Australian Drag Racing In Shock With The Loss Of Chris Stewart

Australian Drag Racing In Shock

With The Loss Of Chris Stewart

Chris Stewart staging for his run at South Coast Raceway

By Mark Humphrey

Portland/Vic, Aus. 21st January 2017. The scene was set for what was supposed to be a memorable round of Summit Sportsman Racing with round 6 of the series rolling into Portland’s South Coast Raceway.

Regarded as one of the premiere 1/8 drag strips in Australia, the local brigade of hard working track officials led by President Andrew Smith had prepared an absolute cracker racing surface to compliment the recent infrastructure improvements to the facility which included a new power supply to the pit area.  The club had announced at the driver’s briefing that the car count for round 6 of the series was a record for the venue with no less than 155 entries making their way down to the seaside facility. So, the scene was set for a fantastic weekend of Australian Sportsman Racing with the weather forecast over the 2 days near perfect.

Round 1 of qualifying got under way with all brackets putting down some handy times. National records were under pressure early with a number of Super Comp runners either going under their respective indexes or the national mark and this was only round 1 of qualifying.

Last bracket to roll out for round 1 of qualifying was the awesome Supercharged Outlaws with a field packed with heavy hitters. 2 cars debuted last time out at the Summernationals in Adelaide with Mick Mahoney showcasing one of the best Mustangs you will ever see and Chris Stewart in the heavy ex Pat Carbone Chevy Camaro Doorslammer. Both cars were presented in showcase condition for their maiden hit outs at the Summernationals. Sportingscribe.com featured both cars in what turned out to be a rain shortened round 5.

First up was the pairing of former Aussie champ Doina Day and current Aussie champ in Adam Murrihy. Next up was Jason Keily and Ryan Van Dyke in the dragster. The third pairing of the session had Chris Stewart running with Lucas Woodburn in the Funny Car. After a botched burnout by Woodburn the camp shut down the Funny Car leaving Stewart to a solo qualifying pass. Stewart left the line hard and was hooked up through the pass in what looked to be a really strong pass. For reasons unknown at this stage the car took a hard-left hand hook just prior to the beams sending the car heavily into the wall at the finish line. To give you an idea of how the Camaro was travelling, Stewart broke the beam with a 4.34 pass at 161+ mph. The initial hit by Stewart was so severe that it sent the car ricocheting across the track at near full noise into the opposite wall before careering down the run-off to rest deep in the braking area. The accident looked heavy and no doubt had severely damaged the Camaro but looked to be no worse than Rob Taylor’s incident at Calder Park and certainly nowhere near as spectacular as Phil Lamattina’s Top Fuel incident at Willowbank back in 2015.

All of a sudden, an eerie feeling descended over the facility with hardly a murmur to be heard while emergency crews and track staff attended to the stricken vehicle. It was only a matter of minutes before the news had started to filter through that South Australian Chris Stewart had succumb to injuries received as a result of the accident. Man, how sad was this, one minute we had this awesome Chevy Camaro blazing the track and in a split second it was all over.

You could see the pain on the faces of track staff and racers who knew Stewart, with the realisation that they had lost a competitor and close friend. The saddest vision was Chris’s father Mike and the crew who were on hand in the braking area being ushered away from the wreck. Long-time friend Bob Sherry consoled Mike as he wept uncontrollably with the knowledge that he had lost his son. Your heart went out to the two good mates who had embraced each other sharing a moment in their lives that no father would want to have.

Track staff made an announcement over the PA system that the day’s racing had been suspended with further announcements to follow. The good-sized crowd had started to make their way out of the facility as the police and emergency workers took control of the scene. The expressions of disbelief on the South Coast track staff as well as ANDRA staff soon turned to sorrow with the realisation that they had lost one of their own. To say the officials were gutted was heavily understating the mood.

As the hours went by both ANDRA and South Coast officials were in discussions with regards to the event and around 3 hours after the incident made the call to abandon the meeting with respect to the family and crew. Both ANDRA and South Coast Raceway expressed their condolences to the family and friends of Chris Stewart.

So, by late afternoon crews had started to pack up with some electing to leave the facility that afternoon. The mood around the facility was very sombre with some affected more than others. 

The one thing that it did highlight to me was that every time a racer suits up for a pass they put their life on the line. Although somewhat limited in the slower classes the risk to our female and male drivers who compete in the more powerful brackets of Top Sportsman and above is certainly extremely high. Reflecting on the Chris Stewart incident and how quickly things can go pear shaped, you have to say that our men and women of the sport are certainly courageous.

Looking back on the mini feature sportingscribe.com did on Chris it was easy to see the guy was excited about his racing and the fact people were interested in his racing. No doubt he will be sorely missed by the drag racing fraternity, fans and sponsors alike but more importantly his family and friends.

Condolences go out to Mike and the entire Stewart family on the loss of a larger than life character in Chris Stewart who was good for drag racing. One has to also feel for the suffering South Coast Raceway team and ANDRA officials who through no fault of their own witnessed a day in Australian drag racing history they wish didn’t happen.

R.I.P. CHRIS STEWART. 

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