The Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Cars made their debut at Willowbank Raceway on Saturday night with 11 cars fronting for the event.
Shane Olive took the victory in LA Hooker, joined on the podium by Greg Leahy and former Top Fuel champ Darren Morgan.
“I have to thank Graeme and Wendy (Cowin). None of this would be possible without them and the car was just a pleasure to drive. This was probably one of the most satisfying race meetings we have had,” said Olive (pictured above).
The event began with the now traditional ‘salute to the crowd’ from all the teams, lining up on the track and firing up their engines at once.
The first round kicked off with local racer and ‘nitro new guy’ Jake Donnelly taking a win over nitro veteran Anthony Begley. The second pairing then saw Peter Leahy cross the centreline in his battle with Rick Gauci, with Gauci’s Chev setting low ET for the round at 5.79. Justin Walshe and Shane Olive took wins in pairings against Morgan and Nathan Pierano to also leave the round with points in hand.
The second round saw repeated side-by-side passes with the crews benefiting from the track knowledge gained in the first session. Gauci was again a leader, as his 5.66 second pass improved. Walshe picked up another win over Morgan in a 6.04 to 6.15 contest, while Olive dismissed Schultz with a 5.80.
Round three opened with Olive racing alongside Peirano, with a scorching 5.66-second pass putting him in the prime position for the overall event win. Morgan saved his best pass for last with a 5.9-second victory over Jake Donnelly. Messineo managed a red-light in his final round against Peter Leahy who had his own issues with a big engine fire, while Walshe and Greg Leahy both came into the final round on maximum points, before Leahy’s 5.87-second pass took him to the podium at night’s end. Gauci and Begley contested the final run of the night and a wild run on both side of the racetrack saw Begley take the win.
For more on this big event, keep an eye out for the October issue of Drag News Magazine.
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