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ASRF Nationals,
Goulburn,
'09
- Driving Events.
The driving
events were, largely, held at Wakefield Park, a professionally run
motor racing circuit a few clicks out of Goulburn. The start was
delayed due to some rain, which responded to the gritted teeth of
the organisers by charitably moving on to break the drought
somewhere else. When action got under way, it was well worth the
trip.
Many of the competitors had driven over a thousand clicks to the
Nationals, then flogged the tripe put of their cars, in a great
display of self confidence in their rods, and their ability to fix
whatever might break. |
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Mark Dunn's pretty
little deuce 5-window hiboy wowed the crowds, with both great colour
choice, and a highly detailed flatty.
The huge fat tyres on the '34 are concealed
somewhat by the fenders & tank cover, but from this angle, all is
revealed.
T-bucket styling goes from the top heavy to low
slung, in which camp this Ford powered ground shaker belongs.
Chris Hadgkiss has owned this SBF powered
supercharged gasser style streeter for 38 years, and continues to
love every minute of it.
Laurie Grima's '55-'56 Chev sedan decreased the
average age of the field by a few years, while adding to the list of
entrants of outstanding quality.
The exhaust note identified this as a V6 - it
looks like the very popular Commodore unit (nee Buick 3.8 L), which
gives a great power to weight ratio.
The burnout area was supposed to allow the drag
racers a quick tyre warm-up. These tyres were well & truly warmed up
after this energetic burnout.
This H.A.M.B. racer has amassed a great
collection of early hop-up gear, and wasn't afraid to hammer it hard
on every run.
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Chopped sedans are hot rods too, as this '28 will
attest to. Note the body colour on the grille, and fine detailing.
This trio of
'30-'31 Model As included David Keys' chopped Tudor, the Looms family coupe, and Rocky
Gilbert's side valve powered roadster.
Leanne Boardman's hammered '36 coupe gets around;
we last saw it at Wintersun in Coolangatta.
A competitor at some of the nostalgia drag race
events, this '29 Sports Coupe was no stranger to the notion of hot &
fast competition.
Here is one for the books - Jason Strudwick beats
his father, John Strudwick (a.k.a. Cookie Monster), out of the gate.
Great family fun for all.
The H.A.M.B. racers are interesting, in so far as
they are designed as a class of low dollar drag cars. As with most
H.A.M.B. initiatives there are strict styling considerations.
Tony Younis's tiny Anglia won both the Go-whoa
and the ⅛ mile drags - a first, in the history of the Nationals.
Here we see the front left skimming the pavement.
Steve Stefanovic's chopped '31 Model A coupe runs
one of the strongest small blocks around, laying straight black
stripes on the bitumen, in 3 gears.
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This 'sloper' body style is unique to Australia;
the rest of the world caught on to the theme a few decades later.
The rain stopped just about the time the Go-Whoa
was due to start, so after a short delay, the competitors were going
rounds against the clock.
The Greg Jones '34 3-window hiboy has assumed
extra panache since the distinctive race numbers were added.
Canberra's Andrew Komnacki hazes the hides in his
LPG fueled & supercharged hiboy 3-window.
Most of the competitors went on both the Go-Whoa
event and the drag racing, as did this stout T-bucket.
This H.A.M.B. racer was exceptionally well
finished, and ran an equally nostalgic side valve. The wide grin on
the driver told volumes about how much fun he was having.
Ian Hickey's well travelled '35 coupe is
overhauled by a lighter T-bucket. A great time was had by all.
Norm Hardinge cruises the pits, before making a
single pass under the watchful eye of a documentary film crew.
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