It would seem that Camp
Stanley and I have
established something of a tradition. I’m not sure if doing something three
years in a row makes it a tradition, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and
say it does. In any case, me and the irrepressible Mr. Stanley recently made our
annual pilgrimage to the Southern Hemisphere to take in a major drag racing
event.
In 2005 we went to Western Sydney International Dragway for
the Nitro Champs event, and last year we went to Brisbane – Willowbank Raceway
in Ipswich to be exact – for the
Winternationals. This is the season finale and the biggest event of the year in
Australian drag racing. We had a great time last year, so when it came time to
plan the 2007 version of our trans-Pacific journey, the “Winters” was our
destination of choice.
Logistically, the trip was a bit of a challenge. A ride from
my home in Greenville, South Carolina, to the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina,
with Roger Richards, then on to Los Angeles. From there it’s a 12-hour
overnight run to Auckland, New Zealand, before boarding another plane for a
4-and-a-half-hour jog across the Tasmin
Sea and into Brisbane. Victor Bray’s PR and web guru
Richard Smith was kind enough to pick us up at the airport and take us to our
motel. (The less said about that the better. Suffice it to say that there were
places to sleep, and a place to shower. And no one was bitten by anything).
Castrol City – the “Mother Of All tents” which housed 16 race teams at the Winternationals
It would seem that
Camp
Stanley and I have
established something of a tradition. I’m not sure if doing something three
years in a row makes it a tradition, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and
say it does. In any case, me and the irrepressible Mr. Stanley recently made our
annual pilgrimage to the Southern Hemisphere to take in a major drag racing
event.
In 2005 we went to Western Sydney International Dragway for
the Nitro Champs event, and last year we went to Brisbane – Willowbank Raceway
in Ipswich to be exact – for the
Winternationals. This is the season finale and the biggest event of the year in
Australian drag racing. We had a great time last year, so when it came time to
plan the 2007 version of our trans-Pacific journey, the “Winters” was our
destination of choice.
Camp Stanley, left, spent his first day at Willowbank Raceway renewing acquaintances. Here he chats with Brett Stevens and members of his team.
Logistically, the trip was a bit of a challenge. A ride from
my home in Greenville, South Carolina, to the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina,
with Roger Richards, then on to Los Angeles. From there it’s a 12-hour
overnight run to
Auckland,
New Zealand, before boarding another plane for a
4-and-a-half-hour jog across the
Tasmin
Sea and into
Brisbane. Victor Bray’s PR and web guru
Richard Smith was kind enough to pick us up at the airport and take us to our
motel. (The less said about that the better. Suffice it to say that there were
places to sleep, and a place to shower. And no one was bitten by anything).
But then the fun started. After a quick freshen up, we piled
into Richard’s Range Rover for the half-hour run to the track. As I have on my
two previous trips, during the ride I scanned the countryside for signs of any
form of famous Australian wildlife. A kangaroo, koala bear, wallaby, Tasmanian
devil, duck-billed platypus, Kookaburra – anything. But once again, other than
a couple of ”kangaroo crossing” signs on the highway and a few termite mounds,
it was a futile effort. Oh well – I’m not giving up!
There was lots of wild action all weekend long, as evidenced by this wheelstanding beast. I think it was a Ford of some description.
I shouldn’t have worried, however, because once at the track
there was wildlife a plenty. In the form of awesome race cars, that is. The
Aussies have a penchant for stuffing supercharged engines into just about
anything with wheels, and you have to love them for that. So many cars of Australian
manufacturer seem familiar to visitors from
North America,
yet are just not what we’re used to seeing. Different trim, body panels, and
configurations, most prominently the “ute” or part car, part pick-up
reminiscent of the defunct Chevrolet El Camino or Ford Ranchero, provide some
great car-watching opportunities.
On Thursday we spent most of the day wandering the pit area,
catching up with friends and acquaintances from past years. Well, actually, I
walked around and took photos while Camp went from pit to pit, gracing the
racers with his presence. He is, of course, the unofficial American Ambassador
to Australian Top Doorslammer Racing, as he was at least partially responsible
for the creation of the popular class after he brought a couple of supercharged
door cars from the “Wild Bunch” down under in the late 1980s for a series of
exhibition appearances. Today, Top Doorslammer is the largest, most
progressive, and fastest growing of the Group One (professional) classes in
Australian National Drag Racing Association (ANDRA) competition.
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Some of the baddest two-wheeled land rockets in the Southern Hemisphere made their way to Queensland for the season finale.
As on our previous trips, we were the guests of Australian
Top Doorslammer legend Victor Bray and Castrol
Australia. Team Bray has had some
pretty impressive pit areas in the past, but the 2007 version of “
Castrol City” was mind-boggling. Most
professional teams contract with companies that come in and erect semi-rigid
tents in their allotted pit spaces at major race meetings. These structures
range in size from postage stamp to football field, but after this year’s race,
there’s a new category: The Team Bray Mother Of All Tents tent. This thing was
huge! No less than 16 teams worked in it – everything from Top Doorslammers to
Alcohol Funny Cars to Pro Stockers to Top Bikes to Junior Dragsters could be
found under one roof.
In addition to Victor’s trademark ’57 Chevy Top Doorslammer
car, there were son Ben Bray’s Holden Monaro Top Doorslammer and Alcohol Funny
Car, son-in-law Dean McClennan’s Alcohol Funny Car, grandson Josh McClennan’s
Junior Dragster, crewmember Chris Hollingworth’s Alcohol Funny Car and
Supercharged Outlaw Holden Monaro. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. A
unique feature of the huge tent was the walkway down the middle that allowed
fans to take in all the between-round action in shaded comfort.
Aaron Tremayne drove this former Greg Anderson Pontiac Grand Am to the top of the qualifying sheet, and capped his weekend with a final-round victory over Shane “Hollywood” Tucker.
With Camp firmly ensconced in the pit area of
Sydney’s Sean Mifsud – he
was actually in Oz to help tune Mifsud’s ’41 Willys Top Doorslammer car – I
headed trackside to film and photograph some of the action.
Professional qualifying kicked off at 5 pm Friday, and the
first pair of cars to the line set the tone for the entire weekend. Brothers
Aaron and Tyronne Tremayne ran doorhandle-to-doorhandle the entire length of
the quarter-mile, with Tyrone’s former Greg Anderson Pontiac Grand Am just
nipping his brother’s Chevrolet Cavalier at the line, 7.162, 188.84 to 7.168,
189.87. As a point of reference, the current national record for the small
block-powered Pro Stock class is 7.157, 190.84. At the conclusion of two days
of qualifying, Tyronne’s mark held up for No. 1 qualifying honors.
Coming in, Jon Andriopoulos led second-place man Andrew Stavrolakes by the slimmest of margins. In the end it was a non-starter, however, as Stavrolakes failed to qualify and handed the Pro Stock title to his rival.
The real drama in Pro Stock, however, promised to be the
battle for the 2006-2007 championship. Coming in to
Ipswich,
Jon Andriopoulos led second-place man Andrew Stavrolakes by the slimmest of
margins. In the end it was a non-starter, however, as Stavrolakes failed to
qualify, for all practical purposes handing the title to his rival. For his
part, Andriopoulos made the show, but sophomore driver Shane “Hollywood” Tucker
was kind enough to let him get an early start on his celebrating by taking a
holeshot win over the newly crowned champ in the first round of eliminations.
When the dust settled, it was Tucker advancing to the final,
where he met No. 1 qualifier Tyronne Tremayne. Tucker, who would be leaving for
the U.S.
shortly after the race to join Cagnazzi Racing, grabbed an advantage off the
line, but Tremayne quickly reeled him in to cap a great weekend of racing,
7.204, 188.36 to 7.222, 188.28.
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There were two outstanding Jerry Bickel-built Mustang GT 500 Pro Stockers in action at Willowbank. Scott Porter fielded this red beauty, while Jason Grima drove the other.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, a championship, and perhaps more
importantly, an undefeated season were on the line as rookie Dion Prowse
brought his Brett Stevens-owned, S&S-powered Buell to the line for his
first qualifying attempt on Saturday afternoon. All Prowse had to do was
qualify for the field and he would claim the title.
He wanted more, however, and by Sunday afternoon he had it.
Not only did Prowse qualify, but he also went all the way to the final, where
he overcame a holeshot to defeat retiring champion Daniel Peaty, 7.173, 184.05
to 7.275, 182.04. It was a history-making weekend for Prowse, who capped a
perfect season with his fifth win in five national events.
Of the 85 Group One teams on hand for this year’s
Winternationals, 21 of them represented the popular Top Doorslammer category.
With the class still restricted to an eight-car field, the competition to make
the final qualifying sheet was fierce.
John Zappia, the first Top Doorslammer driver in the “fives” in Australia, qualified his dominating Holden Monaro first and used another five-second pass to take the class win over a resurgent Ben Bray.
The man from Brisbane
knew what it took to be a champion, having dominated the Top Alcohol category
since its inception in 1991, winning 12 titles, including seven consecutively
between the years of 1995 and 2001. But in a game where fractions of a second
can make or break a season, Phillips could never push his supercharged ‘53
Studebaker to the Top Doorslammer mountaintop.
Ben Bray was back in top form after his workshop accident earlier in the year. He qualified third for the Top Doorslammer field with a pass of 6.091, 229.71
Heading into the Winternationals, Phillips only needed to
qualify to finally claim the coveted title, and he did it in style, laying down
a solid pass of 6.112 seconds at 236.72 mph to clinch the championship.
Of course, like any true racer he wanted some icing on the
cake, and an event win would have suited him and the team just fine. A broken
throttle linkage in his first round match-up with six-time class champ Victor
Bray ended that dream, however, and the man who dogged Phillips in the points
chase all season long, John Zappia, went on to win the event. After a
hard-fought season, it was somehow appropriate that the two racers shared the
podium on Sunday night.
Another highlight of the weekend was the successful
outing enjoyed by Ben Bray, the young former Top Alcohol and Top Doorslammer
champion who suffered serious injury in a race shop accident earlier in the
year. Ben qualified his Pontiac Firebird Funny Car No.1 in Top Alcohol with a
stout mark of 5.641, 249.03, and used a 6.091, 229.71 effort to put his Holden
Monaro into the No. 3 spot on the Top Doorslammer grid.
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Gary Phillips has 12 Top Alcohol titles to his name, but he wanted to add a Top Doorslammer championship to his record. He managed to accomplish his goal just by qualifying at Willowbank.
Victor Bray also had a strong outing, dispatching
newly crowned champion Phillips in the first round before falling to Zappia in
an awesome race, 6.031, 335.97 to 6.040, 341.42.
Brett Stevens was another racer with a chance to make
history at Willowbank. If he
could win in Top Alcohol, he would become the only person to have won three
professional championships in three different Group One brackets. Stevens had
previously won titles in Top Doorslammer and Top Bike.
Six-time Top Doorslammer champion Victor Bray qualified sixth for the Winternationals show, and gave fans a real thrill when he and Zappia raced side-by-side for the entire quarter-mile. Zap edged Victor by the slimmest of margins – 6.031, 241.42 to 6.040, 235.97 – to advance to the final round.
Ben Bray has regained his status as a double threat, adding a No. 1 Top Alcohol qualifying effort to his No. 3 Top Doorslammer mark. He went out in a close first-round Top Alcohol battle.
Despite not being able to take the Top Alcohol title,
Stevens was the man to beat all weekend in Top Bike, qualifying his Top Fuel
Harley-Davidson in the No. 1 spot. Stevens went on to salvage his weekend in a
big way, taking the Top Bike trophy with a win over teammate Troy McLean in the
final.
Former Top Bike champion Jay Upton provided some
fireworks for the fans when he lit up his full-bodied Honda on his first two
qualifying attempts. The resulting damage forced Upton to withdraw from the event.
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Brett Stevens was in a fight for the Top Alcohol title, but his chances took a hit when he was forced to shut his car off after the pilot chute popped out after his burnout in the second qualifying session.
It was a dramatic
result for the driver from Mildura, but perhaps the most emotional moment of
the weekend came when 64-year-old driver Roy Smith, of Brisbane, roared to the first sub-five second pass of his
career behind the wheel of the Atholwood & Smith Top Fuel Dragster. Smith,
the oldest driver at the event, posted a personal best of 4.91 seconds.
Smith, who returned to competition ten years ago after a 20-year retirement, is
the only active driver to have raced at the first Winternationals in 1968. His
impressive qualifying effort landed him in the No. 4 spot heading into Sunday’s
elimination rounds, where he was scheduled to meet fellow Queenslander “Pommie”
Steve Read in the first stanza. In his match-up with Read, Smith had problems
right off the line, but his weekend was considered a huge success nevertheless.
According to Smith, his landmark qualifying effort was the fulfillment of a
lifelong dream for him and veteran crew chief Mick Atholwood.
Former Top Bike champ Jay Upton’s Honda suffered spectacular explosions on two consecutive passes during qualifying.
Perhaps the most emotional moment of the weekend came when 64-year-old driver Roy Smith roared to the first sub-five second pass of his career behind the wheel of the Atholwood & Smith Top Fuel Dragster. Smith, the oldest driver at the event, posted a personal best of 4.91 seconds.
The next day, after
a relatively routine run to the airport - Camp only turned on the wipers 40 or
50 times when going for the turn signal – we flew on to Auckland, where some very special people –
Tony and Linda Johnson, met us. They whisked us off
Phil Lamattina annouced his intentions to go after next season’s championship by qualifying in the No. 1 spot and making an impressive run through the elimination rounds. In the final, he outlasted three-time class champion Phil Read in a peddle-fest to claim his first Gold Christmas Tree.
So that’s the story
from the 40th running of the Winternationals, the most important
drag race outside of North America. It’s a
great event, and a must-see for drag-racing fans around the world. And since I
still haven’t seen a kangaroo, well, then I guess I have to go back next year.
Victor Bray tells me his farm is crawling with the critters, so that will
definitely be the first stop in 2008!
