Shannons Nostalgia Drags – Round 8, W.S.I.D.
Sunday April 15 saw another successful round of Nostalgia Drag Racing at Western Sydney International Dragway. With a full field featuring Junior Fuel, Slingshot, Gas, Hot Rod, American Muscle, Australian Muscle and the HAMBsters there was something for all tastes.
Mike Kristen returned for his third outing at the Nostalgia Drags in the CBB Racing twin supercharged 1956 VW Beetle, along with Dave Stoker’s LMS Drag Beetle making its second appearance in the series. The Volkswagens, being typically 9 second cars are placed in the Gas class.
The LMS Beetle, driven by Michael Waldron was the first of the Volkswagens on the track for qualifying. Michael took the car through one of it’s cleanest ever launches to cross the line in 9.7seconds at 126mph. Unfortunately a probable lean out at the quick end of the track meant a head was torched ending the day abruptly after only one strong pass for the LMS car at this event.
Mike Kristen, having not raced the car in since the last Nostalgia meet, ran a conservative 9.8sec at 134mph. The second qualifying run was hampered by losing fourth gear, running through the 10s after shifting back to third. Deciding to run the car in eliminations he dialled in at 12 seconds expecting to only use three gears. However, feeling a miss in the engine, Mike shut down during the pass losing the first round of racing. Despite the first failure of the car in many passes, Mike’s strong burnouts, cranky hunt and savage launches again impressed the largely V8 minded crowd.
The HAMBsters (HA/GR – HAMB Gas Rail) had their third ever outing after debuting at the December 2006 round. With several cars in the works around the country this retro class looks set to explode. The field consisted of the HAMBsters of Joseph Rodriquez, Nick Mastromauro, Ezio Cacciotti, Joe Formosa, Ben Gatt, John Dyer and Jeffery Danglmaier in his just-in-time finished car. Matthew Hale also had his almost completed straight-eight Buick powered car at the track.
The flatheads and early sixes pushed the rails (built in the spirit of “The Bug”) through a Chicago Shootout style format toward the final between Ben Gatt and Joe Formosa. The two sidies echoed through the night sky as Ben took the win.
Once again Gasser styled vehicles were in number, anticipating the introduction of the Vintage Gasser class into the CNDRA series. The highlight of these had to be the injected 451 Dodge Dart of Garth Bell. This will be the new big thing, with many already collecting bits and reviving old Gassers from the past. Until the class is up and running the majority of existing cars are running in the well supported Aussie and U.S. Muscle classes.
Muscle featured, as always, a strong field. John Kerr and Geoff NcNiff taking the honours in American and Aussie Muscle respectively. Low winds on the track surface and the prevalence of these classes for making lots of smoke turned the starting area into a low white cloud for the duration of their rounds. The old rivalries of Ford Vs. Holden and Ford Vs. Chev come to the fore here in these often exciting and closely matched races.
Wild rides were aplenty. Jenny Petrie in the Timic sponsored Junior Fuel 350 powered Fiat Topolino was cranking those front wheels high into the air. Gas provided most of the hair-raising rides. Chris Papadopolous, lifted the wheels of his XW GT Falcon after a solid holeshot, only to get unsteady and pull off a remarkable save after crossing the centreline. The LC Torana ON GAS also saw some wild swings after spilling coolant in front of those wide slicks and almost ended up ON ROOF. Stephen Willies was unfortunate to meet the wall at half track, after fluid loss from the big 512, damaging the front of the big Ford Torino.
Shannons Insurance has come on board as naming sponsors of the Nostalgia Drag Racing Series continuing to show their support for both racers and classic car enthusiasts.
Junior Fuel
Winner – Brett Robertson
Runner Up – Greg Smith
Slingshot
Winner – Bob Sinclair
Runner Up – Mick Borg
Gas
Winner – Brett McNiff
Runner Up – Sam Khoury
Hot Rod
Winner – Luke Griffiths
Runner Up – Phil Redford
American Muscle
Winner – John Kerr
Runner Up – Stuart Smith
Aussie Muscle
Winner – Geoff McNiff
Runner Up – Carmelo DeMaria
HAMBster
Winner – Ben Gatt
Runner Up – Joe Formosa
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http://www.hotrodmattimages.com/galleries/thumbnails.php?album=8
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