Top Alcohol veteran Steve Reed is hoping to close the gap to points leader Gary Phillips at this weekend’s round of the ANDRA Drag Racing Series at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Drag Strip.
Reed is no stranger to the venue, having match raced there four times. But this will be the first time he has attacked the track since its 2011 redevelopment and also the first time it is in a championship scenario.
“Our first appearance here was back in 1987,” he said. “In the 26 years since we have returned with the Funny Car on three other occasions in 1988, 1991 and 2007.”
The Allstar Batteries team are prepared for the increase in tempo needed when it comes to true championship racing.
“This race is not like an arm wrestle with a fellow competitor like previous years, we have made the trek to throw everything at it,” Reed said.
“The last couple of (championship) rounds have been one endless problem [see image above] which has meant lots of hard work for the team to keep the Funny Car on track, but we are sure we’ve got to the root of the problem and will be back at the top of our game this weekend.”
Reed will be against the best of Australian drag racing including reigning national champion Gary Phillips, Australia’s quickest active female racer Debbie O’Rourke, Queensland powerhouse Steven Ham, John Cannuli, Gary Busch, Rob Pilkington, Frank Intini, Jay Henning, Mark Probst and Scott Maclean.
Joining Top Alcohol will be the nitro-fuelled Top Bikes of Australian championship leader Chris Porter, Terry Burnett, Greg Durack, Dennis Grant and Gordon Crawford.
Qualifying begins at 6pm Friday August 16 with eliminations racing from 5pm Saturday August 17.
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