Swan Hill Opener A Mixed Bag.

Swan Hill Opener A Mixed Bag.

By Mark Humphrey

Swan Hill, Vic/Aus. 27^th November 2016. The grand opening of Australia’s newest ¼ mile drag racing complex the Swan Hill Dragway didn’t go exactly to plan thanks to a very dubious racing surface that was passed off by ANDRA as late as last weekend.

With the initial grand opening having to be re-scheduled due to persistent rains leading up to the event the decision was made to re-schedule the event on the weekend of November 26-27 which coincidently happen to fall between 2 round of the ANDRA Summit Sportsman Series. There is no doubt that this decision to re-schedule between two ANDRA rounds contributed to the entry list falling from the original 166 entries to just under 100 for the re-scheduled event. So instead of having a pit choc a block with race teams the Swan Hill public was treated to just over half the race teams that had originally entered. As an example, the Wild Bunch originally had 18 entries for the event which along with the Supercharged Outlaws that had entered totalled close to 30 blown machines ready to treat the locals. The count this weekend was 7 Wild Bunch and 3 Supercharged Outlaws of which 1 Wild Bunch car and 2 Outlaws failed to roll out on the Sunday. This was definitely not putting on the greatest show possible for the uninitiated motorsport fan. Did we miss an opportunity to send the public home with memories of the sport entrenched in their minds? I guess time will tell on that matter. There were obviously reasons why the decision was made to run the event smack bang in the middle of 2 ANDRA rounds which in the end didn’t work but in reality, the event should never have been given the green light to go ahead in the first place.

4 weeks ago, a decision was made by Street Machine to shift the Portland round of their Drag Challenge to Swan Hill after South Coast Raceway informed Street Machine their facility was water affected. Whilst the Swan Hill round was completed successfully there were some grumblings coming out of the round that Australia’s newest drag racing track was very bumpy in selected areas. The Swan Hill Dragway committee were notified that some racers had complained about the surface and immediately went to work to try and rectify the issue. It seemed a touch disappointing at the time to learn about the short comings of the Swan Hill surface but like the past 10 years, the club simply rolled up their sleeves and got on with the work. Talking to Lucas Woodburn yesterday at the facility, Lucas confirmed that they got instruction on how to rectify the problem and carried out the rectification works as they were instructed. On completion of the works ANDRA would send up a representative to inspect the surface prior to signing off on the facility.

Last Sunday after overseeing round 4 of the Summit Sportsman Series at Calder Park Drag Racing, ANDRA sent both Ray Treasure and their Competition Manager in Brett Stephens over to Swan Hill to inspect the rectification works with the intent of signing off the track ready for use. I have seen firsthand the commitment Ray Treasure has given to preparing or overseeing racing surfaces all around Australia and can confidently say that he has always taken safety first before anything else which is why he carries such a high reputation when it comes to track management. So, what went wrong here and why did ANDRA’s Competition Manager in Brett Stephens also sign off on a substandard and dangerous racing surface?

To give you an idea of what the racers thought, the Wild Bunch called it early before a single pass had gone down the track electing to run 1/8 mile after inspecting the track. This proved to be the correct decision as even the Super Street racers were faced with dangerous conditions especially in the left lane. By mid-morning of day 1 some of the brackets were given the option of dropping back to the 1/8^th mile distance which they all accepted. The Modified Bike boys also had their issues trying to overcome the bumps with some electing to run down the left-hand wall to try and avoid the bumps.

The exhibition classes which included Top Alcohol, Pro Stock and Top Sportsman all buttoned off barely 100 metres down the track with the odd attempt at a full pass. Surprisingly Supercharged Outlaw runner Nicky Ellis seemed to navigate the full distance in both lanes without too much trouble posting a best of 7.0 at 185mph but he did have Melbourne legend Tommy Easton turning the spanners on the car.

There were a couple of incidents which the track conditions may or may not have had a role in but the only reason cars were not destroyed was purely on the safety-first option employed by the drivers. Many many passes were aborted by the drivers when the vehicles became unsettled which was the correct thing to do but the negative was that the sport was not being showcased to a brand-new audience as it should have been. Wild Bunch legend Benny Gatt joked about the fact that his helmet kept hitting the roof of his XA as he went over the bumps.

There is talk that the club and ANDRA’s Brett Stephens are taking up the issue of the track surface with the local council which has to be done but the initial concern of why this racing surface was deemed fit for use and signed off by ANDRA remains as the most puzzling decision.

On a positive note, man has this place got potential! It is clear that the club is hard working and prepared to go the distance with making this project one of the best in Australia. There were smiles all round over the weekend with the ever-optimistic Allan Ward putting a positive spin on every situation that arose. The club sold 1500 passes at the gate on Saturday and had a healthy crowd roll in on the Sunday up until the time I left. The crowd was ever changing with people coming and going throughout the weekend. It will be interesting to see how many of the race fans will be back on a regular basis. Every fan I talked to suggested they would be back which is so important for the club moving forward. It was clear over the weekend that the locals are prepared to support the venue which in this day and age is so important. Not many times over the past number of years have I seen a primarily sportsman based event attract so many spectators. The spectator mound is a fantastic viewing point for race fans and encourages interaction with the racers which once again is something you only find at regional tracks. The place will be first class once the track conditions are sorted and the ensuing infrastructure items are completed. This place would go off with a dozen Top Doorslammers rolling into town.

Unfortunately, finals day had to be abandoned due to a software issue with the club’s brand new timing system. Drop the flag grudge racing administered by starter Craig Plummer kept the locals entertained although a number of race teams had decided to pack up after day 1. The Wild Bunch stayed on to entertain the crowd with a couple of rounds on finals day and decided to split the prizemoney among all the drivers.

Finally, a big thanks needs to go out to the Swan Hill Dragway and especially Mark and Lia Kuhn and the Whyalla Steel City Drags club for a fantastic effort in putting together the event. There were so many positives to come out of the event including the positive assistance of all club members when required which no doubt will go to making the February Summit round at Swan Hill a very memorable round. The club has 3 months to get the racing surface rectified for the event and trust me when I say that this venue has the potential to be the premium regional drag racing facility in Australia. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to start preparing for the February round at Swan Hill early. My tip is it’s going to be massive.

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