CALDER PARK DRAG RACING IS GO!!

CALDER PARK DRAG RACING IS GO!!

CALDER PARK BACKS ANDRA!!

By Mark Humphrey

Melbourne, Vic/Aus. 10^th July 2015. The Jane Corporation has confirmed what the Victorian drag racing public has been itching to hear for months and that is that work on the Calder Park Drag Racing facility is finally going ahead which could not have come at a better time for the governing body of the sport in ANDRA.

In a statement released today, Rodney Jane has thrown his weight behind ANDRA and the 2 corporate owned drag racing facilities being Calder Park and Adelaide International Raceway noting that the tracks will be running ANDRA events into the foreseeable future.

This is the news that drag racers across the country should be happy to read as it now gives ANDRA a solid platform to relaunch their group 1 championship which will no doubt be a huge relief for the Summit Sportsman Series. 

With the threat of the Revolution starting their own group 1 series, the plight of the sportsman racer was a touch sketchy to say the least with the Revolution having no contingency plans in place at their launch to support the sportsman racers. ANDRA had indicated that they still had a sportsman championship series scheduled in for the 2015/16 series which was a relief for the category after Tony Wedlock had earlier dropped the bomb shell.

So the lifeblood of Australian drag racing being the sportsman series can now look forward to competing alongside their group 1 counterparts at major drag racing venues across Australia with plenty of spectators on hand to cheer on the sportsman heroes. 

This is so exciting to know that Top Sportsman, my favourite category Supercharged Outlaws, Competition Bike and the rest of the working class brackets will have some bling time opportunity as the support card to group 1 championship racing at selected venues. The 2015/16 Sportsman Series calendar did originally list standalone rounds such as Alice Springs, Mildura and Portland which have been popular with spectators, but for sheer exposure for sportsman racers, there is nothing like a group 1 event to bring in the fans. Willowbank Raceway ran a highly successful standalone round of the 2014/15 Summit Sportsman Series earlier in the year and although the entrant numbers were excellent the spectator count was down a touch which was a little disappointing considering the quality of machinery on hand. I could be jumping the Sportsman Series gun a bit but when you look at what's on the table for ANDRA as far as venues go, you can't help but think the Calder Park announcement is the band aid they were looking for.

Right now ANDRA has Hidden Valley and Calder Park at their disposal. If Rino D'Alfonso wants to run group 1 drag racing at Adelaide International Raceway then it will be an ANDRA series only which gives ANDRA 3 quality tracks in 3 states which is exactly the same as the Revolution. Swan Hill is due to come on line early into the new year which could effectively make it 4 tracks at ANDRA's disposal although Swan Hill is yet to make a decision on which way they will roll. Regardless of the Swan Hill decision, ANDRA now has a platform to add to their round 1 events in Hidden Valley and Alice Springs and can now tie up the sportsman series with ANDRA supporting tracks which must be the best news ever for sportsman racers given the current turmoil. 

Just a couple of points of interest with regards to the Jane Corporation announcement.

Rino D’Alfonso said in an interview with Sportingscribe.com last week that he needed to run Top Fuel in order to get the spectator count up which makes sense given the popularity of the category. From what I understand D'Alfonso cannot run a round of the Revolution series which cuts out Top Fuel leaving him no alternative but to run with ANDRA Top Fuel racing. I can't understand why this would be an issue for D'Alfonso as he was never included in the Revolution calendar to host a round in the first place. This could now be a blessing for D'Alfonso as ANDRA may in fact give him additional rounds if they schedule along the lines of the Revolution. It makes sense that If they can't use Willowbank, Sydney and Perth for their group 1 championship then they need to utilize the tracks that are supporting them which quite possibly could mean more high class events for Adelaide and D'Alfonso.

Calder Park will want to have Top Fuel racing on their calendar and like Adelaide International Raceway they too can only run with the ANDRA championship. Given that Calder was once the heartbeat of the industry you would expect that ANDRA would schedule a round or 2 of Top Fuel racing at the iconic venue. One thing to remember with Calder is that it is potentially the fastest track in Australia and that is purely down to the fact that Melbourne has the best atmospheric conditions in the land. So do you think the Rapisarda outfit will want to run in these conditions in front of thousands and thousands of fans? Absolutely!! This doesn't mean that Rapisarda and the rest of the group 1 guys cannot run with the Revolution, not at all, but what it does mean is that if they want to run at Calder then it will be under the ANDRA championship banner.

Like it or not Australian drag racing needs Melbourne and currently the only way to race at Melbourne is under the ANDRA banner. For now though, Victorians and indeed Australia’s drag racing fraternity can start popping the champagne corks as this will be the start of big things to come in the sport of drag racing and in particular the Summit Sportsman Series. Let’s go racing!

Given the latest developments, it's time we were enlightened by ANDRA about on-going developments and the sportsman racing series. We are currently putting together an interview with ANDRA and expect to have a full report in Wednesday's edition of sportingscribe.com.

Calder Park Release

In light of recent events, the management of Calder Park and Adelaide International Raceways felt compelled to reconfirm our commitment to the sport of Drag Racing, ANDRA and ANDRA Championship Racing.  

Over the past few years we have enjoyed working with the Drag Racing community, the ANDRA CEO Malcom Bulley, the ANDRA Board, Members and Staff to return drag racing to our venues. 

We look forward to continuing our support for Drag Racing and ANDRA by hosting many more events in the future.

We are also pleased to announce that Stage 1 of the upgrade works to the Calder Park Drag Strip will be commencing shortly, one step closer to making it the world class surface you’ve been waiting for!

Please remember to show your support for the sport of Drag Racing by attending as many events as you can!

Alice Springs Inland Dragway needs your support!

They are looking for Supercharged Outlaw competitors to make up the required number to qualify as a points round. Calling on the best class in Australia to support the Alice crew.

All late competitors are welcome to register for round 1 of the Summit Sportsman Series.

Sportingscribe.com will be on deck to shoot the round with footage going back to Summit in the USA.More info: http://cadra.com.au/page/desert-nationals

Online Entry: http://www.dragresults.com.au/asid-results/asid-online-entry.html
Entry List: http://www.dragresults.com.au/asid-results/desert-nationals-entry-list.html

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Street meets are a great way to try out drag racing and test the performance of your everyday street vehicle in a safe and legal environment.

Calder Park will be hosting ANDRA sanctioned street meets through the second half of 2013 so you can experience the thrill of Melbourne's own quarter mile.

Entry cost: $65 (includes $5 ANDRA divisional day licence)

Spectator entry: $25

To go racing at street meets, all you need is a street vehicle that passes basic safety checks on tyres, brakes, steering and liquid leaks. If you race a vehicle with a manufacture date of pre 1 January 2008 you can run up to 11.00 seconds without the need for a tech inspection or ANDRA licence. Vehicles manufactured post 1 January 2008 can run to 10.00 seconds without the need for a tech inspection or ANDRA licence. Check www.andra.com.au for specific information on safety and licence requirements.