Rod Harvey considers himself to be one of Australia’s new Wild Bunch.

Just as the Wild Bunch led to the formation of the Australian National Drag Racing Association’s Top Doorslammer division, Harvey sees his class as the new age of doorslammer racing.

Rod Harvey considers himself to be one of Australia’s new Wild Bunch.

Just as the Wild Bunch led to the formation of the Australian National Drag Racing Association’s Top Doorslammer division, Harvey sees his class as the new age of doorslammer racing.

Harvey runs in the Factor Extreme division, an eliminator Down Under which features Pro Stock-style sport compact vehicles ranging from Toyota Celicas to Mazda 6s to Mitsubishi Eclipses. You might even see a BMW. The world record is held by Scott Porter, whose Nissan ran a 6.344 elapsed time at 229 miles per hour.

Harvey is just a few thousandths behind with a 6.35 elapsed time. His ride is a Rick Jones Pro Stock chassis camouflaged as a Toyota Celica. The wicked machine is powered by a 2JZ, 3.2 liter Toyota V-6 engine.

“It’s right on the cutting edge of technology,” said Harvey. “It has the latest EC computer in the car and the biggest turbos you can find.”

In a drag racing world where the sport is seeking a younger demographic, Harvey believes this breed of sometimes volatile race car could be the key to cracking this audience.

“The younger generation prefers the import cars. It’s what they are growing up with. Combine the shape and the shell, plus their love of turbocharging, and computers … it has a lot to do with the younger generation. Maybe it will bring more young people into drag racing.”

George Rehayem runs a Mazda 6 in the Factory Extreme division, where he is in the record books with the quickest and fastest rotary engine. His Mazda, powered by a 20BT Mazda rotary engine, has covered the quarter-mile in 6.47 seconds at 222 miles per hour. The chassis, like Harvey’s, was built by RJ Race Cars.

While Rehayem respects the technology of Pro Stock, and appreciates how it caters to the older generation, he believes these cars cater to what is sold to today’s younger generation.

“These cars are where Pro Stock ought to be,” said Rehayem. “They are still running their carburetors, stuck in a time warp.”

The act of cutting and pasting articles from this publication to a message board is a clear copyright violation as is pulling photos to post on social media sites. All articles and photography published in CompetitionPlus.com are protected by United States of America and International copyright laws unless mentioned otherwise. The content on this website is intended for the private use of the reader and may not be published or reposted in any form without the prior written consent of CompetitionPlus.com.