Street Machine Muscles In On Outlaws

By Mark Humphrey

Correction: It has been pointed out by Calder Park Drag Racing that Terry Seng and Quentin Feast had both improved on their times listed in this article. Seng posted a best of 8.30 and Feast posted a best of 8.56. Full details can be found at Street Machine.

Calder Park, Vic/Aus. 19^th October 2014. Round 7 of the Street Outlaws qualifying series was completed last Friday night with the Street Machine Drag Challenge competition rolling in to complete phase 3 of their 4 meet program. The Street Machine Drag Challenge series included 19 cars from across the country that went toe to toe with the regular Street Outlaw guys on what was a perfect night for drag racing.The Street Machine Drag Challenge Invades Calder Park Outlaws qualifying

Based on the US concept ‘Drag Week’, the Street Machine Drag Challenge consisted of 4 events over 5 days with competitors having to drive their vehicles from venue to venue. All mechanical repairs had to be completed on the road and competitors had to carry tyres, tools and equipment with them. Sydney Drag Racing Park which was unfortunately washed out was the first venue followed by a timed course at Albury, on to Calder Park and then finishing up at Heathcote the next day.

I caught up with Simon from Street Machine magazine to find out more on the series and started by asking the origin of the event, “Yeah, the Street Machine VPW Drag Challenge is modelled on the Hot Rod Drag Week which has been running in America for many years. The rules are very close to the ones used in America. There are no car trailers, you must drive your car under your own steam and haul your own stuff with you. There are no support vehicles allowed but you can tow a trailer. Basically you race with what you carry” he said. Simon added “We have had guys replace head gaskets and even a gearbox to date on the journey so it becomes a competition of survival and mechanical know how” he said.

For the inaugural year Street Machine limited the entries to 30 to basically get a feel for the event and the logistics required to run the event. Although this year they have 19 runners they did have a few guys drop out at the last minute. Cars range from supercharged to turbo charged and normally aspirated engines both big and small block. There is no prize money for the event and the event is open to all comers who get through a basic ANDRA scrutineering check. Simon believes the event will grow in stature as time goes on. “We expect to have a lot more cars enter next year as the guys basically have 12 months to prepare. I expect guys will build cars to suit the event” he said.Street Machine muscle courtesy Mark Arblastar

If you follow the Hot Rod Drag Week you will know that the king of the week this year was a guy who was pulling 6’s every day. The Aussie version is nothing like this with ET’s at Calder generally in the 10-12 second bracket. Toowoomba’s Terry Seng has reportedly run a 7.8 previously but with a mal functioning fuel pump could only drop into the 9’s. Local Street Outlaws entrant Quentin Feast once again dropped into the 8’s backing up the 8.91 @ 159mph he has registered with the Outlaws series. Outside of these guys the racing was pretty basic with 10’s being the order of the day. Initial thoughts on the news that the Street Machine Drag Challenge was coming to Calder was one of mind blowing 7 second cars that backed up day after day. Unfortunately that was far from reality this year but I expect that as the event grows we will witness the series champ averaging passes in the low 8’s or even dipping into the 7’s.There is no doubt the concept works and it’s only a matter of time before car builders embrace the concept here in Australia.Terry Seng manages a 9.7 pass @ 205kph despite a faulty fuel pump.

With drivers coming from all over Australia to compete in the Street Machine series I caught up with one driver who travelled just on 2500kms just to get to Sydney. Brenton Miller resides in Cairns and was one of the first drivers to nominate for the event. I asked Brenton what the attraction was with the Drag Challenge, “I just think it’s an awesome event. I use my car every day and I like to drive fast. For me it ticks all boxes’ he said. Brenton runs a 1976 Chrysler Centurion upgraded with a 4 litre Toyota Soarer V8 engine complete with a small Eaton supercharger. A Toyota auto transmission which has been manualized gets the power through to a Borg Warner diff complete with up-graded axles. Brenton has installed bigger disc brakes on the vehicle which now covers the 4 corners. The car has run in the high 11’s previously but since installing an air conditioner the best he has run is a 12.3 with a full exhaust system. Brenton’s trip is exactly what he envisaged with good comradery between the guys during racing and afterwards at the motels.  “Most nights we are together at the same place which is good because you talk about cars and stuff. I recommend this trip to anyone who is interested in drag racing” he said. After clocking up just on 3500kms to date, Brenton plans to stay around for a couple of weeks in Melbourne before heading to Avalon Raceway to compete in the Tread Cemetery burnout competition. By the time he gets back home he would have clocked up more than 8000kms with a burnout comp thrown in for good measure. Now that is a drag challenge. Look for a complete wrap on the Drag Challenge in the upcoming Street Machine Magazine.Well travelled Brenton Miller pulled an 11.54 @ 117mph.

Street Outlaws qualifying will continue with 3 more rounds pencilled in before the December 27 final. Competitor numbers for Qualifying 7 were a touch disappointing given the fact the Drag Challenge was on the same ticket. Maybe back to back qualifying sessions are hard to turn cars around and hard on the pocket. With tenders closing on the 31^st of October for the track upgrades we might not see too much more action before the finals anyway.

To keep a handle on the upgrade situation check in on the Calder Park Drag Racing facebook site.

IMAGES FROM THE NIGHT

Outlaws Qualifying #6

By Jess Turner Motorsport

With the weather at a perfect temperature for some fast racing and the track as good as it gets, Friday nights Street Outlaws Round 6 saw wild passes, the safety crew earn their keep, timing blocks hit for six and the competitors battle it out to move themselves on up the lists as the final round is fast approaching!

#1 spot was claimed again in Street Outlaws, with Daniel Sharban and his neat Ford Capri running some consistent times along with a monster wheelstand to keep the crowd entertained. After a string of 8.6 runs he belted out an 8.63 @ 159mph to really shake up the top end of list! The finals look to be heating up with a few of the tough competitors running in the 8s now, make sure you’re there to see the action!

John Stoumbas and his Cortina came to make his mark and he left it with an impressive 9.68 @ 152mph to put him on the list heading into the pointy end of the season.

A couple of regulars brought our their HSVs again, with Noel Pzcierzug running a best of a 10.91 to just miss improving his best from last time of a 10.89. Pzcierzug was running head to head with Peter Morris who ran a best of an 11.17 to improve his best. We love watching these two close mates fight it out every round!

We saw Warren Holmes drove his XD Falcon out for a play, improving every pass of the night to eventually finish it off with an 11.49 @ 120mph.

Round 7 of Street Outlaws is on this Friday Night the 17^th of October, we can guarantee its one not to be missed!!

Outlaw Images   

       Big Hitters Start To Flex Their Muscle.

By Mark Humphrey

Calder Park, Vic/Aus. 14^th October 2014. Round 6 of the Street Outlaws qualifying series at Calder Park Drag Racing took place last Friday evening in near on perfect conditions. Originally slow to get going the drivers eventually rolled out their machines onto the pavement to set about improving their current Outlaw qualifying times. Drivers have 10 opportunities to qualify their machine in the top 16 of their category before the finals come around in late December.

One of the series heavy hitters Daniel Sharban had his turbo charged Capri in white hot form posting an 8.68 @ 159.29mph to stamp himself as a genuine contender for the Street Outlaw category. Over the qualifying series Sharban has managed to knock off nearly a full second from his ET with no doubt more to come. The car looks strong and definitely has more to give as we creep towards the December final.

As has been the case throughout the Street Outlaws series there were plenty of guys who had rocked up to get some test n tuning done on their comp machines. Tim Holmyard had his Higgins Race Developments VX Commodore out testing again under the watchful eye of Stef from Western Link Auto. Having put together a number of engines for customers over the past year Holmyard finally got his comp engine assembled and in the car for his first hit out at Street Outlaws qualifying 5.

Back again last Friday, Holmyard put down his quickest ever mph in the car running through the beams at just over 164mph. His ET of 8.66 was 3 one hundredths outside his PB. With no sign of engine stress Holmyard believes there is still a bit left in the car. The car is now back in the garage having a Strange rear end installed in place of the original IRS suspension. Expect the car to go even quicker once the alterations are completed.

Craig Munro was another out testing.  Currently still developing his VX Commodore, Munro put down several passes in the low 8’s with a best of 8.09 @ 175mph. The Commodore is running a Nelson Brothers Racing 632ci big block Chev with a couple of turbo chargers bolted to the power plant. Producing an estimated 2500+ hp, look for the car to tip the 200mph mark in the not too distant future.

The night definitely belonged to Drago Nikodijeuic in his 2010 supercharged Chevy Camaro. Sounding like a Top Doorslammer Nikodijeuic had the entire gallery waiting in anticipation as his crew fired up the mega horse powered Camaro. Having completed the customary burnout Nikodijeuic punched out a stout 7.52 ET @ 187mph. At just over 300 clicks for the quarter this was no doubt the highlight of the night and a sign of things to come when the track upgrades are completed. Nikodijeuic is exactly what drag racing is all about, awesome looking machinery, eardrum blowing noise and an extreme showcase of raw vicious automotive power. What a rush!!

We now move into round 7 of the qualifying series with the added attraction of the Street Machine drag week entrants who will be cruising through Friday night. This will be an awesome night with weather predictions ideal for big numbers. For more info on the event go to http://www.calderparkdragracing.com.au/.

Feast To The Top Of The Tree

By Mark HumphreyQuentin Feast picks up the front left on the way to an 8.91 pass.

Calder Park, Vic/Aus. 23^rd September 2014. Local south eastern suburbs man Quentin Feast had the hammer down for round 5 of the Street Outlaw qualifying series putting his LH Torana at the top of the tree for the Street Outlaw category with an 8.91 pass @ 159mph. Feast now sits 2^nd in the category just shy of the 8.87 top mark. Basically running a standard LS1 power plant, Feast with the help of good friend and mechanic Mark bolted on a couple of turbo chargers to get the LH really singing. Coupled to a 2 speed powerglide the performance is pushed through to a 3.25 diff running radial tyres. Like a lot of car enthusiasts Quentin has owned the car for about 20 years and in that time has carried out several builds. The latest build was done over a 12 month period with the car freshened up from top to toe. Originally purchasing a 2 speed from the States the boys eventually turned to local suppliers to put together a 2 speed suitable for the vehicle. Feast ran the car on the weekend with around 15lb boost and said the car was comfortable at that level. He hoped in the coming weeks to pick up the boost in time for the Street Outlaw finals. Feast had the car out Friday night cruising the streets and said the car just looks like any other car. “We drove past a Highway Patrol car the other night without any issues. The boys in blue aren’t looking for guys like me they’re after the dudes doing the wrong thing” he said. Feast added “This car is such an easy driver on the road you wouldn’t know there is a couple of turbo’s bolted on”. The Street Outlaw series is exactly about this. Cars that could be driven daily and Feast has the perfect example of this type of motoring.

With the sun beaming down on the drag strip there were plenty of cars out testing in both the street category and race versions. Phil Parker had his top fuel bike out to test but unfortunately a couple of damaged sumps put paid to his day before he could get out on the strip. “It’s a real shame that we can’t go testing today” he said. “We cracked a sump loading the bike so we replaced it here with a spare. All was ok initially then on a re-start the sump let go again” he said. Parker added “it’s a shame we couldn’t get out as the motor is running perfectly at the moment. It would have been interesting to see how the bike performed today” he said.

That aside, there were plenty of quick passes put down on the day. Glen Forster driving his Boss Mustang topped the time sheets with a 7.23 pass @ 197mph. Several other boys dipped into the mid 7.50’s in what was a fantastic day of testing. Forster picked up quick time on the day with a 7.23 @197mph

Tim Holmyard had both his cars out testing on the day also. Currently both street registered his red VX Commodore is a purpose built race car that at one time was Australia’s fastest IRS naturally aspirated car. Just fresh from a rebuild Tim was out testing and put down an 8.97 pass @ 158mph. “Yeah the car ran ok today considering we were just checking things over. We give it a small shot of NOS without issues so that was good” he said. The car on a full gas shot produces around 1400hp which is plenty for a car still running an independent rear set-up. His daily driver is a black 02 Monaro which managed to dip into the 10’sTim's street (above) and strip (below)

Street Outlaw qualifying reverts back to Friday night with the next scheduled meeting on Friday 10^th of October. To keep up with the latest check the Calder Park Drag Racing facebook site.

Some of the better ET's on the day

8.43 @ 169mph8.16 @ 162mph8.19 @ 165mph7.50 @ 149mph7.53 @ 174mph8.88 @ 149mph8.87

Street Outlaw Qualifying continues at Calder Park Raceway with round 5 Sunday 21st September. Gates open 10.30, racing at 12 noon.

For more details go to http://www.calderparkdragracing.com.au/

        Street Outlaw Qualifying Continues.

By Mark Humphrey

Calder Park, Vic, Aus. 9^th September 2014. Qualifying continued for Calder Park Drag Racing’s Street Outlaw Series with round 4 completed last Friday night. Although the Outlaw series was somewhat disappointing with only a handful of cars running, the night as a whole was entertaining with plenty of guys and gals lining up in the open staging lanes to put their machines down the ¼. Plenty of regulars on deck as well as returning racers with some fresh outfits scattered among the entries.

Out for his first visit to the track in sometime was Carl in his stock looking Mazda RX5. An engineer by trade, Carl drove the car to work then managed to fit in a business meeting on his way to the track. Pushing out a tidy 580HP at the wheels, Carl was looking to put down a couple of half passes before launching the RX5 for a full pass. Expecting to drop into the 10’s Carl managed to put the car into the high 9’s by the end of the night which was a good effort considering the car is a Sunday cruiser. A Mazda fanatic with several RX2’s, 3’s and 5’s waiting for a facelift Carl was happy with the night’s work as is looking to come back in the near future.Above: Carl gets the RX5 ready for a launch. Below: The RX5 power plant.

Another racer returning to Calder was Peter from Gasolineimports.com. Peter rolled out his daily driven clean looking 66 Mustang. Running a 302 cubed small block stroked out to a 347 version Peter was hoping to put the pony into the mid 11’s. Having put down a 10.6 on the juice at an earlier meet Peter was expecting to run somewhere around the 11.80’s on regular fuel.Pete's mint 66 Mustang lights up the bags

Operating an importing business out of Mill Park, the 66 Mustang was one of a recent shipment of vehicles from the U.S. With just a minor clean-up of the mechanicals the 66 was basically delivered as she stood. Having been in the importing business for 8 years Peter says it’s hard to remember every vehicle he has brought in. “I’m not sure of the exact number of vehicles I have brought into Australia over the 8 years but I do know that in the last 2 years I have shipped 189 cars over made up of both my own vehicles and customer vehicles” he said. Peter has contacts on the ground in the U.S which assist him to source vehicles for his customers. Traveling up to 6 times a year to the U.S. Peter can source that special car in the U.S., ship the car and also arrange compliance in Australia if required. “Yeah I like to offer the complete package for the customer who just wants to take possession of the vehicle and drive away” he said. Peter added “it’s not only cars, I also ship motorbikes namely Harley’s, jet skis, boats and just about anything with a motor” he said.

Peter is currently putting together a shipping itinerary to ship Radial Outlaw king Daniel Nunziante’s mind blowing 600 cubed Ford Cortina to the USA. Currently rated as the 2^nd fastest Radial Outlaw car in the world, Gasolineimports.com has the job of shipping Daniel’s car to the states for a series of meetings in February, April and May of 2015. For more information on the shipping services provided by Gasoline Imports, phone Peter on 0402 116969.

The next round of qualifying for the Street Outlaw series is a daytime meet on Sunday 21^st of September. Expect to see plenty of race cars out for the test n tune session.

IMAGES FROM QUALIFYING 4

            Street Outlaw Qualifying #2

By Mark Humphrey

Melbourne, Vic/Aus. 5^th August 2014. Drag racing returned to daylight hours on Sunday with round 2 of qualifying for the Street Outlaw Series at Calder Park. After strong support from the local drag racing fraternity, promoter Peter Pisalidis switched the round 2 qualifying event to Sunday which proved to be beneficial with a vast number of racers putting down PB’s throughout the afternoon. With the sun directing warmth into the racing surface it wasn’t hard to get excited about the upcoming season of competition drag racing which includes the qualifying and grand final rounds of the Street Outlaws Series. Stakeholders have been working hard behind the scenes negotiating funding for critical track upgrades which would bring back group 1 drag racing towards the end of the year. Although a very long way from securing any sort of financial funding the talks have been positive and constructive which is somewhat encouraging. Fingers crossed that discussions on this subject keep moving forward.Nichele Racing stepped out for some testing

Out mixing it with the Street Outlaw boys were a number of Super Sedan peddlers going through test n tune sessions logging upgrades made during the off-season. Nichele Racing had their mint Chevy Camaro track side putting down a number of passes in the low 8’s. I caught up with team owner Gil Nichele during test runs to get a handle on the day’s progress, “yeah it’s going good. I said to Darren just get the car off the line and see how it goes after that. The car’s looking good as Darren has driven it through the 1000ft mark a number of times” he said. Gil added “we have completely changed the rear end looking for better traction off the line, initially the car was solid when we first run her but now we are looking to improve our ET’s” he said. With photographic equipment and the latest data logging technology, the team was busy analysing the data in between runs which no doubt will assist the team in shaving valuable tenths off future passes.

Another of the Super Sedan boys to roll out their machine on the weekend was Vince Raschilla in possibly the neatest looking Mustang to ever grace the Calder Park strip. Like Team Nichele, Raschilla was there to get some passes into the car and also looked strong in the low 8’s.The Raschilla Mustang "Awesome"

Close to 120 cars rolled out for the Sunday meet with 25 of them locking in qualifying times in the various Street Outlaw classes. Greg Aitken put down the #1 qualifying time for Street Outlaw in his LH Torana with a pass of 9.244. Aitken shaved a couple of tenths off the previous #1 qualifying time of 9.44 set by Daniel Sharban in round 1. In fact 13 of the top 16 qualifiers for the category posted their time in round 2 with all but 1 driver in the top 13 posting their qualifying time on Sunday. With 9 rounds of qualifying scheduled there is still plenty of time for drivers to make the 16 car field for the Grand Final in late December but with conditions so good on Sunday there is no doubt that this group will be in the mix for some time yet.

Street Outlaw Motorcycle had 5 riders out of the group contesting the series with #1 qualifier from round 1 David Carroll shaving 0.13 from his previous best to remain #1 qualifier after 2 rounds with a best pass of 9.544. Leigh Fitzgibbon put down a pass of 9.569 to take the #2 qualifying spot ahead of the round 1 number 2 qualifier in Maurice Allen. Allen holds down the number 3 spot after 2 rounds slipping back one peg.

Street Outlaw Imported was once again not represented although there were a number of vehicles putting down passes throughout the day. Maybe these guys are getting their passes down pat before they enter the category.

To round out an awesome day of drag racing the Street Outlaw Modified guys put down some strong passes with “Wild” Bill Fannua the highlight of the round with his wheel standing Cortina putting on a show for the spectators and securing 4th quick time for the category with a best pass of 10.613. Actually you’ll be pressed to find a time outside of the 6’s for Bill as he is one of the most consistent runners always running in the 10.6’s. Consistency will definitely be an advantage come finals time with Bill odds on to figure at the pointy end.Bill Fannua launching the Cortina

 Brandon Zito took control of the family Torana for round 2 and quickly posted a qualifying time better than Dominic to sit in the number 2 qualifying spot with a 9.772 pass. Dominic with a qualifying time in round 1 of 9.97 sits in 3rd followed by “Wild” Bill with another 1^st timer in Vincent Stigliano taking the number 1 spot with a pass of 9.664. Driving a sweet Mustang fastback, Stigliano had a strong day out with most of his passes in the mid 9’s and comfortably holds down the number 1 qualifying spot for the category.

With such a successful day run and done the call has gone out for racers and fans alike to show their support for more daytime events. Based on the round 2 reaction I think it’s a no brainer with PB’s having been the order of the day.

Round 3 is pencilled in for Friday 22^nd of August but I suggest you regularly check the Calder Park Drag Racing facebook page for updates.

ALL THE DAYS ACTION CAPTURED HERE