Super Stock competitor Louis Svingos will be hunting for his maiden ANDRA Christmas Tree Trophy at this weekend’s Twilight Nationals.
The event marks the penultimate round of the 2021/2022 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series, and will be hosted by the Sunraysia Drag Racing Association at Mildura’s Sunset Strip this Friday and Saturday (18/19 March).
While racing for many years, Svingos is yet to clinch a ANDRA Christmas Tree-getting victory, although he has come close a number of times.
Now, fresh from a comeback to racing which resulted in a finals appearance in Mildura at the weekend, Svingos is hopeful that his time may be close.
“The elusive ANDRA Christmas Tree has got so much history, and so much meaning to the sport,” he said.
“I haven’t got one yet, but I have had a couple of runner-up results in Alice Springs and at Portland.
“It sure would be good to hang up the bridesmaid dress and be the bride!” he grinned.
“The event at the weekend in Mildura featuring Top Fuel was a really great event. For us it was being used as more of a test session as we have been out of the seat for a while due to business commitments and navigating COVID-19 and the risk of border closures as a small business, but we managed to get to the final which we were quite happy about.
“It gives us some confidence heading to the Twilight Nationals – of course our hopes are always high, but the reality is, anything can happen on race day,” added the director of City Demolition and Salvage.
Svingos’ Chrysler VF Hardtop has undergone some small changes since it was last in action in the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series in early 2020.
“It has a similar combination, but after swapping to unleaded fuel we lost our way a little bit, so we took the engine out and put it on the dyno at RC Engines and Rino, having such a high standard of naturally aspirated engines, managed to get the equivalent horsepower back so we were really happy with that,” Svingos explained.
“Now we are concentrating on getting on top of the clutch and we made some good inroads on that last weekend. Hopefully during qualifying for the Twilight Nationals we can get it even better.
“In the meantime, I would like to thank my wife Tracy for putting up with all the late nights and supporting me. I would also like to thank Mario Barbon; Colin Desekis for rebuilding the engine twice after we had some dramas and doing a fantastic job; Rino from RC Engines for his much-appreciated efforts; and our long-time sponsors, Smart Road Auto Wreckers, Ned Karanovic, and the Karanovic family.”
The Twilight Nationals will be held at Mildura’s Sunset Strip across Friday March 18 and Saturday March 19. For event info, go to www.sunsetstrip.org.au
For more from ANDRA, go to www.andra.com.au
IMAGE CREDIT TO CACKLING PIPES PHOTOGRAPHY/GRANT STEPHENS