated onthe start line, Walshe was going through

some dramas in the braking area, goinginto the sand trap and net at a fair rateof knots.It was then that the rain began to falland things were brought to an early end.Gauci, who set a new track speed recordof 197.16mph, was extremely happy withthe new racing surface at the Victorianfacility.“We all went pretty quick and I am surewe would have gone both quicker andfaster if weather hadn’t brought an earlyend to the action,” he said.“We were all running in the 190-mphrange and I am sure we could haveeclipsed that magic 200mph (321.8kph)barrier if we had a bit more time.”Walshe mean time could only reflect onhis unfortunate end to racing.“It’s a disappointing way to end thenight,” he said. “But we are safe andwe’ll be back for the next event.”

Clockwise from top right: Anthony Begley scored twowins in the Stormtrooper but rain closed in and stoppedhim from attempting to win his first AONFC event. Thewheelstanders had to run without their fire show due tofire bans in the area. Justin Walshe went deep into thesand trap and catch net at the end of the tricky Portlandbraking area. Daniel Schultz had a car that wasperforming again after a tough Sydney round. GregLeahy reset the track record with a blistering 3.86second pass.

QUARTERREPORTERSUMMIT SPORTSMAN SERIES OPENS UP

A cold and wet morning greeted Fuchs South CoastRaceway for race day at the Summit RacingEquipment Sportsman Series opener but that didn'tstop the team of volunteers from having the trackrace ready with plenty of action.

Similar air and track temperatures from the previous day hadpresented the field with great track conditions.After getting to grips with the vehicle setups the Super Compclass was making headway to great results after qualifying.Round one winners were Dom Rigoli over Sam Preece, LouisSvingoes on a bye run, Daniel Camilleri over Peter Deguarawho red lit by just -0.007 and Peter Pisalidis over Ambesi.Pisalidis had broke the wheelie bar yesterday but was saved byAndrew Sanders who donated his time to repair the damageover night.Round two saw Dom Rigoli with his Mitsubishi Eclipse putdown the fastest pass of the weekend with a 4.494 at 152.92mph also taking the win against Louis Svingoes. Peter Pisalidisscored some luck when paired with Daniel Camilleri whoexperienced problems paving the way to the final.With only a small field it was only a short two rounds before

the final pairing of Pisalidis and Rigoli who was handed thewin at the start line after Pisalidis red lit by -0.062. Rigoli wasagain setting records for his class; scoring ET and mph.The new Top Sportsman class was a big hit and with theaverage dial in during eliminations of just 5.1 seconds acrossthe field it ensured tight racing. Local chassis builder BrettHenley was paired with drag racing veteran Stuart McBain intheir beautiful presented race cars where McBain dialed inwith a 5.23 and ran a 5.257 at 131.53 mph after Henley red litat the start line handing the win and the first ever TopSportsman ANDRA Christmas tree to McBain.Supercharged Outlaws champ Doina Day got her title defenceoff to a perfect start pairing up in the final with Ryan Van Dyk.Once again reaction times decided the outcome with Doinareacting quickest for the win.Day was joined in the winners circle by daughter JasmineRyan in Modified when the 1/8 mile expert met Chris Farrell inthe final. Ryan had the better reaction of 0.024 from Farrell's0.161 handing her the win.Local Warrnambool racer Stephen Griffin in his Holden 355ciLJ Torana took home the tree for Super Sedan against JasonArbery in the final. Griffin set a dial in of 6.16 and ran analmost perfect 6.162 ET at 111.37 mph while unluckily Arbery

70

71

snagged a red light by just -0.011.Malcom Luff is no stranger to Fuchs South Coast Racewayhowever with strong Modified Bike entries it brought severalnational champions who are regular winners across thecountry carrying vast amounts of experience in trickyconditions. But that didn't stop Luff from making it into thefinals with seasonal rider Nathan Stone. With a dial in of 7.30Luff broke out by -0.008 however it didn't matter as the racehad already been handed to Luff when Stone red lit by -0.032.The trip over the border from South Australia paid off forHarry Harris in his Holden Commodore pairing up with fellowSouth Aussie Enzo Clemente in the Super Street final. Harrismanaged to win on a tight race when Clemente ran a 7.376 ona 7.33 dial in while Harris recorded a time of 7.314 on a 7.31dial in. The 0.092 reaction time was the winning ticket for

Harris taking the win with a 0.057 margin of victory.Red lights littered the Junior Dragster ranks as tomorrow’snext stars pushed their dragsters to the limit in every round.Josh Baker reached the final only to turn on the red himselfgiving the win to Jordan Spencer at the start line by -0.082.Two-time Super Gas champ Matt Forbes was at it again inPortland giving his opponents a case of the runner ups.Forbes' Ford Roadster was on song again taking him throughthe field to the final pairing with Graeme Spencer. While bothwere off the 6.30 index it became a pedal fest to the finish linewhere Forbes came through with the goods in his quest for aSuper Gas three-peat in 2015.The Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series will nowhead west for the 44th Westernationals at Perth Motorplex onJanuary 30-31.

Clockwise from opposite page:Winners from the first round ofthe newly branded SummitSportsman Series proudly holdtheir silver Christmas trees.Dom Rigoli impressed withtrack record runs and a win inSuper Comp. Top Sportsman'sfirst showing saw StuartMcBain emerge victorious.Photos by dragpix.net.au.

QUARTERREPORTER

72

MARSH RUNS FIRST NZ FOUR SECOND PASSNew Zealand has seen its first four second passwith Anthony Marsh clocking an historic 4.985 atthe Rock FM Nitro Shootout.

In the third round of the best-of-three match race againstReece Fish in his Fish Family Racing Top Fueler, Marsh tookhis nitromethane-burning machine to the 4.985 elapsed timeat 288.27 mph, making him the first Kiwi to run the distancein NZ in under five seconds.Interestingly, Fish actually won the match race, in spite of hiscar’s engine blowing up just before the finish line, yet still ran5.044 seconds at a much slower 243.68 mph.Two years ago, Reece Fish and Fish Family Racing venturedinto the field of Top Fuel Dragster racing. Fish, who still holdsNew Zealand’s fastest street legal record, purchased the Bob

Shepherd rail out of Australia and woke the sleeping dragracing fans from days of yonder. Suddenly, New Zealand dragracing fans had something new to get excited about.A year later, Tony Marsh and the team at Marsh Motorsportjoined the fray. Already campaigning a Tom Conway-built A-Fueler, Marsh Motorsport decided to make things interestingand purchased the Jim Read Top Fuel Dragster; again fromAustralia.New Zealand has long had an affiliation with nitro albeit invery small numbers; a torch that Willy White in his NitroFunny Car had carried solo until Fish Family Racing and TheMount Shop Marsh Motorsport teams decided to make a pushfor the big speeds and low ETs.Marsh's pass was amazingly only on seven cylinders and theteam are low aiming for a four second run with a 300mphspeed at the NZ Nationals.

TAILEM BEND DRAGSTRIP PLANS BEFORECOUNCILThe Development Application for SA MotorsportPark at Tailem Bend which features a internationalstandard drag strip is before council with fullplans available for viewing online.

The venue will house a full quarter mile drag strip equal orbetter than any currently in Australia, with a design thatlooks like it is based on the Sydney and Perth facilitiescomplete with burnout pad.The facility will also provide world class circuit track alongwith tracks for drifting, rally, rally cross, go-karts and even aaircraft run-way, plus plans for a hotel and many otherrecreational activities.You can view the full planning statement here:http://www.dac.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/154722/Materials_Part3.pdfThe location 90km from Adelaide or about a hour drive hasdrawn some criticism, but the potential of this facilitycertainly outweighs the negatives.High resolution plan can be viewed here:http://www.dac.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/154721/Materials_Part2.pdfSA Motorsports Park is a privately owned by the PeregrineCorporation who are best known for owning a number ofchain stores including the On The Run service stations andconvenience stores. Peregrine is now co-owned by the threeShahin brothers with Sam the one in charge of themotorsport development.

73

QUARTERREPORTER

WARNAMBOOL CELEBRATE THEIR 21STGrass roots racing is where all drag racers start off,whether it's on a temporary facility on the localairstrip or a million dollar motorsports complex inthe city.

The Warrnambool and District Drag Racing Association Inchas been holding grass roots events at the WarrnamboolAerodrome since 1994. The club was established in 1993 by anumber of motorsport enthusiasts who had previously beenapart of the one mile and quarter mile sprints in the area,since the early 1970s under Confederation of Australian MotorSport (CAMS).The club's president Wes White and fellow committeemembers brought drag racing to the district by providing dragracing enthusiasts the ability to race in a safe environment.Casterton Street drags had a few months earlier sparked largeamount of interest in the region.At the time it was very rare to see a nitro burning dragsteroutside any major track such as Calder Park or Willowbankand never in a place like Warrnambool. The average personhad never seen anything more than a souped-up street car.The opening WADDRA meeting on 20 March 1994 saw Peterand Helen Russo to bring their Nitro Funny Car to town, itwas shown on displays and fire ups all across the districtincluding demo runs at the airport.Other highlights that have been down the runway include theTop Fuel racer Robin Kirby, who still holds the track record of4.5 sec over the 1/8th mile.The club had gained support each year as the events were runannually until 1999, but due to changes at the aerodrome itwas impossible for WADDRA to continue running events onthe south east end of the runway due to fears of damage to thetarmac. The club was stuck without a place to race, despitehaving all the facilities to hold a drag racing event.Glenn Wooster, who was president at the time recalled thatthe enthusiasm was low and this was another step backwardsin the bid to secure a drag strip.But not giving up, the club organised an event with thePortland Drag Club in March 1999 which was held at thePortland Airport.Despite the club not having a home they continued working

with the Warrnambool City Council and other parties toresolve the problem.Throughout the previous years the goal of the association wasto build a dedicated drag racing facility, as the current facilitywas temporary with only the ability to run one or two eventsper year.The local councils decided in 2003 to meet WADDRA halfwayon the new facility by allowing the construction of a dedicatedconcrete launch pad at the north west end of the aerodrome'srunway, with the agreement of having three meetings perseason. The purpose built launch pad provided much bettertraction thus allowing more powerful vehicles to compete. Thisalso kept the racing away from interfering with the day to dayrunning of the airport services.While it was not a dedicated race track it was the home againfor the club until the present day.Current club president Tony Frost has wasted no time gettingdown to business, working countless hours behind the sceneswith the committee and local council offices.The main focus for the association in the past few years is thenew drag racing facility which will allow up to four times theamount of events per season and the ability have a nationallevel motorsport facility in the city's backyard.In the meantime WADDRA has been gaining major portableassets ready for the time when the new home is finalised, suchas a canteen, timing tower, restrooms, power generators andand other infrastructure. Just as important as the assets arethe studies which have been completed to ensure theconstruction of a high standard facility.Warrnambool already has an extensive motorsport followingin the community, whether it's the sprint car series at PremierSpeedway, the dirt bikes at Lake Gillear or the diverse range ofmotoring clubs.WADDRA held a birthday event in September 2014 tocelebrate 21 years of the club with over 120 people attending,with special guest speaker ANDRA board member Phil Parkershowing his support for the club.Two more events remain for the WADDRA season on the 25thof January and 15th of March.

- Jesse Kelly

Right: Warnambool clubpresident Tony Frost has beenpushing forward as they armthemselves with important raceinfrastructure.Photo by dragpix.net.au.

A controversial question this month that will be forsure! In my opinion Group Two has had its time.What was once a good stepping stone has nowturned into a form of racing that is almost asexpensive as Group One.Instead, we should put our energies into developingGroup Three to a higher level and making the topend of that somewhat closer to Group One. If youcould develop an alcohol dragster or doorslammer tobe running low sixes and have a place in dial yourown, the step is not that far to a pro class.The days of racers progressing step by step are nowover. It is just as easy if you want to run a TopDoorslammer to simply run one from the beginningand learn as it would be to go for a SuperchargedOutlaws sedan, then a /AP car and then theDoorslammer.Eliminating Group Two would immediately makerunning a sportsman series round a more attractiveproposition for venues. Currently the prizemoneydemanded by Group Two acts as a barrier to morenational rounds being held.Reducing the number of handicapping systems willalso make things easier to understand for spectators.Currently Group Two is all but indecipherable for allbut hardcore drag racing fans – let alone racers,many of whom still don't understand the finer pointsof how the system works.At some stage the sport has to ensure it cuts awaysome of the dead branches in order to allow the treeas a whole to grow.If Group Two had strongly supported fields I wouldbe more inclined to suggest keeping it, but as itstands the fields have been small..

First getting rid of your entry level class (SuperStreet) and then you want to talk about Group Two?How many racers do we want to remove from thesport exactly?Group Two is an important part of the progressionthrough the ranks of the sport. It is the first timeracers get to experience something resembling thepro levels of drag racing, where finding horsepowerin the workshop becomes just as important as thedriving on the track. And yes, they get to experiencethat being successful in the upper reaches of dragracing will require a budget along with some serioussmarts.Sure it is complicated, but that is because you need afair way to handicap a myriad of differentcombinations. This is a racer’s category through andthrough, we shouldn't be changing it to suit thetastes of spectators. It should however have strongfield sizes and that is where we need to do somework to find a solution.Many of our great racers have worked their way upthrough Group Two and it has provided them withthe grounding to be successful in their drag racingcareers. Without this apprenticeship of sorts, theleap to Group One from Group Three may be toomuch too soon and we may in fact find racers cannot deal with that level of pressure.If there is one thing Group Two needs it is evolution.We should not be scared of having too many newclasses, or classes that allow for new technology.Group Two should be a leader in the drag racingworld, embracing new combinations that racerswant to use. By doing this it will broaden the appealof its racing and ensure its continued success.

MRYES

MRNO

Welcome to Mr Yes and Mr No. Thismonth our anonymous contributors

debate: should Group Two be deletedfrom the ANDRA championship?

74

BUSINESSDIRECTORY

Want to help Drag News Magazine get off the ground?Be one of the first to take out a place in our business

directory for just $200 for 12 months and we will throw in afree subscription! advertising@dragnews.com.au

Race car fabrication, composites and CAD design.

Sydney, NSW Phone: 0422 1 57 622