Outlaw Stewart Heads Up Nitro Convoy On Back Of Easter Win.

Outlaw Stewart Heads Up Nitro Convoy On Back Of Easter Win.

By Mark Humphrey

Melbourne, Vic/Aus. 21^st May 2017. Victorian Tim Stewart has settled nicely into the outrageously loud and wild drag racing bracket known as Supercharged Outlaws. The “Outlaw” bracket caters for supercharged doorcars, dragsters and funny cars that are limited to no quicker than 6.50 seconds over the ¼ mile distance. Providing the most spectacular side by side drag racing in the sportsman category, Supercharged Outlaw machines can take a number of years for race teams to get their heads around the set-up and this certainly looked the case for modified come outlaw racer in Tim Stewart. Having purchased the ex-Aaron Russell “Russler” Mustang Funny Car, Stewart provided the small block powerplant that was once again going to power up the old-school Mustang. Sportingscribe.com was on hand to capture the debut of the re-born Mustang at a local Test N Tune day run at Calder Park Drag Racing. After a strong burnout, Stewart had to pack up the car courtesy of a blown power plant. It was back to the drawing board for the team that coincidently have the slogan “Throwback” highlighted across the race team uniforms.

Less than 12 months down the track and the “Stang” race team have tasted victory lane with a win in the prestigious Gateway Tavern “Easter Supercharged Outlaws” event at Sunset Strip Mildura. Being one of the biggest Supercharged Outlaw events on the Australian drag racing calendar, the event attracts some of the biggest heavy hitters in the bracket with the 2017 version no exception. Stewart was the only racer to win all rounds in the Chicago Shootout format with wins over Mark Newman, Mark Kuhn, the returning Paul Stephen and Dale Tucker in the final.

Speaking with Stewart recently, I asked the former modified racer why Outlaws? “It’s something I have always looked at. I like the idea of the man and machine format that comes with Supercharged Outlaws where the focus is on the driver pedalling the car down the race track the best they can using extreme horsepower combinations”. Stewart went on to say “it was the 3^rd race meeting for the car with the Easter Shootout always the focus for the team. Last year I managed to win the Modified bracket as a support for the Outlaws but to win the feature event in our first attempt with the car is quite unbelievable especially given the circumstances leading up to the event” he said.

Stewart had spent the 4 days leading up to the event in Adelaide caring for his gravely ill father who sadly passed away on Good Friday. It was then a hastily organised flight back home to pick up the race truck and head for Mildura to contest the 2017 Easter Shootout. “Yeah it was a pretty hectic time for Sue and myself. We booked the flights back home at 1.30pm on Good Friday after dad had passed away. I drove as far as Bendigo that night but had to hand over the driving duties to Sue for the rest of the journey. Understandably my reaction times were all over the place during qualifying but everything seemed to come together once racing started” he said. Stewart flew straight back to Adelaide after the race meet to help out with funeral arrangements for his father.

Stewart’s next mission is to take on the territory with some of his drag racing buddies as they prepare for the road trip of a lifetime heading north in July for the opening rounds of the Australian National Drag Racing Association’s 2017/18 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series starting with the “Nitro Up North” event at Darwin followed by the “Dessert Nationals” the following week in Alice Springs.

A “Nitro Up North Convoy” has been put together by a group of Victorian racers which departs from Mildura’s Sunset Strip on Saturday the 15^th of July for the road trip of a lifetime which will take in the two ANDRA sanctioned drag racing events. Talking with Stewart on the upcoming new sportsman series it was easy to see how excited he was with the prospect of the 2 ½ week road trip. I asked Tim about the proposed road trip, “yep it’s going to be huge. So far, we have the Stewarts, Thorntons, Kuchels and Talbots on board for the trip with possibly Spud Russell’s car in the convoy along with a few others. We head out of Mildura on the Saturday stopping above Port Augusta the first night. We plan to stop north of Coober Pedy the 2^nd night with Alice Springs Inland Dragway our destination for night 3. From there we will keep cruising the Stuart Highway stopping Tuesday night along the highway and then cruising into Darwin Wednesday evening with a stopover for the night at Adam Murrihy’s A&M Cranes depot. From there we head to Hidden Valley Drags on Thursday morning which is only 10 minutes down the road from the A&M Cranes depot. At this stage, there are no set plans for the week in between the two race meetings but sportingscribe.com has jumped on board to assist with this part of the road trip" he said.

At sportingscribe.com we are pleased to announce that we will be covering the road trip in its entirety starting out of Mildura with daily video edits covering each day’s activities leading up to the race days and then dedicated coverage of the Nitro Up North Convoy race teams competing at both the Nitro’s and Dessert Nationals. This year sportingscribe.com will embark on a different format whereby we will be covering a nominated bracket each round with dedicated video edits of pit activity, qualifying and eliminations for that bracket with minimal video footage from other sportsman brackets complimenting the race coverage. By introducing this format, we heavily reduce the time commitments required to produce up to 9 individual brackets per round (don’t have the time required), instead opting for a more dedicated video edit for the nominated bracket. For the NT Convoy, we will feature Convoy race teams rather than a dedicated sportsman bracket.

Sportingscribe.com are currently working in with NT Tourism with regards to promoting the event and places of interest both along the way and in between the two events. Christie Thornton (daughter of Outlaw racer Dave Thornton) has jumped on board to assist with putting the video package together. Christie has just finished a university degree in Tourism and Event Management and will bring fresh ideas to the video coverage of the road trip. As noted, we hope to produce a 3-5-minute grab of the day’s activities spent on the road and by the campsite each night with a more substantial grab of racing activities during the 4 days of racing.

Talking with Tim about the convoy, he mentioned that race teams are quite welcome to join in the convoy stating “the more the merrier”. To join the Nitro Up North discussion group simply contact either Tim or Sue Stewart through their respective Facebook pages or any of the other racers that have jumped on board the convoy. The convoy is currently represented by Top Alcohol, Supercharged Outlaws, Junior Dragster and Modified Eliminator brackets. Sportingscribe.com will also be providing updates on the convoy as they come to hand. This is one road trip that we can’t wait to get into filming. Should be epic!

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