As the ANDRA Drag Racing season reaches the pointy end, Australian Competition Eliminator Championship hopeful Craig Geddes finds himself joint first in the standings despite a switch in vehicles and no 2014 Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship event wins.

Thanks to the 50 per cent travel bonus points collected in Alice Springs at the Deseret Nationals in July, Geddes was propelled into contention for a third National Championship and second in Competition Eliminator.

The 1996 Australian Super Gas and 2006 Australian Competition Eliminator Champion from Miners Rest, Ballarat, changed vehicles from an Altered to a Dragster just a few short months ago to try the E/DA index using their proven engine combination from the Altered.

“The dragster we are currently running is the ex Charles Vanyesseldyke car which he raced some years ago,” explains Geddes.

“Even though we haven’t actually had a win this season we are collecting some good points and the trip to Alice Springs certainly helped the chase. 

“This season we have managed to put ourselves into some poor positions in the qualifying order and needed to run some very fast cars in early rounds of eliminations. I must admit we are struggling against some very fierce competition from the guys in WA at this point, full credit to them.” 

Geddes now faces another class switch from B/DA to E/DA in an attempt to become even more competitive under the Group Two index system as his team makes the necessary changes to find that elusive Championship event win.

“We have just finished fitting the 284ci engine from the Altered into the Mike Bos Dragster in an attempt to gain an advantage in regards to the index system,” he says.

“The new class will be E/DA compared to the tough B/DA index we have been running this season up until now.

“We have made steady progress so far and have been pleased with the results which include setting the national B/DA record at the Winternationals.

“We’ve needed to rethink our car setups as we had the Altered very well sorted but the Dragsters behave quite differently. I don’t have a preference in regards to which car I drive providing we are having some success and continually move forward in a positive manner.” 

He comes into Round 9 of the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship in Mildura hoping to secure his first series win of the season and feels the old engine in the new car will be the launching pad to do so.

But he isn’t just focussing on the remainder of this season with his plans for 2015 already underway. 

“My partner in the team Rob Martin and I are already planning another class change for next season,” he explains.

“The current car is on the market as we await the arrival of a 2011 built Prostart Dragster complete with Liberty air shifted five speed transmission.

“The car will arrive minus the engine, it is the current NHRA C/D record holder and has run as quick as 6.78 seconds at 200mph with a 327 wedge engine.

“We plan to run A/D, B/D and E/D which we hope will allow us to remain near the front of the pack for many years to come in Competition Eliminator.”

Round 9 of the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship will feature over 150 competitors across 11 Sportsman categories vying for Championship glory at Mildura Sunset Strip September 13-14, 2014.

For more information please visit www.sunsetstrip.org.au

Image courtesy: dragphotos.com.au