Queensland Raceway played host to the popular Powercruise event over the weekend and among the attractions was a big league Street Outlaws contest – where the Donnelly family didn’t bring a knife to a gun fight – but a nuclear weapon!
Flag drop style, first to the finish line wins racing is not uncommon at Powercruise but this was the first time someone has brought anything approaching a car of this calibre and horsepower out to tackle what is essentially a street-like surface.
Jason Donnelly, driver of the Donnelly Blasting Services Corvette, said he has always through it was pretty cool seeing big power try and get down a tough surface.
“Our oldest son Dan has run our nitrous 57 Chev since Gup started the Street Outlaws and was number one for 2014, it is pretty cool seeing him get around 1000 horsepower down to an unprepped street surface,” he said.
“So when (Powercruise promoter) Gup put the $500 buy-in out there I thought that was pretty cool concept. Scott Harker pulled out and Gup contacted me and I was in.
“If you know me I don’t like to take a knife to a gun fight. Victor Bray on the day came over and said to me, ‘you brought ten tonne of TNT.’”
Kind of appropriate for a car with blasting services on the side, no?
Donnelly said the only rules given were two swinging doors and the street surface.
“Deposit $500 dollars into the account and you are in the 16 car field, Gup then gave the entrants VIP entry and all got the use of the garages which was pretty cool for all,” Donnelly said.
“We always thought it would make a stir but rules are rules and all who raced knew the rules, as we weren’t the only race car in the field.”
The social media reaction to a true drag car entering the competition with mixed, with some saying it should have been reserved for street cars only while others said rules are rules and the Donnellys simply brought out the best car the rules allowed.
“Facebook is a wonderful thing – but it is better to run your car, not your mouth,” he said.
Surprisingly the team had some prior experience on difficult surfaces thanks to the drag demo they took part in as part of the Gold Coast 600.
“We decided to change the tune to try and tame it down a little, as we actually did a demo pass at the GC600 with the throttle stop on and it worked,” he said.
“Richie made a new throttle stop on the engine and fattened the fuel system up to help keep the car cool, that was why we did over a full lap of the track in the test session without it getting to hot, with the timing all pulled out of the grid.
“The rest was up to me between pedalling, grabbing some brake and changing gears. Each racer knew that if we slipped up that they would drive right round me but that’s racing and racers know that, that’s why we do it and after every race we all had a good time.
“I hope that it continues and the keyboard warriors don’t try to put to many rules in as you have to remember that ‘Street’ is the surface and ‘Outlaw’ is no rules.”
“I want to thank Gup, all the staff, the fellow racers and especially for my family and crew who without them we can’t do what we do.”
More images below thanks to Drag Photos.
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