Drag Challenge 2022/23 scrutineering day

Street Machine Drag Challenge 2022/23 is on! We brought you the first batch of gems at scrutineering yesterday, but we couldn’t juggle it all.

Check out the video from day one above before the race starts today at 9am! The quarter mile at Heathcote Park Raceway is open until 3:00pm when competitors hit the road to South Coast Raceway in Portland for day two.

It’s shaping up to be another incredible week with some heavyweights coming out to play after a long hiatus. Don’t miss it!

He’s not competing this year, but Darren Smith’s Meteor-powered ’32 Rolls-Royce-based custom was a standout in the pits. “I like Landspeed cars of the 20’s and 30’s, so I built my own,” he explains, “and what I couldn’t buy I made myself.” The all-alloy DOHC grinder comes from a Centurion tank, which was originally rated at 650 hp and about 1400 ft lb of torque at just 1200 rpm.

Now it’s fed by eight Holley twin-barrel carburetors and hooked up to a manual 727 auto and an original Rolls diff with 1.82 gears and 36-inch tires. Darren estimates he used around 30 liters of fuel driving from his hometown of Bendigo to Heathcote, although he’s still keen to compete against DC next year. “It doesn’t take 10-second quarters, but I’m confident it would be enough,” he enthuses. “I’d have to pay that much gas for it!”

The powertrain may only be a few years old, but Nick McNeil applied the paint to his XD Falcon 25 years ago. The Adelaide car is an S-Pack with all the Ghia fruits, with an alloy-headed 393 Clevo under the hood, mated to a C4 with a 5500rpm converter and a nine-incher with 4.11 gears. According to Nick, it’s good for high 10s.

Peter Nusser’s XR-Ute has been tested a few times since we featured it in our May 22 Magazine, with a PB of 8.60 at 160mph at Heathcote Park. “So far I’m pretty satisfied,” enthuses Peter. Formerly blown by the small-block Ford Conviction, it’s now powered by a 1250rwhp Barra turbo.

Sarah Heaney is commanding Brett Ewings’ EB Falcon for this week, shooting around the mid-nine in the Speed Pro six-cylinder class. Brett has owned the sleepy sedan since he was 18 and drove a nitrous-assisted Barra at DC 2018 before screwing himself onto the burly G42 auger.

“We don’t use nitrous oxide, but we don’t extract it either,” says Brett. “That could be something for the future,” adds Sarah. Power goes through a Turbo 400 and a twitchy BorgWarner diff. “We have to be careful with things,” says Brett, “but we might crank it up on the last day.” The stock wheels and relatively high suspension should help the Falcon survive Victoria’s bumpy country roads, despite already having one yesterday morning Lost sidepipe after hitting a big rut.

John Busuttil’s ’67 Mercury Cougar XR7, based on the first generation Mustang, is a truly rare sight on our shores. “A mustang is a poor man’s cougar,” laughs John. He found it a crude six-cylinder in Queensland with a screwdriver in the ignition, another screwdriver to open the trunk, and a brake booster bolted to Tek’s firewall. “All that’s left of the XR7 now is the body,” he says, referring to the 434ci Clevo with 3V heads, C4 and 9-inch with 3.5 gears. All in all, it’s a capable street striper package.

The records on Chris Kaarsberg’s Torana (SM, Summer Special ’23) suggest it runs under 12 second quarters, and indeed it does – good and true. “It was 7.90 seconds and I’m hoping to do that again tomorrow,” he said. “I just love Drag Challenge; everyone is talking and helping each other. It’s a great atmosphere and nice people.”

The Torry runs a 388ci LS supported by twin 62mm turbos, and the drivetrain consists of a Powerglide transmission with a 5500rpm converter and a 3.5:1 gear differential.

Keith Hards and his bestial ’69 Camaro are back to challenge Alon Vella for the Pacemaker Radial Aspirated class title. The Camaro has a top speed of 8.3 at 162 mph, with the 632 cuin all-motor combo built by Dandy Engines putting out well over 1200 horsepower. “If we can get an 8.2 I’ll be thrilled, but of course the most important thing will only be the end of the week,” he says.