When the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship comes to Alice Springs for the Desert Nationals this weekend, one of the premiere brackets on show will be the loud and fast Funny Cars, Dragsters, Altereds and Sedans of Supercharged Outlaws.
A close battle is to be expected at Alice Springs Inland Dragway as a fascinating Championship story is set to play out with the likes of series points leader Rodney Hansen making the journey along with current #1 Luke Marsden, former champs Darryl Walford and Matt Watts and title challengers Chris Van’tHof, Doina Day and Mark Kuhn.
The Desert Nationals is unique in that it is the only event on the calendar attracting a 50% travel bonus for Championship points scored at the event, meaning everyone is looking to get the jump on one another.
Tied for second in the Championship with five other racers, South Australian Mark Kuhn is making the journey to central Australia with his 1957 Corvette in the hopes of taking full advantage of the bonus incentive.
“As a team, given the bonus points on offer, a win in Alice would be a huge reward for our crew and would make up for some real close racing losses to date this season,” explains Kuhn.
“We will be attending all of the remaining rounds this season even if we reach our 300 points cap. We just enjoy getting out and testing ourselves and entertaining the race fans.”
Kuhn is no stranger to ASID having competed in the desert several times before. But even with that experience in his back pocket he expects plenty of headaches from the high calibre field.
“It will be a gathering of some hard core racers who all are very fierce competitors and nothing will come easy,” he said. “At this stage I will be really happy with a first round win.
“I have raced at ASID several times in the past, there’s nothing like it. I have never had an issue with track prep with either my Super Sedan car or my Corvette. I actually won the titles meeting there about three years ago narrowly beating
Matty Watts in his old blown altered.
“I am expecting good weather, some fantastic Central Australian Drag Racing Association hospitality and the fans can expect some great racing even from a relatively small field of entrants.”
The Desert Nationals will feature 83 competitors from across Australia for Round 8 of the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship. Qualifying begins at 10:30am on Saturday July 19. Eliminations commence from 11am Sunday July 20.
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