The Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car show has a new star – the Super Bad Nova of Peter Leahy is heading to Adelaide for the January 4 event at Adelaide International Raceway for the car’s Australian debut.

Wheelstands are what she does best according to Allison Stewart. Image by Grant Stephens. Fuchs South Coast Raceway in Portland, Victoria will play host to the first round of the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship on January 4 and 5, 2014 and giving the event some old school style will be New South Wales’ Allison Stewart and South Australian Mark Hunt. Both drivers are part of a large contingent of teams coming from far and wide to compete at one of the country’s best regional venues. Stewart, 24, will be driving the ‘Oztin’ Austin A40 in the Super Sedan category, a car she and her family races in memory of her father Doug. “As a little kid, my sisters and I would frequently go to the track at Canberra to cheer dad on and I haven’t looked back from there,” she said. “Dad first built the ‘Oztin’ in 1983 and he continued to race at most tracks in eastern Australia until he passed away in 2007.” Fun comes first for this team and the unique little ute, but there is still a competitive streak present in Stewart. “Like everyone else racing at Portland it would be nice to win, but my main goal is to make sure everyone has a good time and to win would be a bonus,” she said. “Having fun is the easy part, to win I would have to be at the top of my game. It’s not all up to the driver, a good crew is very important as they are the ones with you on the start line and behind the scenes making everything run like clockwork, so the driver is able to go out and focus solely on the run ahead of them.” Hunt, 52, nicknamed “The Huntsman”, will be using the event to make his debut in Supercharged Outlaws with a 1956 Ford Customline-bodied, tube chassis machine that should be capable of topping 250kmh in under five seconds at the eighth mile (201 metre) Victorian strip. This Adelaide-based Customline is no lemon, despite its vibrant colour! Image by David Hope. Hunt said the Customline has been completely rebuilt with a supercharged 380 cubic inch (6.2 litre) Ford engine using a two-speed Powerglide transmission, a far cry from its original cruising roots. “This will be our first competition season in this car,” he said. “Being a new car we are hoping to get an idea of its capability and times at Portland.” The daunting prospect of over 1000 horsepower available at the accelerator pedal has Hunt wanting to ensure he can focus on the task at hand. “My goal for the weekend is simply to be switched on,” he said. “We’re hoping to test this beast out properly at Portland and see what it is capable of, while enjoying some good quality racing and competition and having fun doing it. “I have not raced at Portland before but attended in 2013 as a spectator and found it to be a great track, with a great family environment and very friendly people. We stayed at the track for three days and had a fantastic time.” A valuable part of Hunt’s team will be son Luke and daughter Kirsty who make up his pit crew. “My son assists with set up and maintenance and my daughter assists with back up on the track and recording all details of each run,” Hunt explained. The Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship at Fuchs South Coast Raceway begins with qualifying from 11am to 5pm on Saturday, January 4, with racing from 10am to 4pm on Sunday, January 5. Tickets will be available for $20 at the gate. {fcomment}

The newest generation of the venerable Nissan GTR platform has provided one of the most significant leaps forward for the marque in years, particularly on circuits. While the drag strip has proved more difficult to adapt the highly strung supercar to, it has been making leaps and bounds in the hands of South Australia tuning house Willall Racing.

The Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car show will take centre stage at Adelaide International Raceway as the coolest show in drag racing heads south, January 4, 2014.

It is with extreme sadness we report that Australian drag racing icon Dennis Syrmis has passed away.

The Kirsten Tucker-Cannuli driven Monaro Pro Stock Monaro will has been sold and is moving to Sydney where it will join the teams former Monster GXP in Sport Compact warfare.

The Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Extravaganza at Sydney Dragway was an event that had everything, and at the end of the day, two of the finalists were at completely different ends of the experience spectrum. The Peirano-powered ‘Time Traveller’ had only a few full quarter-mile passes when they had to take on US superstar Ron Capps for bragging rights – and they won!

In preparation for this weekends Nitro & Fire event at Perth Motorplex, the Nitro Funny Car boys had a pre-event hit out.

A spectator has been killed in a horrific two car accident at the Puerto Rican Salinas Speedway today, home to most of the worlds quickest Sport Compact cars.

In the words of driver and tuner Anthony Maatouk, “This is what happens when you pump 70+ psi into a 1987 block”.

Australian drag racing will continue to be on free to air television for 2014 with Sydney production house AVE and ANDRA again committing to a partnership that will see shows on SBS Speedweek, Speed Channel and available online.

The 2013 drag racing season at Hidden Valley Drag Strip was celebrated this month at the annual awards dinner.

It is with great sadness we announce the tragic passing of QLD Modified racer Athol “Jake” Jacobsen following a truck accident last Monday.

There were a few surprises at the last Adelaide Street Meet, check out our gallery courtesy of Mark Cuffe (DragsSA.com).

  If you have been living on another planet you may have missed several major World Records cop an absolute bashing in the last few weeks. Both ET records for blown and turbo doorslammers along with the Rotary record have been abused.

Street cars are for the street and drag cars are for a drag strip. When you have 1300 horsepower under your right foot things can quickly go wrong as this US racer found out.

Following yet another successful year the JP Racing Eighth Mile Drag Racing Series is set to return in 2014. Warwick Dragway will host the first round of the 2014 series, which will also travel to Willowbank Raceway, Benaraby Raceway and Ironbark Raceway across the year.

From 2014 drag racers who call Willowbank Raceway ‘home’ will have the chance to compete for the Queensland Drag Racing Championships with the facility’s board today announcing the new name for what has previously been known as the Willowbank Raceway Track Championship.

The Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car Extravaganza might have happened a day later than expected after a weather interrupted Saturday but the racing was red-hot for with Sydney-racer Rick Gauci driving the ‘Nitro Express’ ’57 Chev to victory over the international competition.

The inaugural Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car Extravaganza had all the ingredients for an amazing event, except one, the weather.

Outlaw 10.5 racer Paul Mouhayet experienced a terrifying tyre blow out at the finish line after clocking a 6.13 at 244mph. For those not familiar with imperial speeds, that’s a loss of control at almost 400kmh.

Forget about making barbeque utensils or letterboxes in Industrial Arts classes at school, Miller High School built a drag car!

Wednesday at Sydney Dragway saw the first test laps for the Fuchs Flyer and Russler Outlaw Nitro Funny Cars in preparation for the weekends Nitro extravaganza.

As 2013 speeds towards its conclusion and plans for 2014 start to fall into place, Team Bray Racing matriarch Marie Bray has taken some time out to reflect on the year that was.

The Australian Nostalgia Fuel Association has honoured Willowbank Raceway board member Lex Swayn for his 35-year contribution to the sport of drag racing by awarding him one of their six Pioneer Awards.

This years Divisional champions have been announced. ANDRA awards a Divisional Championship certificate to the highest point scorers for each sportsman class from each ANDRA division for their effort during the season.

The final round of the Willowbank Raceway track championship was contested on November 17th.  The event was completed despite a lengthy delay due to a passing thunderstorm.  A big effort by the track crew to get the track dry ensured the rest of the event ran trouble free with about 100 competitors fighting it out for the event win and some also fighting for the track championship. 

The Alutech Funny Car was proudly parked back in the winner’s circle last Saturday, boasting the double jubilation of Crew Chief Brodie Pilkington’s first win and the continuation of his father’s second-round winning streak, as part of the Perth Motorplex Nightfire Jets event.