PHIL LAMATTINA - TRACK CHAMPS FROM SYDNEY, PERTH AND ADELAIDE

ISSUE TWO DECEMBER 2014

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EDITORIAL

EDITORIALWhy do you drag race? It's a question a few people could do with askingthemselves.For 90% of racers, the answer is for fun. It's a hobby. It's something to do withyour time when you are not working or raising a family or engaging in any oflife's many other pursuits.Speaking with racers participating in both the Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro FunnyCar Series and the Australian Pro Street Association at Sydney Dragwayrecently it was clear that fun was the main reason most of these guys and girlswere out there. These series offered a level of fun that suited them.But I've also spoken to a few other racers recently who have said the fun is nolonger there for them. Their passion seems to have been drained. And Iwondered why that is.It could be cost, racing certainly isn't getting any cheaper. But then it has neverbeen particularly cheap in the first place. Have we passed a point where racersare electing to spend their hard earned dollars on other activities instead of ourbeloved straight line sport?Maybe it's time. Today's vehicles and level of competition require a prettysuperhuman effort just to get to the track. If you want win lights you better beprepared to treat your racing like a second job.A day at the drags should be a day of celebration and joy (sounds like church orsomething, maybe a religion of the holy quarter mile) and a day where you getto engage in your passion.Some people though treat race day as a chance just to have a good oldfashioned whinge about everything under the sun. What's the point? It's thatkind of thinking we need to turn around. If you have fun keep racing! If you'renot having fun, find another sport! There's no point hanging around just tokeep poisoning it from the inside.I think the level of fun we all have at the track is all within our own control.The more people who are having fun, the more fun the whole lot becomes.Have fun catching up with your racer mates at the track, make time to go andspectate and watch your friends throw down, catch up with people away fromthe track too and build the social side of the sport that is what attracts many toit.When I read Grant's story about Coral Dyer this month, I was amazed at justhow much of an impact the drag racing community had on this one lady.Perhaps even enough of an impact to extend her life. Just think how powerfulthat 'fun factor' was for Coral and how potent that could be within your ownlife.Had a bad week at work? Drag racing can be your saviour. It is the place wherewe all get to be heroes and revel in a common pursuit. Have a think about yourteam and what you can do to have more fun at the track. That kind of positive,building spirit might be the shot in the arm the sport needs.Now on a more commercial note, thanks to all of you who have purchased thissecond issue of the magazine. Special thanks if you got a subscription! And alsoa big cheers out to our advertisers who have jumped on board includingTicket2Ride, Rocket, Aeroflow, VPW, Proflow, Babiators, Premium MotorsportProducts and Flatout Services. If you would like to support future issues withadvertising, please email advertising@dragnews.com.au.Hope you enjoy the read!

Luke NieuwhofEditor

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CONTENTS5 - Quarter Reporter

10 - Shutter Speed

14 - Nitro night fight: Aeroflow Night of Fire coverage

26 - Pro Street goes grand: APSA Grand Final coverage

38 - Radial romperDaniel Nunziante's Outlaw Radial Ford Cortina.

44 - Racing in memoryThe emotional story of how the late Coral Dyer, and now herdaughter, fel l in love with drag racing.

54 - Decade of thrillsPhil Lamattina discusses his second ANDRA Top Fuelchampionship and his plans for next season.

58 - Be a better bracket racerANDRA Super Gas champion gives an introduction to the basics ofbracket racing - see what you can learn.

64 - Sydney finaleThe Atura Blacktown NSW Championship wraps up.

70 - The Croc bites backChristine Steffens fireballs big in the third round of Perth Motorplex'strack championship.

74 - Sprint finishAdelaide rounds out its short championship series.

76 - Product SpotlightThe latest from our friends at Aeroflow.

77 - Mr Yes and Mr NoShould we have turbochargers in Top Doorslammer?

78 - Chutes Out

79 - Business Directory

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QUARTERREPORTER

MR OUTLAW 10.5 TO TOP DOORSLAMMERFrank Mamone will stepping into a TopDoorslammer next year.

Mamone originally had a Barracuda-bodied Top Doorslammer commissionedfor himself, but has since sold the car.However he will be in the driver’s seat."The car is owned by Cathis Australia,originally I had the idea to build aBarracuda and from there I got JoeyMartin to commence the project and justgot him to slowly do bits and pieces whenI had extra money saved," said Mamone."But the car kept sitting there with notmuch progress as I didn't have the moneyto keep wasting on the car as it wasn't myfirst priority, so I approached CathisAustralia to see if they would like tosponsor me, as they already sponsor theWestern Sydney Wanderers and the Canterbury BankstownBulldogs, and told them it would get good advertisingexposure as well."So they came on board and I sold them the car as is with thecondition that I got to drive the car. They agreed and spent therest of the money needed to complete the project and buy theengine. I have a good relationship with the owners of CathisAustralia so it worked out well, as they have been workingclosely with our company where we helped them develop theirnew transport mobile app because we had the vehicles and

resources they needed to develop and test their app."Mamone tested the car in the US but had an unfortunate setback early on with a serious bout of tyre shake that shook thebattery terminals free, starting a fire that caused extensivebody damage. That will need repairing before they can testagain."The plan now is to get the car back to Australia and run inTop Doorslammer and see how we go," he said. "We have allthe right people on board now so it should be good. We haveStuart Rowland from Perth as crew chief and a lot of otherknown names in the game to help us be competitive."

Matty Evans and Ally Stewart are in the final stages ofpreparing their blown alcohol front engine dragster fortesting.

The former Canberrans, now residing in Bungendore NSW,purchased the ex-Chuck Tanko nostalgia nitro FED from PeterLeahy Custom Imports who imported the machine from theUS."The opportunity to buy the dragster popped up and wecouldn't pass it up, there needs to be more blown FEDs

running in Australia," said an excited Evans.The dragster was repainted by Simon Farrell (of BungendoreBullet fame) and Evans sourced a 451ci KB Hemi formotivation backed by a two speed Lenco and Mark Williams9.5" diff, with a focus on Supercharged Outlaws.Evans will be doing the driving with the pedals a bit of astretch for Stewart, much to her dislike. Stewart, who has beenracing the family Oztin Austin A40 Ute in Super Sedan, will behaving a shot in Modified in Geoff Wright's rear enginedragster in the new year.

FFEEDDRREEAADDYY

QUARTERREPORTER

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WA's Rory Taylor has recently imported a newOutlaw Nitro Funny Car, nicknamed 'NitroThunder'.

The car was previously owned by Jack Harris of SaltLake City, Utah."I came across it while organising a car for someoneelse," he said. "We basically bought it sight unseenfrom some photos."I went over there and hired a U-Haul, loaded it onthe back and towed it to California so we could shipit home."Taylor is racing against time to try and have the carready to run at the January 9-10 Home Group WANitro Slam event."I bought it as a rolling chassis without an engine or gearboxand we are putting it together right now," he said. "My plan isto have it ready to run for January but I don't know how wewill go with that. We are close."Taylor said though he has dabbled in speedway and dragracing, he prefers to hand the driving off to someone else."(Top Doorslammer driver) Matt Abel will be driving it firstand then when my nephew Shannon gets some more

experience he will step into the nitro car," Taylor explained."I have decided I am too old to do it. I'm sensible enough torealise it is hard enough just to tune one of these things andget it down the race track."He might have ruled out nitro, but Taylor still sees himselfgetting some track time."I have purchased a 'slingshot' front engine dragster that Imay well put together and have a play in SuperchargedOutlaws, but we will see how we go running the nitro carfirst," he said.

TAYLOR BRINGS INNITRO THUNDER,ABEL TO DRIVE

With a long history in running blown alcohol sedans andfunny cars, Darryl Walford has teamed up with anotherWild Bunch legend in Geoff Develin to go nitro racing.

The pair have purchased a funny car and will be joining therapidly expanding Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Carroadshow."Having someone like Graeme Cowin to create, support andpromote this new show was the reason I looked at this OutlawNitro deal, I enquired about it and GC gave me theopportunity to license in Fast Company last December," saidWalford."Having raced Supercharged Outlaws in the SkipsThunderbird funny car for several years then testing anOutlaw Nitro Funny Car I said to my crew and family, I justhave to do this. I believe GC has created something that isachievable and I am able fulfil a dream I never thought couldhappen.

"Geoff Develin and I have been mates for over twenty yearsand I'm happy to get him back to the race track, we are doingthis together as a new team, I will be driving and Geoff willtune the car."Walford used to campaign a Ford Customline in Wild Bunchnamed “Backdraft"."Being a fire fighter for 30 years and with my first blown carbeing called Backdraft I thought I should bring that out againwith the funny car having a fire theme," he said."I went to the States in March and purchased the car from theguys at B&J Transmissions in Salt Lake City, then with a hugeeffort and help from Matt Leonard who also lives there haveconverted the car to suit Outlaw Nitro Funny Car rules here."The car is a McKinney chassis with a 2001 Pontiac Firebirdbody, running a 500ci BAE Hemi with a 6/71 Littlefield blowerand B&J two speed transmission. There will be some testingwhen car arrives early in January with the aim to be atMildura for the AONFC event in April.

BACKDRAFT NAME RETURNS, WALFORD ANDDEVELIN JOIN FORCES FOR FUNNY CAR

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QUARTERREPORTER

Col Beasley, the original crew chief for Darren MorganRacing, passed away on December 1 after a short battlewith cancer. He was 59.

Col, easily recognisable at the track thanks to his signature wide-brimmed farmer’s hat, was a cousin to Darren Morgan andinstrumental in DMR achieving their initial championshipsuccess as the team's first crew chief.Morgan paid the following tribute to Col via his Facebook page:"Colin, your guidance and enduring support allowed us toachieve the ultimate goal - Australia's No 1 Top Fuel Champion -multiple times!"Thank you for always standing by us. A wonderful mentor andfriend. Most of all - thank you for the irreplaceable memories."The speedway world will also be mourning the loss of Col. Colwas involved in the emergence of 360 Sprint Cars in Australiaand raced himself for over 25 years.A very successful entrepreneurial farmer in country Victoria,establishing Thurla Farms, Col will be survived by his wifeKaryn, three children and eight grand kids.Drag News Australia passes on its deepest sympathies to hisfamily and friends.

The drag racing world lost a real legend of the sport on December 3with the passing of Joe Gatt or "Buzzard" as he was affectionatelyknown.

Many may consider Joe drag racing royalty. He has been involved in the sportsince 1964 after the Gatt family arrived in Australia from Malta in 1957 and isone of ten siblings, four of which went drag racing (Jeff, Dennis, Ben and Joe).In 1965 Joe raced at the first Australian Nationals at Riverside in Victoria withhis '34 Coupe and started Super Flow heads in 1972. With brother Ben heformed an ominous drag racing team for the next several decades runningeverything from a nitro funny car to their iconic blown XA Coupe.Ben and Joe won the 1991 Nationals at Willowbank after 25 years of trying andset the world record in their EA Falcon Top Doorslammer at 6.66/203mph, thequickest Ford powered, Ford bodied race car at the time, a goal Joe set forhimself.Joe's health had been failing him in recent years and the passing of his wifeJackie was an emotional blow two years ago, but Joe fought on, returning theEA Top Doorslammer to the family and having the honour of flicking thestarter switch on its return to the track in the Gatt name.But what really made Joe a legend was his character. While it may soundclichéd that he was the most genuine and loveliest person you could hope tomeet, in Joe's case it was true and the outpouring of tributes to Buzzard sincehis passing are testimony to that.Drag News Australia extends its deepest sympathy to the entire Gatt family andtheir friends and thank you to Buzzard for all you have done for the sport ofdrag racing.

VALE: COL BEASLEY

VALE: JOE 'BUZZARD' GATT

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SHUTTER

SPEED1 0

Gerry Sarafoglou found out the hard way that too long up on the revs on thestart line will kill a transmission. This fog bank looks more like a burnout!

ISO 1250, 1/4000sec, F7.1, Canon EOS-1DX at 200mm.Image: cacklingpipes.com

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SHUTTER

SPEED1 2

Alexis DeJoria burns out in a special edition Patron XO Cafe Incendio Toyota Camryduring qualifying for the NHRA World Finals at Pomona's Auto Club Raceway.

ISO 100, 1/250sec, F7.1, Canon 7D at 17mm. Image: Luke Nieuwhof

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NITRONIGHTFIGHT

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The Aeroflow Night of Fire returnedfor its second year with a massiveseventeen Outlaw Nitro Funny Carsconverging on Sydney Dragway.

Graeme Cowin, owner of Aeroflow andRocket Industries, has been the drivingforce behind the series, aiming to delivera package of racing that is as muchentertainment as it is horsepower.There were low flying jet planes, a flamethrowing hatchback, pro burnout carsincluding crowd favoruite 'Mater' andduelling wheelstanders. All combined todeliver constant action for the thousandsof people in attendance.Organisers would have preferred a fewmore thousand people to be in thestands, but those who were there gotdelivered a pretty impressive show.

If there was a downside, it was in thedelays experienced across the day with alarge number of oildowns. In particulartransmission dramas seemed a specialty.A few racers learned that a long timespent on a transbrake button orconvertor is not a heathy habit!But first let us to take you into our nitrowrap.

Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car

A number of cars tested in the lead up tothe event, including Tommy Johnson Jrwho was doing familiarisation passes inLA Hooker, Harold Campbell stilllicensing in Insanity, Bazz Young testingand familiarising at the wheel of the allnew Shack Attack, Peter Leahy makinglaps in Superbad and Phil Lamattina

coming to grips with the big motorcombo in Fuchs Flyer.Johnson Jr was successfully signed off,as you would expect of the third placefinisher in this year's NHRA Mello YelloFunny Car series, though the team hadsome dramas with the fuel shut offpartially shutting. Campbell had all thewild handling traits of his heyday, greatfor photos but not so much forimpressing the ANDRA stewards. Youngbattled tyre shake while Lamattina wasdefinitely the highlight of the lead up,carding a tough 5.75/242.Race day would feature three rounds,each contributing points to a racer'stotal. The first round would be randomlydrawn, the second round would beseeded with fastest against slowest andso on through the order while the last

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BY LUKE NIEUWHOF AND GRANT STEPHENS.

Shane Olive awaits his first roundrun in 'Fast Company'. Image byLuke Nieuwhof.

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round would pitch the highest point scorersfrom the previous two rounds against eachother to decide a winner. With several racershaving the ability to score three wins fromthree rounds, the tie break was the quickestET in the final round.Round one opened with Lamattina back intothe fives on a 5.86/235 defeat of Shane Olive'styre smoking 11.78 in Fast Company. WillyWhite took Back to the Future on a 6.11/241,well above the mystical 88mph in theoryrequired for the car to travel back in time.Glenn Moore opposite mustered a 6.41/209in Bad to the Bone but unfortunately enginedamage prevented him from coming outagain during the event. Rick Gauci poweredNitro Express to a 5.93/243 against AaronRussell in The Russler, who experienced anunusual supercharger backfire 60 feet out(see feature). Paul Messineo rode Dark Horseto a 5.93/248 win over Daniel Schultz's6.32/225 in Supa Charger, as Nathan Peiranoscored an upset win in Time Traveler with a6.49/203 against Anthony Begley's tyresmoking, pedalling 7.03/245 in TheStormtrooper. The warm track proved nobarrier to Aaron Hambridge in The Bandit,carding low ET of the event straight up with a5.70/259 knock out of Bazz Young's 6.42/234in Shack Attack. Tommy Johnson Jr took thestripe in a close 6.06/239 to 6.12/229 raceagainst Peter Leahy while brother Greg Leahyhad more luck in Harbour City Hustler with a5.93/246 win against Justin Walshe in Let'sBoogie. Campbell was still licensing andindeed still unlicensed after the first round,taking out the timing beams on his sevensecond pass.After a little bit of carnage from that firstround, just 13 cars remained for the second.Begley was back in form with a 5.77/255 tobeat Hambridge's 8.84, while Lamattinathrew away a 5.90/232 after crossing thecentre line against Peirano. Young got downtrack in a 5.87/238 but put rods out (seefeature), defeating Rick Gauci who mortallywounded Nitro Express as well on a 6.21/198.Greg Leahy charged hard for a 5.75/244 winlight against Schultz's 7.82, as Messineoracked up his second win for the night as wellwith a 5.80/249 against Peter Leahy's 6.16.Johnson Jr used a 6.00/245 to join the twowin club, defeating Olive's 6.21/246 whileWalshe soloed to a 6.93/218.With the third round in the lanes, threedrivers were left with the opportunity to winthe event – Greg Leahy, Nathan Peirano, PaulMessineo and Tommy Johnson Jr.Peter Leahy got some momentum going forhis brother, with a 6.11/211 defeat of Schultz's6.76/230. Olive bounced back for a 5.84/251win over White's 7.52, while Lamattina ran aclose-to-the-wall 5.96/232 on what became asolo pass when Hambridge was unable tostart. Hambridge fired up shortly after to runwhat was effectively an exhibition pass, nodoubt kicking himself for not having thechance to beat his Lamattina Top Fuel Racingboss when he carded a 5.79 at just 203mph.Incrementals showed the car was .08 quickerto 1000 feet than his earlier 5.70, as someindication of the potential of the run. Walshebelted out a 5.77/249 to win against Begley's5.87/214, which leaned out and banged thesupercharger towards the end of the pass.It was then time for the business end of the

From top: AaronHambridge ran thequickest ET of the eventat 5.70 but couldn'tstart for the final round.Phil Lamattina foundfive second consistencyin Fuchs Flyer, runningone of the 'big' motorsfrom his Top Fueldragster. Willy Whitedidn't enjoy a whole lotof luck in Back to theFuture. Images by LukeNieuwhof andcacklingpipes.com.

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evening with the four drivers with twowins coming up against one another.Johnson Jr versus Peirano was first upand history was surprisingly onPeirano's side – last year the TimeTraveler defeated the LA Hooker in the

final round. Unfortunately for theQueenslanders this time the result wasreversed as Johnson Jr pounded out a5.794 to set the mark for Leahy orMessineo to beat. The fancy rocket-styled trophy would be going home with

Johnson Jr though as Leahy's 6.26/223got a win against Messineo's 6.72 butwas lacking the five tenths of a second orso needed to claim overall victory.

To the victor go the spoils: Tommy Johnson Jrearned himself a unique rocket-shaped trophyto take home as the winner of the AeroflowNight of Fire. That's going to be interestinggetting through customs. Following thepresentation of the trophy came the sprayingof the champagne, with runner ups GregLeahy and Justin Walshe making sure Tommygot his fair share. Images bycacklingpipes.com.

Tommy Johnson Jr is no stranger to winning races inAustralia thanks to his time with Rapisarda AutosportInternational, but his victory at the Aeroflow Night of Firewas the first time he has done it in one of the plasticfantastics.

Johnson finished third in the NHRA Mello Yello Funny Carchampionship this season, driving the Make A Wish DodgeCharger operated by Don Schumacher Racing.Johnson said he was starting to make plans to come over overwith Ron Capps, who was originally going to steer LA Hooker,but those plans became a little more involved when Cappsannounced he would be unable to make it.“I had actually asked about coming with him to a guy fromSanto's team and he said Steve Bettes (manager of theAeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car series) was in Indy andwanted to talk to me,” he said. “I met with Steve the next dayand he informed me Ron couldn't make it and wanted to knowif I would be interested. It worked out because I was wantingto go and they were needing someone to fill in for Ron. Westruck a deal in about five minutes.“I was excited to get the chance. I had followed Ron on theinternet last season and was well aware of what Graeme hadcreated over in Australia.”The nostalgia funny car scene is huge in the USA and Johnsonhad experience with it, last in 'Crop Duster' in 2013.“Every car you drive is a little different,” he said. “The guys atthe shop did a great job of adjusting a few things for me likethe steering wheel and some padding in the seat.“The car was easy to drive. Getting used to making a shift wasabout the only thing I had to remember - and not shutting offat 1000 feet.”

Running 320mph in a touch under four seconds in a big showcar is a pretty big deal, but Johnson said the Aeroflow OutlawNitro Funny Cars were a lot of fun to drive.“Of course they are slower than the big show car, but not a lot,”he said. “It's still a fast ride and a lot of fun. You actually getmore time to enjoy the ride in them. I can tell you the vision isa whole lot better in them than what I'm used to.”Racing wise, Johnson started out cautiously but motivated theteam to throw more at the tune up for the final round – theone that counts the most under the Night of Fire format.“The first round we didn't run all that well. The track was hotso we were just trying to go down without smoking the tyres,”he said. “Shane Olive had run before me and leaned in underthe body and suggested I hold the brake because his car hadcome loose at the hit of the throttle. As it turned out it didn'tneed that and really killed a good ET.“I had to run Shane in the second round so we tuned it up asthe track had cooled down. The tune up was a little too muchand the car shook the tyres. I had to pedal it quickly as didShane in the other lane and was able to get it to recover andrun a 6.00.“That put us in the final and I told Graeme that we were goingto need to get it to run better if we wanted to win. I suggestedwhat I thought might be a problem in the clutch. He madesome changes and hit the tune up perfectly with a 5.79.“I think with a couple of more runs we could have easily got itdown in the 5.60s. Sometimes you just have to be at the rightspot at the right time.”Johnson joked that everything went pretty smoothly for a crewwith three Top Fuel drivers on it – Darren Morgan, WayneNewby and himself.After the event he had the chance to explore a little more ofAustralia and catch up with former RAI team mates DamienHarris and Steve Flynn as well as Stormtrooper driverAnthony Begley.“I got to visit my favourite brewery in Australia, LittleCreatures on the Sunday night,” he said. “Then on Monday wegot on (friend) Perry's boat and did a tour of Perth up the riverand then headed out to Rottnest Island.“It was nice to get a few days of basically nothing after a longyear racing. We stayed on the island and cruised in the boatsome. I certainly took a lot of the Australian sun back with me.We did a lot of bench racing over some adult beverages andfood.”

JOHNSONGETS TO RACEAND CHILL

The Harbour City Hustler hasn't been the most loved carin the Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car paddock but itseems to have turned some of its reputation aroundthanks to a second place finish with Queensland's GregLeahy at the wheel.

Leahy explained that since the car was upgraded to the biggerfuel pump it seems to have turned around.“It was one of the last cars they put the big pump and big magon,” he said. “When we tested in September it showed promiseof running well into the fives and we came away confident.“We really didn't expect it to run 5.75, and it was the quickest60 footing car out there.”On race day Graeme Cowin gave the team a base line tune upand then input throughout the day, which the team wouldrespond to with their own input.The result was a car that went oh-so-close to knocking off theAmerican Tommy Johnson Jr.“It didn't quite run as fast as we thought it would in the final,”he said. “I got lucky because Paul Messineo had to give DarkHorse a big pedal which opened the door for me, that was ourluckybreak.

“The car ran perfectly. It was well prepared by the Cowin teamand our boys did everything needed on the day.“When we've had trouble it has mostly been self inflicted, butthe car ran perfectly.”Leahy said he had to pinch himself to believe that he was upon a podium next to the third ranked nitro funny car driver inthe world.“It was quite humbling to be standing there on a podiumlooking at the guy who just came third in the NHRAchampionship, then being given a bottle of champagne tospray all over him,” he said. “I can't believe I got thatopportunity, there are a lot of guys who would have swappedpositions with me.”Leahy said while the opportunity to drive for Graeme Cowin isthere he wouldn't look to get his own ride to go along withbrother Peter's Superbad, but you never know what the futuremight hold.“If circumstances changed and we had to make a decision, ifthe ride stopped, if he (Cowin) sold the car, then I think wewould look at doing it,” he said. “Of all the racing I am doing itis the highlight, over and above the Comp deal. But you'redancing with the devil when you are playing with nitro.”

LEAHY HUSTLES TO SECOND

SHACK'SBACK

Paul Shackleton's brand new 'Shack Attack' Camaro was a centre of attentionin the pits at the Aeroflow Night of Fire with its high standard of engineering andpresentation.

The north Queensland drag racing veteran said the car (pictured right) was a testamentto the skill of builder Bob Meyer."Bob says this is his last short car, so he made it into his best work," Shackleton said. "Ialways liked the 74 Camaro body and when I saw 'Fighting Irish' at Bakersfield in theflesh that made my mind up."Shackleton only got the car on to the track in the days before the event and it had someearly troubles with tyre shake as he worked out what the car needed tune up wise."It was shaking the tyres at the top of low gear, then going into wheelspin," he said. "Theengine had a new SSI blower, MSD mag and Rage fuel pump and it has a new East Westclutch so we were trying to get on top of it as quickly as possible."My plan was to test for two days, but I had to shorten it up due to work commitments.We only did four runs, two half track passes, the first round 6.43 and the 5.87."On that 5.87 things ended a little outside the script, with a rod exiting the block."It was only one rod so the damage isn't too bad," Shackleton explained. "It looked likethe rod decided to quit about 1100 feet, then it backfired when it crossed the finish line,causing a small fire."From the in car footage I have seen, all looked fine until the rod broke, it didn't shakeon that run as we made some changes to alleviate that."I had a spare short engine in the trailer but we really didn't have enough time to changeit and diagnose what the issue was and I certainly didn't want to send it down the trackagain without finding the cause first."My initial thoughts are it went lean for some reason; I didn't have a data logger on thecar. Theincrementals showed that it probably would have run in the low 5.80s at 250 mph."Certainly Shackleton did not seem too phased as to the damage."The block looks repairable, and the oil pan, it'll fight another day," he said. "Hey, it'snitro, right? You can't run one of these things and expect this won't happen sooner orlater. You just have to determine the cause properly so you can make changes to hope itdoesn't happen again for thatreason, but something else will crop up."This was the only event I was going to run the Chrysler based engine, I have a newMiner Bros. Racing (MBR) engine package coming that I believe will be easier tomaintain and better on parts."Shackleton had sometimes Australian, sometimes Brit, sometimes American Bazz Youngdoing the driving for the Night of Fire but revealed he is looking forward to hoppingback into the seat himself next year."I am intending on driving at some stage, Clint Thompson wants to come out and driveat a meeting or two, and there might be someone else that may licence in the car," hesaid. "As for rounds, that will depend on work commitments, and I want to test the bigpump combination thoroughly as well."I didn't have a big pump on for this race, I have one and I was going to test it but didn'thave the time, so I decided to stick with what I sort of know. The big pump will be therefrom now on."I am very happy with Bazz's efforts, he did good! And with an .089 light against RickGauci in the second round. And he helped with the car, unloading and loading so thanksBazz! He'll be back in car at some stage."

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Glenn Moore had enjoyed a relatively easyintroduction to nitro racing until the AeroflowNight of Fire where the engine went througha relatively subtle bit of carnage in the firstround.

"We were running as quick and as straight as weever had, when just after half track the car startedto lose power and Willy White went past us,"Moore said. "We went back to the pits and pulledthe nappy off and found two con rods hanging outof it."There was no fire, no death smoke, it really wasabout as stealthy as two rods can be in smashingthrough solid metal.Moore said that the current analysis points to a lubricationproblem, possibly an oil pump failure."I suppose that's racing. On the bright side, it was the quickestand straightest we have ever run," he said. "It ran over180mph at half track and was definitely in front."I've got a spare block that I am going to take down to Sydney

where the car is still because we are racing at Portland."Moore has plans to run all of the Aeroflow Outlaw NitroFunny Car events."We'll do the full season, anything we can," he said. "Wehaven't missed anything from when we put the car togetherlast year."

A GREATROD ESCAPE

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BOOMTIME

Aaron Russell and 'The Russler' team were leftsomewhat confused by a first round explosionunderneath the body of their Mustang Nitro FunnyCar.

Occurring early in the pass, the car didn't smoke the tyresor over rev in any way, it simply went bang."It has us dumbfounded," Russell said. "We just upgradedthe heads and put some new gear on, some stronger stuffand something has let go."In the autopsy post event, the motor was not found to beterminal."The bottom end looks good which is a good thing, just abit of head work," Russell said. "It's smashed every pushrod for some reason, it's lucky none of them hit thepistons."Russell explained that the run started off well from thedriver's seat."It launched really good, it didn't go past 7500 revs, didn'tturn the tyres at all," he said. "Initially we thought it justbanged the burst panel but when we got back it hadpushed the head gasket out, causing a little oil fire."It's really weird. I've been looking at a few photos and inone of the photos it is wide open throttle and you can seesmoke coming out; it was chewing itself up before it wentbang."For the former Modified dragster driver having the motorout front is still something he is getting used to, let alonehaving it go up in flames in your face."It's something I've never experienced, I'm used to thedragster with the motor behind you and all the noisebehind you so when you are in an enclosed cockpit it waslike a large pop," he said."The one thing that took me by surprise was the pressure,it throws you back in your seat. Just the force of the bangbeing enclosed in the body itself. My ears were ringing forthe rest of the day but I didn't have a headache."Russell is hoping they will be able to make it to Portlandfor the next round of the series, which is essentially theirhome event."Being from Victoria our opportunities are limited to raceon quarter mile tracks and to race on good tracks, with thehype of the event (the Night of Fire) it's the last thing wewanted to do," he said. "We were moreso disappointed forGraeme and the other guys and the paying spectators thatwe couldn't be part of the show. We do it for fun ourselvesbut the main idea is to get interest back into drag racing."We are aiming for Portland, that's the next plan, but weare unsure if we are 100% just yet, we are hoping to getsome parts in time. I'm sure Graeme will let us be a part ofit, whether it is in our car or with another team. He wantsus to be there as Victorians. He was the first to ring us upwhen we got home to make sure we were alright and thatanything we need to give him a ring."Russell said the chance to run a nitro team used to be justa dream, but the Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car serieshas helped to make it a reality by providing a place to racenitro cars that doesn't require a massive budget."It's more about the fans and it gives us teams a chance torace against these big names," he said. "We never wouldhave dreamed of racing a nitro funny car. It's good forprivateer guys who want to race nitro and can under theOutlaw scheme. It's a good deal on both ends."

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Right: Greg Leahy was the bestfinisher of the Australians, going tosecond place in 'Harbour CityHustler'. Image by Luke Nieuwhof.

Top row from left: A solid, if notmassive, crowd watched on fromthe stands. Fuel from the pipes ofLet's Boogie. Pro burnouts were apopular addition. Unique rockettrophies were handed out. Whyhello there.

Bottom row from left: This jethatchback was one of the mostbizarre exhibition vehicles we haveseen. Low ET and a fireball. JoshLeahy entertained in the NitroSheriff wheelstander. JamesRowland on the spanners. A jet flyover added extra pizzazz.

Images by cacklingpipes.com andLuke Nieuwhof.

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PRO STREETGOES GRANDIt has been a big year for those undertyred, over powered Pro Streetmachines with crazy enginecombinations crammed betweenframe rails, their championship againculminating in another epic seasonending APSA Grand Final event.

Outlaw 10.5

A big field in Outlaw 10.5 saw Sam Fenechin the JSS Racing Grand Am make amiraculous return to the track. The GrandAm underwent a thrashing rebuild in justa handful of weeks following a crash andreturned with personal best numbers intesting."Mr Outlaw 10.5" himself Frank Mamonecranked a 6.41 in Q1 which would hold upas the benchmark across both sessions,Simon Kryger banked a 6.60 for thenitrous fans for second and JeremyCallaghan made it the third differentpower adder in the top three with histurbocharged 6.63. Michelle Davies'blown Torana was not far away with a6.64, Fenech was way off his 6.1 secondtesting pace with a 6.67 as he struggled tofind the required traction, Matt Grubisawas solid with the Bumble Bee turboCamaro at a 6.74, the spectacular AgentOrange '57 of Wade Wagstaff sat on a 6.92and Nikki Hepburn rounded out the sixsecond qualified cars with a 6.98.Outlaw 10.5 was one class that did receiveall their allotted three rounds of racingbefore the final. Kryger threw away a 6.80with a cherry against Davies in round one,Wagstaff was hanging on to a possibleoutside championship win defeating a nonstarting Fenech with a 6.93, Hepburn'sGemini held off Grubisa, Danny Makdessifound the six second zone with a 6.78against Rigoli and Mamone chalked up a6.88 win over Callaghan's 7.12. Fenechstormed back in round two with a 6.16over Kryger, Davies won an all blown

match up with a 6.69 against Mamonewho smashed a driveline on the pass,Wagstaff increased his performance withan easy 6.75 win over George Haramis'VL, Callaghan downed Grubisa in theCamaro duel 6.74 to 7.60 and Hepburn leta win on paper get away against RobGodfrey's Torana. In the third round ofracing a 6.67 from Davies was no matchfor Fenech's 6.21, Hepburn foundretribution on Godfrey with a 6.91,Wagstaff came out on top in a fantasticblower versus turbo deal againstCallaghan 6.66 to 6.68 and Grubisa pickedup a win over Kryger 6.64 to a 7.03.Once the numbers were crunched thefinalist would be the blown machines ofDavies and Wagstaff, unfortunately a trailof oil left on the track after Wagstaff'sburnout forced the '57 Chev to shut downand Davies would solo to a 6.65. SamFenech and JSS racing had done enoughto be awarded the championship and hownow set their sights on running a five withthis car while on the hunt for a newmachine that will be Top Doorslammerbound.

Outlaw Extreme

In Outlaw Extreme the rules are quitesimple, the car must run opening doorswith just about everything else legal.Rob Campisi had a spectacular enginedetonation in the first round of qualifying,disintegrating the front clip through thetraps on a 6.21 second pass and retiringfrom the event. Johnny Roso finally stuckthe Top Doorslammer Camaro to the trackfor a top qualifying 6.12.Racing in the APSA is normally held overthree round robin rounds with the besttwo performers deciding the event in astandalone final, but a number ofextensive oil downs during the day limitedmost classes to only two rounds and afinal.Steve Petrovski and Troy Papadopouloshad unspectacular round one wins in their

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Clockwise from top: Jeremy Callaghan and Matt Grubisa get thelaundry out in the Sydney Dragway braking area. Dom Rigoli wasrepresenting for the four cylinders in Outlaw 10.5. Wade Wagstaffmade it to the final of Outlaw 10.5 but had to be shut down with aleak. 'Mr 10.5' Frank Mamone dances the front wheels in the air.Sam Fenech top qualified in the Outlaw 10.5 field but couldn'tconvert it to race success. Images by cacklingpipes.com.

respective twin turbocharged Pro Modstyle drives. Petrovski won round twowith a struggling 6.93 over Bill Nabhanand Roso, who missed round one, wenta career best 6.07 to defeat newcomerRob Taylor in the "Mad Scientist" TopDoorslammer Camaro. The final was afuture Top Doorslammer blowerversus turbo dream for many withRoso taking on Petrovski and it did notdisappoint, Roso sneaking home firstwith a 6.18 over Petrovski's 6.20 inwhat was one of the races of the eventthat brought a huge roar from thecrowd.

Pro Street Blown

Victorian Glen Forster had anuntouchable lead going into the finalevent with his Ford Mustang. Forsterwas out early on the field with the632ci boosted machine hitting a 7.06in Q1, while a personal best 7.10 at ascreaming 202mph from TomiRaikko's little LJ Torana looked wildand kept Forster honest. Calder Parkdrag racing manager "Pistol" PetePisalidis showed he was the Pro StreetBlown boss though in Q2 with a 6.87 togo into the racing rounds as favourite.Pisalidis did not stray from the sixes inthe two racing rounds, defeatingRaikko and Michael McGrath. Forsteralso showed his consistentchampionship winning form with apair of 7.0 second laps in defeatingMcGrath and Craig Hewitt, the Hewittmatchup won on a massive holeshot.The all turbocharged final featuringPisalidis and Forster delivered side byside sixes, Pisalidis held the slight startline advantage to a 6.88 againstForster's 6.95 effort.

Pro Street Unblown

Pro Street Unblown has beenstruggling for numbers compared tothe blown equivalent class, attractingonly two entries by race day and notmany more across the season.Local racer Chris Stevermuer had yetanother championship virtually in thebag, his big block Torana was far fromthe quickest in the class but was killingthem with consistency.Qualifying went the way of hired gunFred Solieman in Joseph Somma's440ci powered Cortina with a 7.96 andracing would essentially come down toa match race between the two.In the final Solieman took the victory,7.96 to Stevermuer's 9.19. Hopefullynext year we will see more Pro StreetUnblown gear out of the shed.

Outlaw Radial

Radial tyre racing is all the rageoverseas and it is clearly filtering toAustralia with the Pro Street radialclasses swelling with new cars, theheadline bracket being Outlaw Radial.In qualifying Australia's only sixsecond radial car, Daniel Nunziante's

Cortina, topped the sheets with a 7.200fractionally ahead of the MichaelKalaitzakis' 7.201 out of the big blocktwin turbo boosted Supra.Moving into racing, the championshippicture had Perry Bullivant with hisSnickers Torana now leading overJames Horan's Hilux ute. An uglytransmission failure in round one forHoran ended his event andchampionship hopes then and there,but Bullivant was vulnerable with hisnew nitrous combination backfiringduring the day.Nunziante was the class of the field onthis day, a 6.77/228mph record runover Marc Leake in round one wasbacked by a 6.90 in the second roundand set up a final berth for the one theycall Pazzo. Steve Bezzina's ratherunassuming XW Fairmont racked uptwo wins, his second round 7.84 passover Andrew Micalleff securing a Davidversus Goliath finals throwdown.Special mention needs to go to theperformances of Kalaitzakis with asecond round 7.04 at 223mph andLeake on debut with a brand new twinturbo combination in the Torana flyingto a 7.29 at 196mph.Bezzina gave it his best shot in the finalin his streetable XW with a 7.70 only tohave the orange Cortina comerocketing past at 224mph on a 6.90.

Mod Street Blown

Mod Street Blown had a small butdiverse field from a front wheel driveHonda CRX to a blown Mercedes, thelatter owned by Guy Hall and runningunopposed for the championship withMichael Arnold not attending theevent.Matt McCarthy's turbo small blockBluebird was quickest in qualifyingwith a 7.86, McCarthy would keep thatperformance going in racing with a7.87 solo and 7.74 win over Hall to fillone side of the final. Number twoqualifier Paul Cibotto earned a 7.86 to8.51 first round win over Brett Benz'sVL and followed that up with a 7.75winning pass over Jason Mansweto.In the final McCarthy was a year lateand then some with a .500 reaction,the Mustang of Cibotto a holeshotwinner with a 7.62 defeating a 7.53.

Mod Street Unblown

Like its Pro Street equivalent, the ModStreet Unblown bracket was severelyundersubscribed. Daniel Sharban waswell in front of the three other runnersin qualifying with a 7.86 from his bigcube Capri.Racing saw Sharban continue hisdominance with victories over VictorTsatlogianis and Chris Michaloudakisto earn a place in the final. With noother championship contendersfronting Michael Brody would becomethe 2014 Mod Street UnblownChampion. Brody won his first roundagainst Michaloudakis before going on

From top: Rob Campisi top qualified for OutlawExtreme but a big pop through the finish lineshattered his bonnet. Johnny Roso found newpace in his Top Doorslammer Camaro. Rob Taylorhad 'The Mad Professor' licensing ahead of theAPSA Grand Final and then got to make his firstpasses in competition, running some consistentsix second passes. Paul Cibotto used a massiveholeshot in the final of Mod Street Blown todefeat Matt McCarthy. Peter Pisalidis wrapped upPro Street Blown. Images by cacklingpipes.com.

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a wild ride in the next round when the lower control arm onthe diff snapped, sending the Torana into a tankslapper thatBrody managed to keep off the wall but would handTsatlogianis a slot in the final.Tsatlogianis' Torana is a veteran of the Pro Street scene andhas been off track for quite a few years for somerefurbishment. In the final an 8.58, despite being thequickest pass of the event for Tsatlogianis, could not matchthe brute force of Sharban's record holding Capri as he camehome with a 7.87 at 176mph.

X275

The X275 radial class is enjoying similar success to its Outlawbrother. Helped by an 8.50 index to cap performance, theclass boasted the largest field of all Pro Street classes.Qualifying was all out with Scott Cortina going the quickest at8.20, however all racers would have to dial it back comeracing.The championship was the tightest of all Pro Street classeswith any number of potential winners if results fell certainways or mechanical issues arose. But Terry Seng's twin turboVC Commodore chalked up two wins to claim a final roundstart which would ensure he would stay marginally clear ofShane Baker's point haul. Facing Seng was anotherCommodore in the form of a VK belonging to Doug Day. Ashoddy light from Day should have seen the race to go toSeng, but the VC was unable to slow enough, breaking outwith an 8.48 to Day's 8.82.

True Street

Dean McMahon was looking to ram home the True Streetchampionship with contender Darryl Elliot needing a fewupsets in racing after McMahon blitzed the field in qualifyingwith an 8.73.True Street did squeeze in three full rounds of racing.McMahon won all three rounds and locked up the title, Elliotwas valiant with two out of three victories, but joiningMcMahon in the final was Shane Elvin's Hornet also withthree wins and impressive mid nine second laps.The final was a non event, McMahon had cooked the batteryis his XF Falcon and was out, Elvin cruised to the stripe witha 9.92 and the trophy.

DYO

The event did cater for any sedan that did not fit into a legalPro Street class with an all in Dial Your Own bracket, JasonStares qualified his aspirated big block Corvette on top overthe 36 car field with a 7.26.Stares was using the event as more of a test session with anew bullet for next year's Top Sportsman class, and after fourrounds of eliminations he would have to declare the testing asuccess as he would be in the final against James Danakos.The Falcon of Danakos recorded a slight start line advantageover the Corvette and stopped the timers with a 10.526(10.51), illuminating the win light with the tiniest of holeshotwins ahead of Stares' rapidly closing 7.315 (7.30).

Factory Xtreme

The event also tripled as the final to the Factory Xtremeseries, entry numbers weren't spectacular and Scott Porterhad all but wrapped up the title.Collin Willshire went to pole in qualifying with a 6.78, abreath ahead of Mark Jacobsen's 6.79.Porter laid down a number in round one with a 6.32 at228mph over Phillip Karpathios' Scion and Michael Baghdadiupset Willshire in a depleted field. Baghdadi succumbed to a6.73 from the Infiniti of Porter in round two and Willshirewould solo due to more breakages.The final was a mismatch, Porter securing the event win andasserting himself as Factory Xtreme Champion bydemolishing Baghdadi with a 6.46 to the Silvia's 7.23.

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Centre image: Darren Triffett turned his Powercruising wagon into a wheelstanding drag strip monster.Image row from left: Shane Elvin claimed True Street after Dan McMahon could not start for the final.

Doug Day won against a breakout pass from Terry Seng in X275. Scott Porter was in a class of hisown in Factory Xtreme. James Danakos defeated Jason Stares in the final of the DYO bracket.

Images by cacklingpipes.com.

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MISS SIX SECONDSNikki Hepburn's little Gemini seems out of place in Outlaw 10.5 when surroundedby some of the other mechanical monsters in the class and goes way quickerthan any Gemini ever should.

When fans watch the way the Gemini is "manhandled" down the track with the frontrunners rarely touching the flight deck, there is surprise when the diminutive Nikkiclimbs out.The Gemini is an animal on the track, with the 540ci big block sprouting a pair of GTX 42turbochargers somehow wedged between the rails. Hepburn and her crew have beenchasing a tune up to go into the sixes."I debuted the car in September 2012 and started racing the 10.5 class in 2013 and lovedit from the start, we are not the quickest but we have fun," she said."We been chasing the sixes for about twelve months now, I had a few issues to sort out tofinally get everything working 100%.”The first six was proving to be something of a mental barrier for Hepburn."It has been a little monster on my shoulder for quite some time now," she said."A couple of days testing in Sydney prior to the APSA finals really got the car sorted andthe first six second pass came on the Friday arvo of testing. When we got down to a 7.001it was a bit frustrating but the next pass we went the magic 6.98 at 203.89 and it was agreat feeling, it felt fast!"A string of six second passes followed, the best being a 6.91 at 204mph and three roundwins at the APSA Grand Final, but there was no magic bullet on the breakthrough inperformance."Strangely enough we haven't made a heap of changes to the tune," she said. "It's beenmore chasing one issue after the other. First it was suspension, then the gear box, thenthe motor, then the transbrake - we just never had everything going good all at once."The team thinks 6.8s are about the limit with the current combination."We can't go anymore than 26PSI as we are now out of turbo," she said."But big thanks to everyone who has made it possible, my dad first and foremost forletting me drive the car, my partner Luke for his support, Justin at HPS for the tune up,Dan from Promodz for the fabrication work, Joe from Profab for the suspension setup,Fred from Protrans for the gearbox and TCE for the converter."

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Pro Street racing may be heads up first to the line wins,but as Chris Stevermuer has shown with his thirdconsecutive Pro Street Unblown championship you donot need to be the quickest or fastest to win.

His three championship have been just reward for loyallysupporting every round of the APSA series around thecountry with his big block LJ Torana."I have owned the car since 2006, buying it as a roller andhave done over 500 passes at many different tracks with it,"he said.

"It had a smaller NOS motor years ago and ran a best of 8.1 at169 mph, NOS is great but needs a lot more maintenance anda bigger budget, so I'm happy with the aspirated 598ci BBCthat is in it now, it is fun and relaxing and I am not as stressedout.” Stevermuer’s stress levels might have been heightenedhowever by a car that was misbehaving at times."The final event started off great with a mad wheelie, I ran itthrough with a 8.6 but the speed was down," he said. "Thenthe car just got slower, over half a second and 14mph off pace,we worked out the stall converter shit itself but we still kepton running." Chris' passion for the Pro Street style of racing is unwavering."I love these events, the Chicago shootout format, racing at allthe different tracks, meeting and having a drink with newpeople," he said."At the Pro Street events, you don't have to be the fastest carto win championships, you do have to do rounds and travel. Ihave achieved my three Pro Street Unblown championshipswith hard work, beforehand and after race meets, a goodreliable engine, an understanding wife, a young son that loveswatching dad, great crew and sponsor Alutec Windows."

JUST BE THERE!

Nikki Hepburn has found the six second zone at lastwith one of Australia's quickest Holden Geminis.Image by cacklingpipes.com.

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‘Megatilt’ may well be the best way to describe theseason Sam Fenech and the JSS Racing Outlaw 10.5team have had.

They have gone from running the quickest times seen from asupercharged car on 10.5 tyres in the land, to almost writingthe car off, only to return after a herculean effort and win backto back APSA championships."The season started with the purchase of a brand new BAE521ci with PSI Top Doorslammer spec motor and clutch," saidFenech."We had to fit the new engine combo and make pipes, changeto a new corporate colour scheme for the car and transporterwhich was a massive undertaking and then we decided to pushto make the first round at Willowbank. We were really focusedon trying to win back to back championships so making everyevent was top priority for us. "We struggled at our first event with traction issues, butmanaged to win two rounds and come away with valuablepoints. The second round was at Sydney Dragway and afterhitting the wall in qualifying we managed a runner up finish

and more valuable points."Then we were invited to run at the Jamboree at Willowbank.Although we were booked to run at Benaraby the followingweek we decided to go to Jambo and use the event for testing.Well we had a great meeting up there, we ran a PB 6.11 at236mph and managed to win the event!"Off we went back to Sydney to service the car, fitted new rodsand clutch, then straight back up the highway to Gladstone forAPSA round three.“APSA rounds at regional track are great events to race at, thepeople there really appreciate the effort we put in and wemanaged to win this event and run a PB speed to the 1/8thwith 191 mph. Wade Wagstaff was runner up at the event andhe was the one to watch, we only had a narrow margin in thepoints so the last round was anybody’s race."What seemed like a season going to plan rapidly swung theopposite way."Disaster struck at a track championship event in Sydney whenthe car lost traction at the top of second gear,” Fenechexplained. "We made some serious contact with the wall andhad a decent fire - at this point I thought our championshipwas done and dusted.

RIDING THE RACING ROLLERCOASTER

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"After assessing all the damage and consulting with Steve(owner of the team), he was adamant to repair the car and beready for testing three days prior to the Grand Final round inSydney."So thank you to Craig, Shelley and Brian at SCF Race Carswho spent two weeks solid working on the car, Victor and BenBray made the new front clip in record time, Terry for CarbonFibre Repairs, Danny at Custom Body Works for working dayand night to paint the car in four days, Lee at Camden Signsfor all the decals and wraps, the tow car was finished at thetrack."With the car back from paint shop we had four days to refitthe engine and all the brake lines, fire system, plumb all thebraided hoses and wiring and be at the track Wednesday for athree day track hire prior to the last event for the year."After the outstanding commitment to get the Grand Am backon track the tension was building to see if all that work wouldpay off."Our first full hit at the track resulted in a 6.22 at 225mph,needless to say we all drew a deep breath but it was veryrewarding considering how much work had been accomplishedin a relatively short period of time," Fenech said."Race day and we struggled to get down a very tough, hottrack, after qualifying we could only manage a 6.76 so firstround would be tricky. In the burnout for the first round Iheard a hissing noise which was a result of a CO2 fitting that

had broken off the shift tower. With two rounds in Chicagoshootout left and we needed to win both to win thechampionship."Second round we came out and ran low ET for the bracket,6.16 at 238mph for the win, third round we ran 6.22 at242mph which is was our personal best speed. We didn't makethe final but we managed to accumulate enough point tosecure our second APSA Outlaw 10.5 Championship, by lessthan one round in points!"With their season goals despite the road blocks, Sam and theteam have now had a chance to reflect on the season and plotthe future."For next season we are looking at some options, waiting to seewhat the new owner of the APSA will do with the rules forOutlaw 10.5 next year," he said. "We may stay with 10.5, Ireally think we can run a five second pass with some moretesting, or fit big tyres and run Outlaw Extreme."There is some talk about stepping into Top Doorslammer butwe will see what happens in the near future - either way wewill be racing somewhere in 2015."Massive thanks to Steve at JSS Racing for providing me withan incredible opportunity to race a fantastic car, without himand his company Megatilt Haulage none of this would bepossible and thanks also to our sponsors Megatilt Haulage,Westend Performance, Gulf Western Oil, Custom Bodyworks,SCF Race Cars and Camden Signs."

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True Street has evolved dramatically since itsconception in the APSA Pro Street scene.

In just a few short years ETs have plummeted and theinvestment and development in machinery has climbed,turning it into a true Pro Stock class.Conquering this year's championship was Queenslander DeanMcMahon with his Ford XF Falcon, a vehicle that seems to bethe weapon of choice for many of the heavy hitters in the classright now.McMahon's trek to the top of True Street mirrored theevolution of the class."When I started building the car, the front runners in TrueStreet were running around 9.7s," he said. "During the buildand within the space of one year the class leaders droppedquickly from mid nines down to 8.9s."The original combo in my car was good for 9.3 and once thebuild was completed we raced the last two rounds of the 2013season at around mid pack. Then in the APSA Grand Final lastyear Tony O’Connor turned up and shocked everyone when hedropped an 8.7 - this changed the game."Over the summer we had to consider whether we wanted tostep up and play with the leaders or just enjoy the racing atmid pack. After a lot of discussion with Aaron Tremayne wethought we could put an engine package together that couldhave us competing at the pointy end. So at Christmas of 2013work began on our new engine combo. Also Kyle Hopf from6Boost took up the challenge and made a range of smallrefinements to the car so that the factory chassis worked asbest it could with the new power levels."After some initial testing in early 2014 we were confident thatwe’d put together a car that could compete."True Street and its direction has generated a lot of discussion,with many saying it has become too much of a monster andhas far exceeded the original design for the class. Others wantit left alone and a ‘Real Street’ class brought in.The fact remains True Street just evolved within the originalrule set and the drag racing desire to push the limit to alwaysgo faster, becoming Pro Stock for real cars - and that is a hugepart of the class' appeal."The class has undoubtedly taken a huge step forward inperformance over the past two years," said McMahon."There are four cars in the class that currently run in the

eights, there are also existing competitors developing theircars further and a couple of others with new cars in the buildthat fully intend to run in the eight second zone - they’ll turnup in 2015 and give us all a shake."I do believe that over the next 12 months we’ll see a levellingof performance and ETs in the class – I don’t think we’ll seethe rapid rate of improvement that has occurred in the past 24months. APSA True Street is a factory chassis class with areasonably small radial tyre, so even if you have megahorsepower, you’ve still got to get it to work. It will be who canbest tune their car on the day to get off the line consistentlythat will win."It’s an exciting class and one that the crowd can relate toreally well, as the cars look pretty much like hotted upstreeters. But then, when they hear them start and rip bigwheelstands and run fast ETs it’s super impressive for peopleto watch. I know that’s what drew me to build my car and getinvolved, the really wide range of cars and a great bunch ofpeople who compete in True Street and whether you run an 8or an 11 second ET, we all have a heap of fun."McMahon looked to be on a charge to the event win as well asthe championship until a strange problem intervened."Our weekend started off fairly normally, we qualified with an8.8 but we were dealing with a misfire in the gear shift andalso in top gear – we chased that issue throughout therounds," he said."The second round saw us draw Tony O’Connor, who isbasically our main rival as far as being the quickest in the classgoes. We hadn’t drawn Tony in any of the rounds throughoutthe year so we were pumped for that match-up. It turned outto be a great race, with us going 8.7 and Tony 8.8."We were lucky enough to get through our Chicago shootoutrounds with all wins, but as I crossed the line in the lastshootout everything just went dead in the car, all power wasgone and some smoke was coming into the cabin. It turns outour battery had cooked itself, which was also the cause of themisfire. Our night was over, which was disappointing as wewere really keen to try to finish off the year with a round win."Fortunately we’d done enough on the night and throughoutthe year to take the championship, which is something thatour team are really proud of. We set out at the start of the yearto have a crack at the championship and all the effort indeveloping the car and travelling with the series has beenrewarded."

BASED ON A TRUE STORY

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RADIALROMPERDaniel Nunziante has 3000 horsepower ontap, no wheelie bars and tyres that work inthe rain. This is the world of Outlaw Radial.

By Luke Nieuwhof.

The modern Pro Street car has evolved from a commonancestor into a bundle of different breeds but perhapsnone represents more the original intent than the OutlawRadial class.

It's ostensibly a car that is pure street, with a bunch ofhorsepower under the hood. The two traits most responsiblefor that are the three quarter chassis limitation and thecategory's namesake - DOT approved radial tyres.

And if you are an Outlaw Radial competitor in Australia at themoment, the man you are looking up to is Melbourne's DanielNunziante, driver of the [PSIDUP] Ford Cortina.Nunziante most recently stomped the record down to 6.779seconds and 228.81mph at the Australian Pro StreetAssociation Grand Final, run as part of the Aeroflow Night ofFire at Sydney Dragway.With such a short wheelbase, so much horsepower and nowheelie bars, it's not for the faint hearted."It feels like the wheels are just barely touching the

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ground,"Nunziante said. "You are just worried about keepingit straight rather than worrying about how fast it is. When Iwent 228 I couldn't tell."Nunziante grew up a Ford boy, but his first fast cars were acouple of Holden Commodores, cutting 10 second times withnaturally aspirated horsepower. The lure of the Blue Ovalproved enough for Nunziante to progress to a more purposebuilt Ford Cortina that started in the tens, before dropping tonines and eventually eight second times as he got more andmoreserious.

Things stepped up a notch though when Nunziante met CraigBurns from SCF Race Cars and decided on building the FordCortina that nightmares are made of."I had good mates that used to race in Mod Street, which was amini tubbed, standard suspension kind of car, so I built one ofthem and put a little twin turbo small block in it,"he said."The record at that stage was like 7.40s or 50s and I wanted tobe the first one on a standard suspension car to run 200mph.We did that. Then I hurt the small block and I was watchingthe radial stuff in America so that's when I decided to put the

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big block in.”Nunziante explained that the car is probably more Mod Streetthan Outlaw Radial, being not quite as purpose built as someof the American cars now on the scene."As a Mod Street car it is more advanced than any other Modcar in Australia,"he said. "It's a mini-tubbed Cortina withstandard suspension. It has a lot of roll caging andstrengthening but besides that everything is steel besides thebonnet and boot lid. For the rules in America the car has toweigh over 3200 pounds. We have a lot of weight in the car tomeet those rules."For Nunziante, the attraction to Outlaw Radial lied in the factthat massive turbocharged motors, essentially the same oreven more powerful than what are found in turbocharged ProModifieds, were getting shoehorned into cars with no wheeliebars and a street tyre.Nunziante's current package is a 632 cubic inch big blockFord, armed with twin 98mm Precision turbochargers and aMike Moran-specced cam. A two speed Turbo 400transmission turns the tyres along with a Pro Torqueconvertor.

"It (Outlaw Radial) is something different and I thought itwould grow,"he said. And grown it has.Twenty two cars raced at the most recent round of the APSAseries and Nunziante believes it is going to get bigger andbigger.Currently he is the performance leader and indeed the onlyracer in Australia to have achieved a six second pass on aradial tyre. But there are several others closing in."My mate Stix (Michael Kalaitzakis) is pretty close to the sixes,he has gone 7.04 and he should run into the sixes within thenext couple of meets,"Nunziante said.Although six second passes seem to be coming at will rightnow, it hasn't been an entirely smooth road for the team.Nunziante was lured into a false sense of security when theywent 7.00/220mph first time out but then some gremlinsdecided to play their hand."After we went 7.00 we just had issues where we thought itwas the convertor and stuff like that but it ended up being inthe Pro Mag and so we lost our way for a little bit,"he said."After little problems like that we finally sorted it out and thecar has come around so now we are doing suspension changes

40

and the car is responding.”An Outlaw Radial car is a long way from a pure drag racingvehicle. At one end of the spectrum is a naturally aspirateddragster where you throw everything you have it right fromthe start with most of your acceleration done within a fewseconds. Then you have a 3000 horsepower beast of anOutlaw Radial car like Nunziante's and that requires a fardifferent approach with power having to managed andfinessed for much of the pass.This is achieved primarily through tune up, rather than thedriver having to modulate the throttle pedal."When you have as much power as we do it is all in the tuning

and power management,"he said. "It is all in the boostcontroller and with timing and to bring it on as you need it."I have Kevin Fiscus, he was one of the fastest guys in Americaon a radial but now runs in Pro Mod, he helps me out with thepower management and the tuning side of it."A lot of timing gets pulled out when you let go of thetransbrake, it gets fed back into the engine about four secondsinto the run. We try not to blow the tyres off mid track. Nowthe suspension is working really well and we can add a lotmore power earlier in the run."The first couple of times I drove it was like pushing mystomach into my chest. Now I am used to it. I have a look on

41

Photography in this article by cacklingpipes.com.

Joe Maday and Luke Nieuwhof.

my face now like it doesn't feel fast. I'm concentrating ondriving the car and not realising how fast I'm going.”You might think traction control could play a role, butNunziante says they aren't running it, as shown from the wayhe spent two days of testing blowing the tyres off the car on thelaunch."It's learning the car and making little changes,"he said. "Wegot into the 6.80s in testing and then on Saturday (at the APSAGrand Final) I put some more power in and did a wheelie athalf track."So we pulled a little more power out and went 6.70s, thenbacked it off to try and win the meeting and run 6.90s a bit."I hit 39psi on the first pass on Saturday but it did thewheelstand so I was running about 36-36.5 across the line onthe 6.77.”Eventually Nunziante belies a 6.5 second run will be possiblefrom the Cortina. The track is a limiting factor, with radial carsrequiring a very tight surface, one that would probably result inmost slick tyre cars shaking themselves to bits in a struggle forwheel speed."The better tracks we get, the faster I will go,"he said. "I think I

could run 6.50s, that is my goal, I think we can get pretty closeto that, doing 230-235mph. I just need to sort out the wheeliesdown the middle of the track now. We are going to startplaying with weight and try to make it stop.”There has been some ideas exchanged on a possible new carwith builder Craig Burns, who would like to run somethingwith a longer wheelbase like a Ford Falcon. But Nunziante isattached to his Cortinas."Craig would to do a BA, BF or XG Falcon because of thewheelbase and the sides of the engine bay, but it's just notme,"he said."If I was to do another radial car I would do another Cortina –but it is a tight engine bay to work on."I also like the turbo Pro Mod deal, but I love the small tyreradial race more. I see the grief Campo goes through with hisMustang so I'll stick to radials. There are more and more carscoming into it."Nunziante passed on his thanks to Speedpro, Craig Burns,Kevin Fiscus, Glen Wells Engines, Lucas Oil, Pro Torque andProformance Racing Transmissions.

“It feels like the wheels arejust barely touching the

ground.”

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What is an Outlaw Radial car?

Frame/Chassis

- Must be based on a production car andcan be made of fibreglass, carbon fibre,metal such as Doorslammer or Pro Streetbodies permitted. No one piece bodies, nofunny car bodies, no open cockpit, no openwheelers or roadsters allowed.- Cars must have at least two functioningdoors being able to be opened both frominside and outside.- Open to all sedan based vehicles withdoors. Three quarter chassis or less.No full chassis cars permitted.

Engine

- Any engine combination permitted. Nocubic capacity limits on any enginecombination.- Unrestricted power adders (nitrous,supercharger or turbocharged). Multiplepower adders permitted.- Dry sumps permitted.

Suspension

- Wheelie bars not permitted on any vehicleexcept 13B rotary and four cylinders.

Electrical

- Computers and data acquisition allowed.

Wheels

- No limit.

Tyres

- All vehicles running on radials must run aDOT approved radial tyre.- Max tyre size 325mm.- Max of a 10.5*29 non W slick permitted.

Minimum Weight

- Varies based on combination, from nominimum weight for a naturally aspiratedsmall block to 3200 pounds for a twinturbo big block.

Rules courtesy Australian Pro StreetAssociation (www.austprostassc.com.au).

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RACING INMEMORYEarlier this year, New South Wales Modified racersuccumbed to cancer following a ten yearbattle. She used drag racing to prolong herlife well past doctors' expectations.Now Coral's daughter Kaz Williams hasemotionally followed her mother'sfootsteps into the sport.

By Grant Stephens.

44

45

One of the amazing facts about Coral's dragracing career was that she started at a timein her life when many other racers would beconsidering hanging up the helmet.

In time her fellow racers learned about hermotivating factors and the inspirationaldetermination not to let anything stop her fromachieving what she wanted, something the doctorsknew only too well already."Mum was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian Cancerin 2004. After an operation and many rounds ofchemo she decided she wanted to start racing,"Kaz remembered."She fought the disease for ten years and in thebeginning her professor tried to deter her fromracing, but soon worked out that was not going tohappen."As the remission time became less and less,chemo became a more regular occurrence. Shewould drive her professor crazy because everytime he would give mum the bad news that shewould have to start chemo again, she would tellhim I can't start then - I'm racing! He would justshake his head. He soon learned that she wouldnot let the cancer rule her life and after time hewould ask her when she could start chemo insteadof telling her when she had to start."She was an inspiration to all the other ladies inthe chemo room at the hospital too, they would beamazed at what Mum was achieving and wouldinspire them to try things they once thought theycouldn't do because they had cancer."Coral was always a thrill seeker and husband JohnDyer (JD as he is known) was involved in dragracing by crewing on teams. He constructed aHAMBster, not knowing at the time that it wouldstart Coral's racing career rather than his own."She had always been an adrenalin junky," saidKaz. "She did things like sky diving anddemolition derbies, she would ride on the back ofJD's Harley. But that didn't last long either whenshe told JD that she wanted a Harley of her own -and of course she got it."But the drag racing that ended up defining Coralwas not on her list until that HAMBster cameabout."Once the HAMBster was dialled in, Mum saidthat she wouldn't mind having a go in it, and onceshe had driven it JD wasn't allowed back in it,"Kazsaid.With the need for speed in the veins, Coral's dragracing was about to get a whole lot faster."It didn't take long for Mum to decide she wantedto go quicker and after a call to S&W Race Carsthe dragster was in production and about sixweeks later it was ready to ship to Australia,"Kazsaid."Once the dragster was in the pipeline she bookedinto Ken Lowe Race School and nailed it. She wasready to race."The transition to the dragster from a 13 secondHAMBster was not a small leap and there were afew hiccups, such as a stuck throttle whichresulted in the dragster rolling in the sand trapand a concussion. Coral went straight to the dragracing media and excitably asked - "Did you getthat?"The dragster was repaired quickly following itsexcursion and Coral went on to record a7.59/173mph personal best, win a round of theNSW Championship Series and take a couple ofrunner ups, all in resistance to a disease thedoctors said should have taken her from this earthyears earlier.

46

"Mum would get out to the track at every possibility,test and tune days, private track days, track andnational championship events. No matter how badshe had been feeling from chemo, she would perk upwhen race day arrived," said Kaz.Sadly Coral lost that unwinnable fight in July 2014.An emotional tribute at Sydney Dragway followedand a memorial trophy was named in her memoryfor the highest female point scorer during the NSWChampionship Series. Her determination andattitude had touched many during her relativelyshort drag racing career and now many racers lookto what she achieved in the face of mountingadversity for true inspiration."Most Nannas would carry pictures around of theirgrandchildren, but mum would always have picturesin her handbag of her dragster and would show andtell anyone that would listen," said Kaz."She always said she'd wish she had started 20 yearsago, we believe that racing was a big part of keepingher around long after the doctors told us she wouldnot be here. We all believe the saying someone "livesto race" is true, Mum is evidence of that. She loved itso much that she organised perspex cut-outs of herin the dragster to go on each side of her coffin andher pit crew carried her into the chapel.Coral's achievements impressed no one more thanher daughter."I was always amazed to see her racing, I would goout to the drags when I could to crew for her, whichcould be a bit stressful, especially when she gotknocked out. I would laugh when my kids Dylan andCourtney would say to their friends their Nan dragraces - what does your Nanna do? They thought shewas so cool."

Clockwise from opposite page: CoralDyer did not get to spend long in drag

racing, but in her short career she madean impression on the community. Coral's

seven second dragster was a real stepup from a HAMBster. The Sydney

Dragway big screen lights up in honourof Coral. Racers from Modified gather

together to remember Coral.Images by cacklingpipes.com.

47

Since Coral's passing, Kaz has been gently coerced by dragracing legend Ben Gatt to have a skid in the dragster and therewas no better way to honour Coral's legacy."When Mum passed away everyone kept asking what JD wasgoing to do with the dragster and if he was going to jump in it,but Modified was not his cup of tea," she said."While we were walking around the pit area at Mum's tributeday, Benny Gatt came up to us for a chat, then looked at meand said why don't you have a go? JD and I looked at eachother and JD asked what I thought."It was strange because with everything going on we hadn'teven thought of it. He told me to think about it and so Ithought about it constantly that day and night and rang himthe next morning and asked where I would get a race suit."Just like her mum, Kaz had zero drag racing experience or inany motorsport for that matter, but she did not have to go farfor motivation.

"The only horsepower I'm used to is the four legged kind. Ihave a thoroughbred chestnut horse called Raffa whichunfortunately I didn't get to ride much due to work and wasnever that good at, hopefully I will be better at racing,"remarked Kaz."I've never raced before, JD always laughs and tells people howI haven't even done a burnout in a street car. To be honest ithad never crossed my mind to do it, but I was always in awe ofMum, Jenny (Petrie), Margaret (Hartill-Law) and all the otherwomen racers and thought they were all so awesome."Once the decision was made that I would try driving Mum'sdragster, I was really excited. JD said hang on a minute, maybeyou should drive my ute on a Wednesday night meeting atSydney Dragway to see if you like it or not. But I said I didn'tthink that there was really any point because it wouldn't beanything like driving the dragster, so that's when he suggestedI do Ken Lowe Race School and that way I would be able to see

48

if I liked it or not."To be honest I didn't even know whether I would be able tohandle the speeds or if it would freak me out."Kaz booked into the school at the end of September and thenreality bean to hit."Ken emailed pre-school information to read and I rememberthinking to myself, oh my god how am I going to remember allthis,"she said. "I arrived at Willowbank for the first day and Iwas so nervous. After the theory and blindfold test it was timeto get into the car, then the nerves really kicked in."The funny thing was I wasn't worried about going fast I wasmore worried about getting all the procedures that I wastaught right and hitting the necessary markers set by Ken to beable to get licensed."I remember the first burn out I did, I was supposed to countto three mississippi and stop, but I ended up stopping at the330 feet timer. A video shows Ken throwing his hands up in

the air wondering what I was doing. He came up to me andasked what happened - I laughed and said I was so excited Iforgot I had a brake. He just shook his head."I had to do 330 feet passes and 660 feet passes to show Kenthat I knew where I was on the track, it was like nothing I hadever felt before. At the end of day one I was buzzing andcouldn't get the smile off my face."Day two was time for full passes to get licensed, I put somuch pressure on myself to do it as I wanted this license sobadly. At the end I did what I had to do to get licensed andKen said I had the basics and just needed as much time in thecar as I could get."It wasn't until after the adrenalin rush that Kaz was able toreflect on the experience she had been through."The strangest thing was that after it was all over, the next dayI felt really flat,"she said. "I think after two days of running ona high and my adrenalin running full pelt I was then on a low.

49

"I didn't like it at all, I wanted that rush again. I was so keen toget into Mum's car to test what I had learned and it couldn'thappen soon enough."When the time came to run Coral's dragster, a few unexpectedobstacles arose, emotions resurfaced and there was a possiblespiritual intervention."We decided we couldn't remove Mum's name from the car, itwill always be Mum's car, that's why we added 'In lovingmemory of',"Kaz said. "It took me over an hour to put myname on the car because I kept thinking this doesn't feel right

and it was hard to see through the tears if it was straight ornot."JD then organised for me to go to a private track day that LeeBektash had arranged. I did a burnout and ran to 660 feet asinstructed, then went around again for another run. When Icam into stage and put my foot on throttle there was nothing!It broke the throttle cable and I remember saying to JD andmy husband Rob that Mum didn't want me to drive her car."I had some wonderful people there that day who drovearound Sydney trying to track down a new throttle cable. Three

Above: First burnouts inMum's dragster.

Right: Getting guided intostage on the first passagainst a fellowcompetitor. Friend JennyPetrie provided acomfortable start as anopponent.

Images bycacklingpipes.com.

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hours and many kilometres later I had a new cable. Just as wewere ready to roll the wind started to pick up and before long itwas blowing at 100kph, blowing the roof off the marquee,barricades were blowing across the pit area and we were beingblasted by dirt and crap coming from the tip."I looked up to the heavens and said, come on Mum give us abreak, and it felt like mum definitely didn't want anyonedriving her car. Then they cancelled the rest of the day due tothe amount of dirt and debris all over the track and I really feltlike this wasn't meant to be. We refer to that day as when

Cyclone Coral hit town."The testing setback would be no hindrance with Kaz entered inthe final round of the NSW Championship the very nextweekend. If it was Coral testing Kaz's resolve then she was notdone yet."We arrived Friday afternoon to set up, drove into the pit areaand ended up with a tech screw in the tyre and had a flat," Kazsaid. "The gods were against us and I had to have a word withMum again."On Saturday morning I was so nervous and excited at the

5151

same time, I was more worried that I would embarrassmyself or JD by not doing things properly or well. I hadnever run beside anyone and it was my third only timedoing a full pass and was a whole new experience. Mum'sbeautiful friends, and now mine, Tim and Jenny, hadJenny run beside me in the first couple of qualifying runswhich took some of the pressure off, thanks guys."My first run was a 7.68, it surprised the hell out ofeveryone but no one more than me. I'm not going tomention the reaction time but, let's just say I could havemade you a coffee."It felt fantastic but the funny thing was I wasn't sure howI actually went and had to wait for the tow car to come upso I could ask them if that was okay, then when they toldme the time all the emotions hit me. I was so happy butwhen I saw JD I just cried, it was such a strange feelingbecause I was so excited but felt bad at the same time. Iwanted to tell everyone how it felt but then realised theonly reason I got to do this was because Mum wasn't hereand she would be one of the people that I would want toshare this with, but I had a locket with some of Mum'shair in it that I wear to channel her strength."I qualified fourth out of a field of about 17 I think and Iwas just happy to achieve that. I made it to the secondround of eliminations, lined up in the staging lanes andmy car wouldn't start. They tell me it is all part of racing,you'll get used to it, but I think I've had my fair share for awhile."With the daunting task of learning to drive a seven seconddragster out of the way, Kaz can focus on future goals withthe car and thanks the many who have supported herefforts to date."I'm happy with what I have achieved so far and lookingforward to going rounds and going quicker because it'ssomething I wasn't sure I could even do. I am hoping oneday that I will be good enough to get my name on Mum'strophy," she said."It blows me away the amount of kindness and patienceI've received while I'm learning. I'm now starting tounderstand why Mum loved racing so much. It wasn't justthe rush of racing but the support and encouragementfrom everyone, it really is like having a huge new family."

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54

- OF -THRILLSDECADE

ANDRA Top Fuel champion Phil Lamattina hasridden the highs and lows of drag racing. Buta 2015 title win has been just what the doctor

ordered to make him hungry again.

By Luke Nieuwhof.

It has been a decade since the Lamattina family burst onto the Top Fuel scene. Success came quickly with theteam earning a championship with Darren Morgan at thewheel in 2005 but since then, even by their ownadmission, they have not enjoyed the amount ofchampionships they wanted.

Sure Phil Lamattina scored his first title in 2009, but for ateam that has always made sure they had the best ofequipment it has been a process of gaining the experience andwile that only more racing can provide.Lamattina makes no apologies for wanting titles for the Fuchs-backed outfit."I don't think anybody ever goes to a race meeting or evercompetes for a year to not win something," he said."As you get older you get wiser, the more you race the better atracing you get. I think the difference now is how we are able torecover from a mistake due to the fact of having the runs onthe board. That's the difference this year, being able to reactfaster to issues."We really dug deep, and I'm not saying that because we didn'tdig deep other times, this time we learned from our mistakesover the years and were able to identify our weaknesses andrectify them."Perhaps there is room for philosophy in the rough world ofnitro drag racing. If there is a philosophy Lamattina has nowadopted, it is to plan for your problems rather than confrontthem as they arise."We would start off flying and be in a good position at the startof the year (in past seasons) but then these dreaded clutchplate issues that plague every race team in the world wouldcome up," he said. "What we were able to do was identify thatas being an issue and instead of persevering and working

through it we went in a different direction and threw them outand got a new batch and got on top of them and continued onour way."Last season for instance that took three race meetings beforewe realised the trouble we were in."The Lamattina family aren't ones to rest on their laurels, be inon their carrot farm in Victoria or in their racing operation.This season has seen the team add a second car on a moreregular basis with youngest brother John doing the driving.While teams in America will often promote the benefits of asecond car for gaining data, the truth of the matter is thatgetting a second car up and running leads to many hassles."Initially the second car was a huge hindrance," Lamattinasaid. "Long term, I knew that the things we needed to achievewith that second car were going to come."When we first went out it was about getting a team to gel,getting the team environment and getting the team consistentenough to have confidence in the changes you do make the carso that it is significant information coming back."Lamattina said it was a wild goose chase in trying to make eachcar act identically and they found the better approach was tostudy how each car was different, accept that fact and use it tothe team's advantage."At the start we tried to treat them the same, btu it is amazinghow even with practically identical combinations they are notthe same," he said. "Both cars need different things at differenttimes in different areas, power wise, clutch settings, all thatsort of stuff."Aaron (Hambridge, crew chief) is tuning each car to its needs.Once he started doing that, that information that was comingback in a broader sense was valuable."Mine for some reason makes more power, it's only marginallymore but it is significant enough that you can tell on thecomputer. The increments are funny, I'll be quick early butthen slow down that little bit and all of a sudden John's car

55

catches up later and then will stay - the cars are practicallyidentical from half track on. But to get there in the first 300-400 feet each car does it a little bit different."It's amazing how they do it differently at the start but fromfrom half track they do the exact same thing. Try and work thatout and you'll be a genius."I think rather than try and work out why they do that, youhave to accept the fact they do and then tune the cars aroundthe information you have. If that means they are both that littlebit different well so be it."Lamattina confirmed that both cars will be out full time for the2015 season.A late season move on the part of the team was to engage theservices of NHRA tuner Mike Domagala who has spent timeunder the flags of several different teams.Lamattina was happy enough with the service to engageDomagala for the coming season."Mike was a big relief for Aaron, having his experience and thelittle things he was able to take care of without hassling Aaronabout a lot of stuff," he said. "We have been able to secure hisservices for next year for the second car. We are going to getMike out for the shortened season until the FuchsWinternationals. He enjoyed his time out here and he wantedto come back and we were able to strike up a deal he was happywith, he's all ready to go."New brains won't be the only upgrade next season, with newpipe on the way for Phil too. The latest edition of the McKinneychassis is expected to be ready for the Easter Super 3 event atWillowbank Raceway."We haven't ordered a long chassis for a new time and there isa lot of different things that this chassis will have," he said. "It'spractically a complete car minus running gear. It will have thefront wing, rear wing, tree, chassis, panels, seat, padding, allthe levers and pedals."The car I had the accident with was a Hadman and since thenwe have been McKinney, this will be our fourth. The simplefact why we chose McKinney is that because we are half aworld away from the USA, it is just easier if you need partsbecause all his stuff is coded with part numbers. For us inAustralia it was just a better business decision."We have gone 4.56, 333mph with it, we've won

championships with them. I think more important is that it isnew tube and that will make a difference, rather than who'sname is on the inside."It's part of a current arms race in Top Fuel. Mark Sheehan'snew 'canopy car' has been creating a stir. Add to that RapisardaAutosport International's constant influx of new equipmentand similar plans to race two cars at every event and thecoming series is looking very tasty.Lamattina says bring it on."I'm dying for it to step up," he said."Mark Sheehan is a tough customer to go over to the west andbeat him on home turf, I think he will find it interesting to getout of his comfort zone if he travels a little bit, hopefully itdoesn't scare him too much. It'd be great to race him in ourcomfort zone, Sydney, compared to going to racing over inPerth. But then again going by how much success we have inPerth he would probably be hoping he kicks our ass in Sydney."And we are just chomping at the bit to take up the battle againwith the Rapisarda boys."Strangely enough though, Lamattina's biggest threat may bethe assassin of his own making – brother John, who hasearned accolades for his driving as a rookie."With John driving for a full season he will have a decent tilt atthe championship at well," Phil said. "In fact he will probablybe my biggest competition."A lot of people that have been racing a long time can't believehis ability there. He's not too shabby on the lights, it will betough for a lot of people."He's hungry, he's new and fresh. That will be the same withWayne Newby (who will be driving for Rapisarda AutosportInternational), even though he has been racing a long time thatchange to Top Fuel will suit him nicely I think."The question is does Phil still have the same hunger afterfinally securing that second championship?"Shit yeah. I suppose winning this one has given me moreconfidence that we can win a lot more championships becauseI thought it would never come," he said. "We've come so closeso many times and tripped over right before the end. I thoughtwhen it is going to be my turn and now it was. I'm probablymore hungry knowing that it can be done to go out and do itagain."

A planned approach totechnical obstacles hasbenefited Lamattina Top FuelRacing this season. Image bycacklingpipes.com.

56

The brothers Lamattina. From left: Phil, Angelo and John.The trio have nitro running through the veins. Image bycacklingpipes.com.

57

BE A BETTERBRACKET

RACER

When I was first approached to provide input for thisarticle I was very flattered and also wondered what Icould offer that would assist bracket racers improvetheir program.

Once I devoted the time to sit down and reflect, lookingretrospectively into what has worked for me, I found I couldonly scratch the surface.Some of the points made are going to seem very basic andelementary, but prior to moving on to intermediate oradvanced bracket racing theories and strategies, it is veryimportant to thoroughly understand the fundamentals ofwhat we are trying to achieve by reducing variables.

I am sure there will be points that you agree with and somethat you disagree with and that’s okay. The goal is to get youthinking about your program and where it can be improvedand hopefully raise some topics that you may not haveconsidered. These are in no way covered in depth, rather justtouching on some of the one percent areas I feel aresometimes overlooked and are very important to turning onwin lights.I often get asked why I drag race. There really is no simpleanswer to that as most people struggle to understand thelevel of time, effort and financial commitment required. Ieat, breathe and sleep drag racing and it’s just somethingthat drives me (crazy at times!) but something I must do andlove. My first drag racing experience was at Surfers ParadiseInternational Raceway at eight years of age and I knew then

58

Australian Super Gaschampion Matt Forbesgets us started with thebasics on bracket racing inthe first article of our selfhelp series.

this sport would shape my life in a major way. Simply put,the cars, the noise, the speed, the smells, the smoke and laterthe tough competition, the highs, the lows, the challenges,the travel, the effort, the smiles and the lifelong friendshipsforged are what keep me addicted to competing in thegreatest motorsport on the planet. So let's start with, quiteliterally, the start.

Correct staging – Staging your race car is a very importantpart of making a competitive pass down the drag strip. Somany racers overlook this, not realising it is a critical part ofthe run. Staging your car or bike in a different manner eachtime will result in varying reaction times, rollout and 60 foottimes and this will greatly impair your ability to react anddial with any repeatability. You will hear me reinforcing

consistency in every aspect of your routine throughout thisarticle and staging must be done with a great deal ofprecision and consistency. There is nowhere else on theracetrack you could accurately locate your car or bike withinan inch or two so take the time to stage your car correctly. Ichoose to stage very shallow allowing my second bulb to justturn on; this way I know I can repeat this process pass afterpass and adjust my car to suit the required reaction time.Positioning your vehicle to the side or out of the groove willalso affect your run. Over time we all fall victim to bad habitsso now is a great time to revisit your staging technique.Consistency – There are so many variables to making yourrace car or bike consistent and here are just a few areas that Ifeel are vitally important. This is nowhere near covering all

areas however I feel you need to have these following aspectsright in order to refine your program further.

Tyres - Looking for the correct tyre for your race car or bikecan be a minefield - stiff sidewall, high growth, W series,radials, bias ply and the list goes on. I tend to look at thecharacteristics of a tyre and what is best suited to myapplication. I have experimented and tested with variousbrands, constructions and compounds and have found aproduct in Hoosier Racing Tyre that I believe is second to nonefor traction, consistency and repeatability. Tyre compound andconstruction technology have evolved to such an extent thatoverly big, smoky burnouts are not required for today’s bracketracing cars. Keep your burnouts and pressures to a routinethat can be repeated. Record your notes and understand howpressures, track temperatures and ambient temperatures willaffect what style of burnout you require to maintain consistentheat and traction levels.

Converter - Stall converter technology has really advancedover the past 10 years and the amount of companies building

converters has also increased. Every company will have theirown way of configuring and constructing a converter to suityou. The converter will have a direct bearing on howaggressive your car is and being too “tight” or too “loose” willimpact your ET, how your car responds and in turn yourconsistency. I cannot tell you how to build a converter anddon’t profess to, what I have done is work with excellenttorque converter companies to achieve a brilliant combination.It is extremely important to have a company that will workwith you to build you the right converter for your application. Ichoose to have my converter on the “loose” side and it is verypredictable, repeatable and forgiving.

Carb/Fuel – Carbs are also an area where it is rarely a onesize fits all deal, race cars are at their most consistent whenthey are tuned correctly for optimum performance andefficiency. Choosing a carb that is too big/small for yourcombination can really throw curveballs when the air movesaround over a two or three day race meeting. Storage of racefuel and ensuring your supplier has fresh batches of fuel is alsosomething to take into consideration.

Burnouts should be small andrepeatable in order to gainmaximum consistency. Moderntyres do not require large burnouts.

Staging is the only opportunity you have toplace your vehicle inch perfect on the dragstrip. Use the same staging technique eachtime to improve consistency on each pass.Shallow staging can be a way to make sureyou have the same staging input each time.

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Heat – Heat in working components will also have an effecton the performance of the race car. Most racers focus on tryingto keep engine temps in a certain range and this needs to be ina range that can be achieved if you are going rounds and arehot lapping the car. Lucas Super Coolant is an excellentproduct to keep engines temperatures in check. This applieseven more so to the transmission. As heat builds in oils andfluids the converter may stall a little higher leading toincreased, unexpected performances down track throwing youoff your dial. High quality engine oils like the Lucas Oil RacingOnly High Zinc range, Synthetic Stabiliser and Lucas Oil SureShift Semi Synthetic transmission fluids are vital forengine/trans protection, high pressures and temperatures,heat dissipation and positive shifts and will not break downand lose performance as the race progresses.

Preparation - Every aspect of preparation has to be looked atand performed with consistency. Whether it is preparing thecar at home or before the first round on racing, driver andcrew need to be vigilant in refueling, tyre pressures, location inburnout box and any other duties.

Data – It is vital to record and review data from all passesdown the racetrack. This will provide you with a greaterunderstanding of how your race car or bike works and how itresponds to varying conditions. The basic data you should berecording and working with is ambient temp, humidity,barometric pressure, oxygen, relative altitude or correctionfactor, track conditions, wind speed and direction, time of day,lane, shift points, ET and down track increments. Theperformance of your race car or bike can be tracked andrecorded as previously mentioned, however all maintenanceshould also be tracked and recorded between races as well.Shock settings, how many runs on your tyres, oil, trans fluid,spark plugs, ignition timing as well as a thorough inspection ofthe vehicle. Careful inspection and cleaning can lead todiscovering items that may need special attention orreplacement prior to a failure.

Reaction times – I will touch briefly on these followingpoints only to raise awareness of these important factors ofbracket racing. You will most likely be all too well aware of theimportance of reaction times in drag racing. To achieve a

There are many different strategies for 'thestripe'. We will cover more of these in depthin future articles but needless to say,awareness of where your opponent is on thetrack is critical.

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competitive reaction time you need to have a vehicle thatworks well and a driver that can focus and react to “their” spoton the tree. Whether it is pro tree, top bulb or bottom bulbracing, you need to set your car up accordingly as a tightgrouping of consistently low reaction times will go a long wayto getting you into the winners circle. Once the car is workingwell the mental aspect needs to be addressed, intense focusand concentration are the key here. We will get more in depthfor these in coming articles.

Math – This is maybe one of the single most importantaspects of bracket racing in my opinion and is one of the mostmisunderstood. I have spoken with many experienced racersthat have not understood what information the time slip isproviding them. The time slip has the numbers you will needwhen processing the data and analysing your run. You need tofully understand what the time slip is telling you so you can uethis information in coming rounds.

Finish line driving – I will preface this point by saying thatdriving the stripe successfully is determined by appropriatestrategy, correct execution and a well sorted car. You need to

know exactly what your car is doing prior to implementing andexecuting successful moves at the stripe. If you have a greatplan and don’t execute well or you execute a bad plan well, it’sstill a lose. We could spend years on learning to drive thestripe as each scenario has various contributing factors and Ifeel it’s one of the most difficult to reach a high level ofcompetency in. The racers that can turn a race on the finishline truly are the bracket racing masters in my opinion. Again,this is an area we will cover in depth in coming articles.I hope this has given you some insight into the fundamentalsof bracket racing. For many of you these are basic topics thatyou know well, but it’s always a good time to revisit the basicsso we make sure we don’t fall into any bad habits. This is onlya few topics of the hundreds we could have selected. In thefuture we may look at basic, intermediate and advanced racingstrategies, physiological/mental preparation, opponents'tendencies, track positioning, being predictably unpredictable,racing manners and etiquette, sponsorship, staying positiveand ways to ensure you keep refining your program.Thank you for taking the time to read this article and I hope ithas assisted you improve your racing program.

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SYDNEY

FINALE

SYDNEY BY GRANT STEPHENS. PHOTOS BY CACKLINGPIPES.COM.

The curtain has come down on the2014 Atura Blacktown NSWChampionship Series at SydneyDragway.

The nine event series had severaluncompleted rounds due to MotherNature but finished strongly and waswell supported by over 250 racers attimes.The NSW Championship Seriesfeatured 15 brackets with a mix oftraditional ANDRA sportsman classesto variations or completely new classesthat work well locally, with all earningpoints over nine rounds with theproviso that their worst round would bedropped, a condition that did become afactor in deciding champions.Top Comp did struggle for cars across

most events, with most racers just usingthe class as a test bed. The final roundgathered five up entrants with TopDoorslammer's Johnny Roso lookingthe goods for the championship in hisCamaro ahead of Mark Hinchelwood inthe Sainty Top Alcohol Funny Car.Russell Mills top qualified with a 5.86in the TA/D “Funster" with JeffWilson's Top Doorslammer next on a6.24, but neither would make the runsneeded in the elimination round toadvance to the final. By just fronting forracing Roso had already earned thechampionship and a 6.21 (6.34IN) inthe final was too quick for the AndrewMusgrave's 6.64 (6.65IN), sending theevent trophy to the Roso camp as well.In Super Comp Domenic Rigoli andGeorge Rehayem were thechampionship combatants locked up

going into the event, however the PACteam were no shows along with all theother Super Comp racers apart fromRigoli in a disappointing end to anormally solidly supported class.Therefore Rigoli merely had to attempta run to receive 20 points and achampionship win.Outlaw 10.5 followed the same vein asSuper Comp, most racers were savingparts for the APSA Grand Finals.Michael Haimandos ran unopposed toclaim the title.The Top Outlaw eliminator was for anytraditional Supercharged Outlawmachines that are not sedans runningagainst a handicapped pro tree for extraspice. Championship wise it wouldcome down to the dragster of JohnWard and Greg Smith who was in hisfirst season of blown racing with his

Fun times: Russell Mills burns outin his 'Funster' Top Alcohol car.

FINALEaltered - only five points separating them. Asfortune would have it both would face off inthe elimination round for the title. Ward hadthe jump on the tree and took a safe 7.59(7.50) hole shot win over Smith's 7.21 (7.18),claiming his fourth Sydney Dragway trackchampionship. The event was still to bedecided and Dearne Stephen drove the DoubleTrouble altered around a sideways Ward in thefinal with a 6.99 (6.89).Wild Bunch consumed all the blown sedanswhile also running on a handicapped pro treebut in a three round, points based, ChicagoShootout format that throws back to the 90's.Ben Gatt and Troy Papadopoulos traded blowsall season in wins, but unfortunately forPapadopoulos missing the first round wouldcome back to haunt him and the title went tothe veteran Gatt. Craig Hanley would arisewith three wins from three starts in the Craig'sAutomatics Holden Ute to trump everyoneelse and take the win for the round.In Top Sportsman multiple time trackchampion Neil Constantinou fought off a lateseason charge from rookie Ronnie Palumbo tokeep a grasp on yet another championship.Switching to a Ford Mustang from hiscustomary Super Sedan Holden Torana,Constantinou survived by just one round ofracing after red lighting in round two.Palumbo went on to win the event over BrettBalfour's Nova, finishing his rookie seasonwith three straight finals appearance andwinning the last two.Defending Modified NSW Champion PeterBrown had to drop 50 valuable points toleader Tim Nielsen going into the final round,making the task of repeating extra difficult. Aseliminations panned out Brown's dragster wason the trailer after round one, losing to JennyPetrie's altered. The Modified championshipwould go to the Shire Drag Racing Team. Thatwas fortunate for Nielsen who red lit in thenext round against Junior Dragster forefatherJoe Princi, now racing his own dragster. Princiwould continue on and win his first event as adriver, defeating the dragster of SydneyDragway's former CEO Graham Elliot in thefinal.The points reshuffle after the dropped roundin Super Sedan locked the championship fightup between another Shire Drag Racing Teamracer, Jim Denaro and country-sider AndrewLittle. In round two Denaro hit a roadblockwith his Cortina in the form of JohnKabboura's Torana and Little continued oncourtesy of a red lighting Brad McKie, the winsecuring the championship. Little wasunrelenting, reaching his fourth final of theseason where he overcome Matt Cantwell andin total accumulated three wins from thosefinal appearances to be a worthy champion.Modified Bike was hotly contested with HarleyDestroyer riders Brett Curnow and AndrewDonaldson sharing the points lead andAustralian Nationals champion Matthew Huntwas brought back into contention forconsecutive NSW Championship Series titlesonce lowest round points were deducted.Donaldson exited with red light fever in roundone and destiny called for Hunt with a mustwin semi final ride off against Curnow whowas on a roll with consecutive round winscoming into the event. Hunt was in the zonewith a .020 RT and a perfect 9.340 (9.34) to

From top: Johnny Roso earnedboth an event win and thechampionship in his TopDoorslammer Camaro, we justlove the stockish look of this car.John Ward secured a fourthtrack championship. NeilConstantinou took a narrow titlevictory in Top Sportsman.

Right: Joe Princi finally got hisown dragster and was instantlyrewarded with a Modified win.

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advance to the final where the must win scenario stillremained if the Kawasaki rider wanted back to backchampionships. A sluggish .144 RT from opponentWally Hosta would all but seal the win for Hunt whowas too experienced, rolling off the power and safelykeeping Hosta at bay. Hunt was declared the NSWTrack Champion.Commodore racer Michael Walsh had another SuperStreet title locked down after three wins during theseason and only needed to attempt eliminations, thatwas fortunate as he was bundled out in round one byLuke Griffiths' Mopar. Next closest assailant StanNikitaras fought hard to win the event over a redlighting Brad Smith but the Capri racer would still be30 points short.Five final rounds and three wins left Roy Romeo intotal command of the Super Gas championship and afirst round loss would not stop the Romeos addinganother title to the trophy cabinet. The event did endbizarrely with both Anthony Panetta and JoeCatanzariti leaving what looked like before the treeactivated in the final. Though both were shown redlights, it was clear that Catanzariti did jump first so thedecision was made to award Panetta the win.There was at least six Junior Dragster competitors inwith a mathematical chance for their championshipespecially if Bianca Humphreys fell early. BradleyBishop granted the challengers that wish in round one.Oscar De Main and James Hazzard were alsoeliminated in round one leaving just three who couldpinch the title. The new national champion TobyAustin bounced out Caitlin Zammit in round two andEmma Hazzard picked a cherry in round three againstother contender Dylan Panetta. Panetta now needed tojust reach the final for the championship and in a twistof fate his semi finalist would be Bishop who oustedHumphreys in round one. Panetta uncorked a 8.002on a 8.00 dial in and he was headed to the final as thenew NSW Track Champion where he added the icingto the championship cakem defeating recentlycrowned Australian champ Austin.Belinda Welch had the perfect Street Fighter swansong going back to back with track championshipswith two wins from four finals. The points haul alsoearned her the emotional Coral Dyer Memorial trophy.Welch went way red in the semi finals sending DannyStadelmaier to final against Brett Hampton where theCommodore of Hampton was too consistent with a16.128 (16.12) for the event win and second in thechampionship.The Street Bike class wrapped its second season andMatt Lisle has finished champion for both of them.Evan Murray had an outside shot at it this year butthat ended abruptly with a first round loss. The finalwas a battle of the big men on their Harleys, TravisAnderson cut a .005 light only to have his 12.73 (12.65)fall short of catching Ron Welch's 13.63 (13.60) lap.The HAMBster class is truly unique to SydneyDragway at least in a championship sense, with themajority of machinery powered by early model flathead V8s or inline six bangers. Peter Grant and JeffDanglmaier were in a tight tussle for the title, neitherracer made an impression in the round robin formatand Grant nabbed the championship. The event finalwas decided between veteran Alan Odgers and JoeDanglmaier, both racers were way off their dial inswith Danglmaier doing enough for victory.

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From top: Dylan Panetta claimed a JuniorDragster track championship in a fierce lastround tussle. Michael Walsh was thankful forwins earlier in the season that allowed him toclaim the championship in Super Streetdespite a first round exit in the final event.Belinda Welch will step up to Super Streetnext season after earning another StreetFighter title.

Centre: Matthew Hunt needed to win theevent in order to win the Modified Bikechampionship and he did just that.

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70

THE CROCBITES BACK

Christine Steffens scored victory atPerth Motorplex's November 29 NitroFunny Car event but it came at amassive cost when a superchargerbackfire sent her on the wildest rideof her life.

Steffens had a 2-1 series win wrapped upagainst Mark Sheehan when heabandoned his pass early, but it was thenthat the drama started for theQueenslander as she got on and off thethrottle to straighten the car which wasfollowed by the nitro-fuelled, 6000horsepower motor virtually exploding inher face."It was on a real mission and it justexploded," Steffens said. "It wasinstanteous. It must have got a bit skateyat the top end so I did a little pedal(getting on and off the throttle)."A piece of shrapnel from either themotor or the supercharger then piercedone of the front tyres, meaning Steffenswas coming down from 400kmh withvery limited steering as well as asmashed windscreen."I was trying to keep it off the wall and Ihad trouble," she said. "It was almostexactly like when you lose a tyre on astreet car, it felt like going over acorrugated road."It felt like just a little rub against thewall from inside the car, but I ripped theside out of the body."Footage of the incident showed a largefireball around the car but Steffens saidthe cabin kept most of the fire out."I knew that I had a backfire and I knewI had popped the blower or donesomething," she said. "I was annoyed

because I hit the wall and knew I haddone body damage. When I came to astop and saw the fire I pulled the firebottles it instantaneously went out."The firies (on the safety team) knew Iwas okay because I was telling themwhat to do."With the amount of damage to the car,Steffens is unsure if she will be able toreturn to racing, running the team on atight budget."It was probably my last pass in a NitroFunny Car, unless I can talk my husbandaround," she said.Frustratingly for Steffens, the car wasprobably on a personal best pass beforethe backfire. With the Perth Motorplexracing surface in prime condition theteam knew they had a chance to runtheir quickest ever time. Steffens' 5.42pass was just .14 slower than her bestever time – and that was on fire for thelast one hundred metres of the track."It was hauling, it was going straight, itwas doing what it was supposed to do,"she said, lamenting what might havebeen.Horror ending aside, Steffens at leasthad the win over Sheehan to return toQueensland with, though the alwaysunpredictable Funny Car breed testedher in early rounds."On our first run the car turned rightstraight off the hit and I had a couple ofpedals, then it floated left and I had toget it on full (steering) lock to try and gostraight, Mark just beat me across theline," she said. "On our second pass abrand new blower belt went, that'sprobably only the second or third blowerbelt we've ever lost. It was on a missionand next minute I had nothing."

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BY LUKE NIEUWHOF. PHOTOS BY GREG FIELD.

VIDEO STILLS THANKS TO PERTH MOTORPLEX.

John Zappia took the victory in Top Comp, running anew track record for Top Doorslammers in theprocess.Zappia ran 5.776 in the final to defeat DanielGregorini's and clinch his second win at PerthMotorplex this season, following on from the TopDoorslammer state title a fortnight previous.The new aerodynamic package on the rear of the carshows little sign of hampering Zappia's chances at aneighth Top Doorslammer title next year.Wayne Keys continues to hold on to the lead in thechampionship chase with the missed first eventholding Zappia back despite two wins on the trot.David Dequen was a master of consistency in SuperComp, running a E/AA 7.39 (7.50) to defeat ErrolQuartermaine's DD/GA 7.78 (7.86). The struggle forentry numbers continues with just six cars ineliminations. The finals appearance allowedQuartermaine to ever so slightly extend hischampionship lead over Colin Mortimore.Having similar woes is Competition Bike, also withjust six competitors getting to racing. Ross Smith wasonly just off the national record with a C/AB 8.34(8.80) in the final to knock out Daniel Natalotto'sB/SB 9.33 (9.52). That makes it two wins and onerunner up so far this season for Smith and already hehas built an 85 point lead.A red light in the final of Supercharged Outlaws byVince Belladonna handed the win to Jon Ferguson'sFunny Car, running a close 6.659 (6.64) to seal thedeal. The points chase has now tightened up withFerguson within just a handful of points ofBelladonna.Sam Treasure was back in form in Modified, thereigning champion executing a .007 light and 7.701(7.66) in the final to stave off Matt George. JamieNelmes' semi final appearance allowed him to draweven with points leader Alesha Adamos, who was asurprise first round exit.Paul Downe won a narrow contest over Kevin Hort inthe final of Super Sedan with just a couple ofhundredths at the finish line. Hort earlier enjoyed arace against son Ethan in the semi finals. MartinMirco remains in the points lead despite a secondround loss, followed by Clinton Carameli and KevinHort.Darrin McDonald cherried in the final of ModifiedBike to give Tom Gartrell a victory on one of the fewturbocharged bikes running in the class. It was veryhelpful for Gartrell's championship chances, as hegained 30 points on Brett Allen, reducing the lead to20.Paul Garbellini produced a solid .058 light and 11.287(11.28) to defeat Chris De Bruin in the final of SuperStreet. It was Garbellini's second straight victory but afirst round loss at the opening event is haunting himsomewhat as he still sits third in the points behindleader Ashleigh Wroe and second placed Craig Caton.In Junior Dragster Bailey McClure wound out anastonishing .020 package in the final to defeat JaymiiKarapetkov. McClure was .012 on the tree and .008on the dial! Katrina Bowman remains in the lead witha runner up and two semi finals appearances keepingthe tally ticking over.On exhibition runs for the night was a group of fourTop Fuel Motorcycles. Terry Burnett had consistencyback on his side and with a 7.09 in the final defeated a7.47 from Greg Durack.The next round of the Perth Motorplex trackchampionship is at Jet Car Max on December 28.

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From top: Sam Treasure was back in thewinner's circle of Modified. Daniel Gregorinicame away with a runner up against JohnZappia. Terry Burnett finally got some of theconsistency he has needed back.

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SPRINTFINISH

74

BY LUKE NIEUWHOF. PHOTOS BY DENNIS ALLEN.

Adelaide's three round Sprint AutoParts Track Championship finallywrapped up on December 7 afterbeing postponed due to rain on itsoriginal November 22 date.

A solid 96 entries turned up to competeacross the ten championship brackets.Dimos Stefanopoulos was the only entryin Super Comp, as he has been for everyevent this season. It was thus no surprisethat he was the championship winner ina bracket all his own. Hopefully nextseason sees more Group Two racersparticipate.Supercharged Outlaws was far healthierwith eight entries turning out for thefinal. David Thornton took the win in thePoppy Dave Racing altered over LarryBasile. Steven Walker's front enginedragster was the overall series winnerwith a win and two quarter finals

proving to be enough.Simon Barlow earned victory inModified, knocking out Gary Busch inthe final. Busch was driving the old A1Racing semi-streamliner altered, a littlemore casual than the Top Alcohol FunnyCar he has become accustomed to. Buschwon the war however, with two finalsappearances over the series sealing thetrack championship.Super Sedan continues to be one of thestrongest brackets since the return ofregular drag racing to AdelaideInternational Raceway, with 20 entriescoming out. Local legend and formerTop Fuel pilot Bob Sherry enjoyed apopular win over Larry Piscioneri. BrettMatthew took the championship despitenot making it into the later rounds of theevent.The Super Street championship was anailbiter with Bill Hondros going all theway to the win, earning himself just

enough points to overtake Harry Harris.Michelle Donnelly enjoyed a great dayout in Junior Dragster, going home withtrophies for both the championship andthe event, defeating series rival BlakeHayes in the final.Three drivers turned out for Super Gas,with Bruno Romeo claiming the winagainst Johnny Ienco, though Ienco gotto go home with the championshiptrophy, a reward for being the only teamat the first two track championshiprounds.Mario Buslijeta needed to win the finalof Street in order to get his hands on tothe championship trophy, but it was notto be as Robert Flego handed him adefeat and allowed a nervous MickAston, who went out in the quarterfinals, to breathe a sigh of relief.Finally in the Street Bike category, IvanDudacek did the double with a win and achampionship, defeating Sven Stalp.

Centre: Simon Barlow won Modified at theSprint Auto Parts Track Championship final.

Right from top: Bob Sherry was back in thewinner's circle in Super Sedan. Gary Buschhad the wind in the face again in the altered.Johnny Ienco took out the Super Gaschampionship.

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Centre: Simon Barlow won Modified at theSprint Auto Parts Track Championship final.

Right from top: Bob Sherry was back in thewinner's circle in Super Sedan. Gary Buschhad the wind in the face again in the altered.Johnny Ienco took out the Super Gaschampionship.

The world of drag racing is one where innovationhas reigned supreme, but it seems these daysinnovation is something to stifle rather thanencourage.Such is the case when it comes to bringing inturbochargers for Top Doorslammer. It is verypossible that this may be the 'better mousetrap', orat least one that is just as effective.Allowing turbochargers into Top Doorslammer willbe the boost (pardon the pun) that the categoryneeds to really propel it forward. Entry numbershave plateaued and to be honest, have probably evendropped in recent years. Allowing a new group ofracers with new enthusiasm for the sport of dragracing into the category can only be a positive.I will say that turbocharged cars should meet TopDoorslammer body regs, as a lot of teams in theANDRA series have spent time and money followingthat ruleset. But when it comes to what device youare strapping on to the engine to make yourhorsepower, I say have at it.A new group of fans can be brought to TopDoorslammer with this added variety, making themmore marketable again to sponsors. Turbochargingis the power adding technology of choice for allmodern manufacturers as well, so dare we say theremay even be some room for manufacturer support?I really can't see a downside. So the cars make adifferent noise, is that really a major issue? They arejust as wild, if not more so, they pop flames on thestart line and for fans who are really into theirsuperchargers well guess what, those superchargedcars will still be there! In fcat I can see the potentialfor a great rivalry that will be promotional gold forthose teams and tracks who take advantage of it.

Top Doorslammer has been a success story forAustralian drag racing and the old adage comes tomind, if it ain't broke why fix it?It enjoys the strongest fields in the pro ranks andhas delivered very tight racing in recent years. Partof that is thanks to having the same ruleset foreveryone. No need to constantly tweak rules to haveparity. I fear that if turbocharging is introduced wewill see constant complaints on both sides that therules are not fair.When looking at other successful motorsportformulas, they typically all have the same ruleset.Formula One, V8 Supercars, NASCAR, you build toa formula and then you race against cars of thatsame formula. That is what we have in TopDoorslammer. The racers enjoy racing againstsimilar cars to their own.If turbocharging is your thing then it is time to pushforward and develop the critical mass of cars neededto get your own pro class going. At the momentthere are very few teams who could sustain thepressure of a whole season, in my opinion.Quite frankly we have a good thing going. Whyshould it be messed around with now?

MRYES

MRNO

Welcome to Mr Yes and Mr No. Thismonth our anonymous contributorsdebate if turbochargers should be

brought into Top Doorslammer.

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CHUTES OUT

And the fans goes into a frenzy.

Image: cacklingpipes.com

High flyer: This drone was capturing footage for

the Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car TV

program. Its pilot required a full CASA licence

and was more qualified to pilot jets!

Image: Luke Nieuwhof

Jimmy Prock was not the most

popular of people in the pits at

Pomona, especially with JFR fans.

Image: Luke Nieuwhof

78

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