Outlaws Sunset Shootout.

Outlaws Sunset Shootout.

By Mark Humphrey

Mildura, Vic/Aus. 10^th April 2015. The Mildura Gateway Tavern Supercharged Easter Shootout has rocked the Sunraysia Drag Racing Association’s foundations with SDRA Publicity Officer Kingsley Kuchel confirming Craig Russo’s new track record for the Supercharged Outlaws at a blistering 4.03 seconds. Russo was on a mission this weekend dedicating the new track record to the memory of his former crew person in Tracy Brown. Brown who was the partner of another Team Russo crew member in Mark Prout passed away last Monday just 5 days out from one of the state’s biggest Supercharged Outlaws event this year. Talking to Craig Russo about the event, Russo was hoping to be the first to crack the 3 second barrier for the class, “yeah I figure it’s the least we can do to honour Tracy and I’m dedicating this weekend to the memory of Tracy. Tracy along with her partner Mark has been invaluable to the team over the past 5 years and she will be sadly missed” he said. Russo added “to be the first in history to dip into that territory would be something special. For partner Mark Prout, he hardly had a minute to relax as the famous Russo Funny Car was rolled out across the day inching ever so close to that magical 3 second barrier. In the end the team had to settle for top qualifier of the meet with a round 1 pass of 4.03 seconds.

SDRA Highlights Package

Indeed there were a number of heavy hitters in the class who had a genuine chance of dipping into the 3’s. Wayne Talbot and Mike Evans were 2 teams that could have quite easily dropped into the 3’s. One by one the teams made their assault on the mark with Talbot going 180mph over the 1/8 distance. In the end Team Russo finished with the best mark of 4.03 @ 176mph.

Putting this aside, we had an unbelievable Supercharged contest on our hands with 18 of the toughest blown cars lining up to duke it out for the 5k first prize. Benny Gatt unfortunately didn’t make it down the highway due to mechanical issues and Bruno Matijasevic hurt his car during warm-up leaving a field of 18. Australia #1 Doina Day complimented what was a tough field which included the likes of Russo, Davis, Talbot, Hanley and Kuhn in his immaculate Corvette Roadster.

3 qualifying runs had Russo as the top qualifier from Talbot. A Chicago Shootout format was introduced in place of eliminations which proved a hit with the huge gathering of spectators on the hill. In the end the two teams with the most points would race off for the 5k purse with a run off for 3^rd & 4^th. One by one the cars faced off with some finding the going tough. Brody Sontag driving a very tough one tunner had trouble getting the car to hook up and finished the day knowing that he had a much better pass left in the car. The same could be said for Mike Evans. His car also has lots of potential and only a few weeks back in Adelaide was in contention for an event win. Murray Edgar had ventured out in a neat looking Funny Car in the pursuit of some licence runs and by the end of the night had been successful in gaining his Outlaw licence. Lots of consistent runners throughout the day including Leo Parisotto who just kept getting the runs on the board. Like Parisotto, Hanley in a Commodore Ute was going about his business and although not securing the #1 qualifying mark he would turn out to be the man to beat. Earlier in the year Hanley contested round 1 of the Summit Sportsman Series at the Fuchs Southcoast Raceway and looked unbeatable until a cherried start finished his day. Indeed the competition in a Summit Sportsman Series round is quite tough with plenty of heavy hitters going for the win so to finish near the top of the tree in this class is some sort of achievement. Doina Day like Hanley had runs on the board with a joint victory last time out in Adelaide in round 3 of the Summit Series and was one expected to figure deep as the night rolled on. Unfortunately for Day she was off just a touch during the shootout and didn’t figure in the finals.

With all the huffin and puffin done it come down to Parisotto and Hanley to duke it out for the cash and of course the Gateway Tavern Supercharged Shootout crown. Hanley got away strong and held off Parisotto and although he hurt the engine during the run he had enough up his sleeve to take the win. Parisotto was very emotional during his runners-up acceptance speech indicating just how important the occasion was to him. It was a fitting end to what was a super entertaining category of pure blown horsepower. The Supercharged guys are at it again this coming weekend with round 4 of the Summit Sportsman Series being run at Willowbank. Hanley is racing the clock to have the engine repaired within the short turn around window.

Supercharged Outlaws

The Supercharged Outlaws were billed as the feature category of the event and rightly so but there was plenty of quality racing throughout the remaining classes which ran under the normal elimination criteria. Super Sedan, Modified, Modified Bike, Super Street and Junior Dragster accounted for the day’s activities which started off on a sombre note when commentator Allan Ward asked everybody to honour the memory of two fallen friends in Team Russo crew member Tracy Brown and popular Whyalla racer Craig Giles with a minute’s silence. Guest vocalist Kelly Donnelly sang a song to commemorate the fallen friends and then opened the night’s proceedings with a great rendition of the Australian National Anthem.

This led into the traditional eliminations for the nominated categories with a few surprises provided along the way. Top qualifier in Modified Bike Tony Frost cherried his semi-final run leaving Adam Ahearn and Derryn McGregor to battle it out in the final. Ahearn took the final in his first ever race meeting on the bike.

Modified Bike

Junior Dragster had some familiar names going around with Tedesco, the Baker’s, Carranza and Kane lining up in the 11 car field. Brooke Farrelly had travelled up from Tasmania to compete on the weekend demonstrating the support she has from her family which has seen Farrelly compete this year in Portland, Adelaide, here at Mildura and next weekend at Willowbank. Well done to the Farrelly team. Top qualifier Connor Oehms was up against past winner Daniel Carranza with Carranza running a perfect race to take out the event. Very popular amongst their peers, the finalists can look forward to stellar careers in the JD ranks.

Junior Dragster

Super Street was a tight affair with just point three of a second separating the top 11 in qualifying. 20 cars had lined up for the event with the #13 qualifier Vince Shephard getting the nod over the #11 qualifier in Mark Jachmann in the final. The dial your own class relies heavily on consistency with both Shephard and Jachmann able to beat all comers in making the final.

Super Street

Modified Eliminator had an 11 car field which included 2 cars from the NT. Both Heather Parkinson and Andrew Armistead had made the trip down from the NT to compete in the bracket with Armistead going deep in eliminations. Local SDRA publicity officer and jack of all trades Kingsley Kuchel had his winged modified running deep into the qualifying rounds also with an appearance in the semi-final. Wearing a full face gas mask set-up the nostalgia combination was impressive right up until the semis. Unfortunately for Kuchel a rough running power plant put an end to his assault on the bracket. In the end it was a duel between the Fuchs car of Kenny Stewart and #1 qualifier Cory Dyson. Dyson has been running hard of late and showing plenty of consistency and needed both to get past evergreen racer Kenny Stewart. A good light by Dyson was enough to give him the edge over Stewart taking out both Top Qualifier and the bracket.

Modified Eliminator

Super Sedan had 15 runners and like all Super Sedan brackets, had plenty of tough cars putting on a show for the locals. Teams had travelled from all parts of the state with Geelong rotary runner Chris Dalton posting quick time in his Mazda rotary with a 5.06 ET @ 135mph. Ballarat based Stuart McBain qualified in the #2 spot posting a 5.11 ET also @ 135mph and was the man to beat in the bracket. I haven’t seen McBain drop a race this year which includes a couple of rounds in the super tough Summit Series Top Sportsman bracket. McBain always runs a good light and the 500+ cubed big block Chevy Lumina has the legs to get the job done. A couple of western district runners in Henley and Johnstone added to what was a tough field. One by one McBain took care of his opponents while Dale Tucker was doing the same in his half of the draw. Peddling an awesome sounding HQ, Tucker made it all the way to the final where he was matched up against McBain. McBain got the job done in the final much to the delight of his crew and added yet another trophy to the shelf. For McBain, it’s time to wrap the Lumina until the winters in June. Leading the Top Sportsman bracket in the Summit Sportsman Series with 2 wins from 2 starts, McBain is considered one of the favourites to take out Andra’s new marquee bracket Top Sportsman. #1 qualifier Dalton struggled with consistency during the eliminations and went out early but still managed to walk away with the #1 qualifier tag.

Super Sedan

A fireworks display wrapped up what was an awesome event for the SDRA. There was plenty of quality racing throughout the day with the Supercharged Outlaws simply awesome. Highlights included a new Supercharged Outlaws track record at 4.03 by Team Russo and the sideways halftrack burnouts by Mick Taylor. Mark Schwirse's burnout demonstration was also a highlight and a crowd pleaser. His 2000hp Commodore ute put on a tyre frying demonstration that saw flames at times licking out of the rear end of the ute. Schwirse is a former Summernats Pro Burnout winner and had just picked up the win the day before at Sydney Dragway's Good Fryday event. Presentations were conducted after the fireworks with recruited Track Marshall Ray Treasure being thanked by all for a fantastic racing surface. Club President Rob McDonald thanked the sponsors, his team and in particular Kingsley Kuchel for his tireless work leading up to the event with commentator and friend to all Allan Ward closing off the night.

The SDRA has one more street meeting scheduled for early May before they break for winter. ANDRA drag racing returns to Sunset Strip on the 4^th and 5^th of December with a round of the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series which features Supercharged Outlaws and Top Sportsman brackets amongst others. This will be huge and one to pencil into the calendar. Meanwhile the Supercharged Outlaws feature this weekend at Willowbank Raceway for round 4 of the Summit Sportsman Series.

For more info on the Willowbank round go to: 

http://www.willowbankraceway.com.au/events/detail.aspx?EventGroupID=96

For more info on the Summit Series go to:

http://www.andra.com.au/series/calendar/2015-16-calendar.html

For more info on the SDRA go to:http://www.sunsetstrip.org.au/

IMAGES FROM THE DAY

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