Whyalla’s Leigh Donaldson is currently preparing to head to South Coast Raceway for the first time, where he will field his VX SS Commodore in Super Stock after making the step up to the bracket earlier this year.
Donaldson will be part of a line-up of more than 150 cars and bikes that will race at the Portland venue across January 7 and 8 for the South Coast 660, featuring the latest round of the 2022/2023 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series.
While Donaldson might be a new face in the Super Stock ranks, he has plenty of drag racing history behind him – racing in Super Street in a 1967 Camaro for 15 years before making the switch.
“Like most of us, I first got involved in drag racing through my family. My eldest brother raced in Super Street and Super Sedan and ended up in Super Stock in the mid-nineties,” Donaldson explains.
“I started racing myself in Whyalla about 15 years ago, running my street-driven Camaro in Super Street, before making the step up to Super Stock with my Commodore in 2021.
“The competition is a big part of the sport’s appeal to me obviously, but it has also been about spending time with friends and family.
“We always want to do well of course, but if we enjoy ourselves, then it has all been worth it.”
While Donaldson is still in the very early stages of developing his Super Stock campaign, he has plenty of good things to say about the bracket.
“I was first exposed to Super Stock in the mid to late-nineties as I would help my brother at Adelaide International Raceway and the performance-based nature of index racing was really appealing to me,” the Instrumentation Technician said.
“In every category of drag racing, the good guys are tough – it doesn’t matter if it is DYO or fixed index racing – but group two racing was something I always wanted to do.
“We are very early in the development of the VX SS Commodore currently, but we are learning a bit every time we run and enjoying ourselves along the way!”
The South Coast 660 will mark Donaldson’s first trip to South Coast Raceway.
“I have never been there before, but I am really looking forward to it. It looks like a beautiful spot, and the facilities look great,” he said.
“While we are there, we are hoping to keep making gradual improvements. We have made a number of changes since we ran at Mildura’s Twilight Nationals in March and I am trying to keep my expectations realistic given how early we are in the development process, but we know where we can improve.
“The other guys in the class have hundreds of runs under their belts while we basically have six, so if we can be in a better place after the South Coast 660 than we are when we arrive, then we will be happy!
“At this stage, after this event we are planning heading to Mildura for the Twilight Nationals, and we will possibly head to other Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series events too in the future.
“In the meantime, I have to say a big thank you to Marcus Jobbi and Darren Polumbo from Bullet Race Engineering for their R&D work and ongoing support, to Chris from CK Racing Developments for his work building the car, to my brother Brendan who takes care of a lot things I can’t get to in Adelaide and for his advice, and also Matt Dickeson, Lee Hunter, Paul Utting, Jim Ioannidis from Automotive Performance Distributors, and Micheal and Aaron from Outlaws speed shop. Apologies to anyone I may have forgotten, I can’t thank my friends and family enough for what you guys have done!”
The South Coast 660 will be held at Portland’s South Coast Raceway across January 7 and 8. For event info, go to www.southcoastraceway.com.au
For more from ANDRA, visit www.andra.com.au
PIC THANKS TO JAMES UTTING