23 February 2011
Saturday turned into stunning day weather wise. This was unexpected due to the bleak lead up and the amount of rain Whyalla received on Friday.
Track manager Archie Fabian and his off siders John and Barry pulled together to have the track up to par for Saturday’s meeting, especially after the track was under an inch of water the day before.
There were quite a few new faces on the track which is a huge boost to the club and means that word is getting out there that SCDC is pulling together a great new track.
Spectators were treated to some fast action on the strip with the “Super Charged Outlaws” showing the crowd how the big guys and gals do it. Gary Busch in the Greg Brown owned A1 Racing team Pontiac firebird couldn’t run to his full potential and had to back off at the end of the track still managed to take out the track record with a 4.66 second 169.45 mph pass. Greg himself had set the track record on the old track back in May 2006 with a 4.91. The team also took out the best car and team trophy, Graham Shiell the outright winner in his American Muscle car with his fastest time on the day 132.76 mph, r/up Bruce Mchendrie.
Super Street always has a large contingent with a huge variety of vehicles. The girls always hold their own in this bracket with the likes of Kylie Tanner in her gold torana who has many titles under her belt to Lia Jurkovic in her neat black dodge ute always putting on an impressive show with her burn outs. The day came down to a final between Lisa Blandford in her pink Holden with an impressive support team behind her of Enzo Demizio and Bob Sherry put in some very consistent times for the day but was pipped at the post by Rob Sitko in his Orange 308 Holden Torana.
SA Street Challenge had a final dual between the two commodores. Jason Gregory in his Red VXSS Commodore (Lowflyer) had a nice run into the final taking out the winner’s trophy with a 7.85s dial in running a 7.927s at 80.8 mph, with Stefan Lainas in his Green commodore with dial in of 9.87s, running a 10.024s 72.39 mph pass to take out the r/up trophy.
Super Sedan is always going to be a tussle between the locals and the city boys. For the regulars to the track it was to be a dream final between the new comer in his first season racing Nigel Hartmann in his Ford Cortina “Betsy the Roartina” and another track favourite the sponsor of lane two Mick Mahoney from Reads Transport in his Ford Capri. The battle between the Fords was always going to be a high light as it was Nigel’s first assault past the first round. The win finally going to Nigel on a dial in of 6.50s, running a 6.596s pass at 106.57 mph and Mick having some trouble and coming in as r/up.
The junior dragsters as usual are a family affair with 3 separate sets of siblings. These kids give their fair share out on the track putting in some impressive times. Bailey Datson knows his JD inside and out dialling in a 7.97s and running a 7.99s pass at one stage. The final coming down to two of the girls Justine Piddington and Kelly Donnelly with Justine in her Blockzilla winning with a dial in 9.30s and running a 9.299s.
The regular guys on the bikes came out with a couple of new machines. Bryan Finn showing off his new 1049 Honda CB1100, had his first run on the week end and also thought it might be a good week end to win, taking out the line honours against Boots Oxley who in turn had a break out in the final.
The highly anticipated unveiling of Mark Kuhn’s 1959, 427 small block Chevy, Corvette was a sight to see. Mark wasn’t out for competition points but to get some test runs under his belts to see how she runs. With a couple of impressive burnouts it looks like she is well on her way to make her debut.
Next meeting is the final of the Max Cranes tri series on March 13th at Mullaquana. Entries close on Friday 4th March NO Entries accepted on the day. All enquires to Lia Kuhn 0407 760 176 or Peter Datson 0448 014 322.
Written By Tonia Packard