Western Australian drag racing fans will get to see a fresh category of racing as part of the Night of Fire at Perth Motorplex on December 30, with the APSA Outlaw Radial class hitting the track.
Combining street cars on radial tyres with high horsepower engines, spectators can expect some wild runs from the varied combinations within the class, which includes everything from traditional muscle cars like Chevy Camaros to less well known models like a Datsun 1200 ute. Racing is ‘heads up’, with no dial ins or indexes.
Stephen Molson has entered his Holden HZ ute, ready to take on the Perth competition after recently surviving Street Machine magazine’s Drag Challenge in the eastern states, where cars were made to drive hundreds of kilometres and race at five different drag strips in five days.
“It was an awesome experience,” Molson said. “But driving all day in a car that is not very comfortable, with no air conditioning and driving through something like 20mm of rain in one day, well that is the challenging part.”
Molson finished the gruelling test, an accomplishment in itself, and his times put him into the top ten for the event.
When it comes to the horsepower underneath the bonnet, Molson is modest about what he has done, describing it as ‘nothing crazy’. An LY6 block along with an upgraded crank, rods and pistons makes up the basics while a Borg Warner 83mm turbo provides the copious amounts of boost needed for the Holden’s nine second runs down the quarter mile.
“It is still running a full factory chassis and other than a modified leaf spring rear end, shock absorbers and anti-roll bar it is all factory,” he said.”
Molson is a regular at Formula Tech Performance Whoop Ass Wednesdays at Perth Motorplex but the Night of Fire will mark the first time he has raced in front of a big crowd.
“Hopefully it starts getting a lot bigger and getting these street type vehicles on to the track,” he said. “It is a lot more appealing to me having a street car going fast than a full tube car, I guess I like doing things within certain boundaries and my business is based around street cars, so it makes sense.
“I’m very much a rookie at this so having the crowd there will be something different. I’m bringing the family down so they can have a look too.”
Molson will be racing alongside 120 other teams as part of the Night of Fire, which incorporates a massive show of Jet Dragsters, freestyle motocross and a monster fireworks show, plus the fourth round of the WA Drag Racing Championships featuring the Summer Slam Top Doorslammers, Top Comp, Supercharged Outlaws and much more.
Qualifying starts from 10am with the feature program from 6pm.
