The first Nostalgia Drags after the Willowbank Raceway track works welcomed a host of drag racing classics for a trip down memory lane. The event also kicking off the new Nostalgia Pro Stock concept bracket.
Amongst the wild looking drag racing Gassers, front engine diggers and classic muscle for Australia and America yesteryear was a hit of nitro with the Time Traveller Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car. Nitro pilot Christine Steffens was behind the butterflies of a nitro car for the first time in a number of years to make some shake down passes, unfortunately full passes could not be made with the event being scaled back to 1/8th mile following an incident.
Nostalgia Pro Stock had a mix of generational incarnations of the breed as they look to build support of the series (See here: https://dragnews.com.au/green-light-for-nostalgia-pro-stock/).
Unfortunately is was a somewhat tumultuous start with Aaron Smith having the brakes fail on his Mopar Mover Charger, and the end result was heavy impact into the catch net causing significant damage to the Pro Stock relic and the safety net system which reduced the racing to half track for the remainder of the event.
“On the last pass the car left as it normally did, went straight as an arrow, I pulled the chute and I felt the hit on the line, I drove over the finish line, shut the car off, then I went for the brake and that’s when everything went to shit in a hand bag very quickly. I instantly realised I had zero brakes,” said Smith.
“I looked to see where Darrin (Gay) was, I was hand signalling the official trying to indicate I was going deep, squared up the gravel trap and once I knew it was imminent that I was going into the net I braced for impact. After the car came to a stop I climbed out and was instantly met with the awesome Willowbank rescue crew. I was assessed by the medical staff and spoke with the IHRA Tech department.
“I just wanted to note that this incident was all related to a brake calliper failure, mainly through age and wear and tear. The chute worked and did its job. It’s just one of those things that sometimes happens and it’s definitely changed my view on safety standards.
“I knew I had my eye on the best showman award, but f**k me I had no plans of getting it the way I did!”
Dave Gauldie ended up taking out the bracket at the end of the evening defeating Danny Lake in an all Oldsmobile Cutlass duel 5.046 to 5.145.
Other winners from the event were:
Top Eliminator final: Garry Cameron def. Jarred Wilkie
Gas final: Mark Ind def George Wegener.
Middle Eliminator: Brett Farnell def. Abbey McDonald
Vintage Gas final: Rob McIntosh def. Mason Cahill
Aussie Muscle final: John Riley def. Richard Field
US Muscle final: Mark Petersen def. Philip Page
Hot Rod final: Dean Heidke def. John Martin
Street Machine final: Chris Pattinson def. Russell Tonkin
Classic Bike final: Karl Pacey def. Dave Finlayson
HAMBster final: Jefferey Danglmaier
Photos courtesy of Drag Photos.
