Paul Burroughs smokes the tyres as he starts his lap at the 34th Wanganui Street Drags on Taupo Quay today.
Paul Burroughs smokes the tyres as he starts his lap at the 34th Wanganui Street Drags on Taupo Quay today.
When something goes wrong in amateur motorsport, best believe everyone just rolls up their sleeves and gets to helping.
The 34th edition of the annual Street Drags along Taupo Quay ran a little long this afternoon as Wanganui Road Rodders club members had to dash off to Mitre 10 topurchase concrete dust to cover the whole 1/8th mile track after one of just the first group of cars started their qualifying laps at 10am.
"We had a major oil down," said event organiser Grant Rivers.
"He blew a trans and still drove the whole length of the track.
A tractor from Bullocks applied the concrete dust, delaying racing for around an hour, before a couple of cars were sent down to blow it away a little while later.
The delayed start aside, it was another strong day of competition for the largest field seen at the Street Drags in recent years – with 56 cars, nine bikes, eight imports, four juniors and two competition dragsters.
Even with a couple of late pullouts, the lineup was virtually as large as the biggest turnout of the previous decade - when over 70 vehicles competed at the 30th anniversary Street Drags in 2016.
It was also the second year of using the new course layout, with the rallying point moved away from the Heads Rd intersection, from where the vehicles used to race south, to further down at the Liffton St intersection and instead racing back north.
Even with the oil slick, Rivers said the fastest times surpassed the results from 2019.
"The track going this way is better, and getting better and better."
Still, the bigger powered cars still "over power the road", meaning it is the vehicles with a little less pace and better control and ability to stick to the road that are usually the top contenders for the various prizes.
Wellington-region racers Brooke Teague and Aaron Thomas had a fierce battle for the Group 1 and Fastest Car titles, with Teague edging out Thomas by 0.089s.
A mainstay of the Port Rd Drags, Thomas was satisfied to be reaching 6.7s times at 104mph, as he tackled Taupo Quay for the first time heading northwards in his 1954 Ford Pop, which was named Best Presented Car.
"We can't go faster than 6.5s, so thought we'd be somewhere around there - it's quite slippery out there.
"Wanganui club always come down to the Wellington drags, I just try to come up here when I can."
The Ford Pop of Aaron Thomas also broke the 6.8s mark during racing, while being named Best Presented Car.
Most veteran racers, by design, cannot say how much money they have sunk into their pride and joys over the years, although after two decades of drag racing, Thomas offered a couple of units of measurement when asked how much his open-engine monster had cost him.
"A couple of wives and two houses."
Lifting the prestigious Ivan Jones Memorial Trophy for best local driver, while also claiming the Best Staging (aka burnout) prize was Arron Wood – the the Cooper Tyres Wanganui owner adding special coloured rims to his1973 Monaro to create a fantastic 'purple haze' for the spectators.
"I've done it a few years in a row now - gets some attention," he said.
"It's been in every year since 2008. This thing's built on a shoe string budget.
"Cable ties and No 8 wire hold that thing together."
Wood had been happy with the reversing of the course, having reached speeds around the 7.6s mark.
"It can go fast bit it's too much horse [power].
"You slip and slide down there today, but it's still good."
It what is becoming a recent habit, the anticipated V8 vs Import Challenge was again won by the V8, as Peter Fink out-ran Adrian Rivers by just over 0.3 seconds.
Grant Rivers expressed his continued gratitude to the local businesses and sponsors for helping them to continue to run the big event.
Isabella Taylor 8, sits behind the wheel of Brooke Teague's car, which would win the Group One and Fastest Car prizes.
Results
Group One: 1. Brooke Teague, 6.703s; 2. Aaron Thomas; 3. Darren Breuer.
Group Two: 1. Des Pollington, 8.157s; 2. Johnny Hooper; 3. Warren Riddick.
Group Three: 1. Len Wilsher, 8.655s; 2. Jake Groot; 3. Ra Hopkins.
Group Four: 1. Mitch Wood, 10.14s; 2. Steph Burns; 3. Dave Burroughs.
Fastest Ford: 1. Mike Burns, 7.804; 2. Rod Sklenars; 3. Gavin Tombs.
