Drag racing roared back into life at Gunnedah Airport in NSW earlier this month, with over 70 racers descending on the airstrip from all over the region and interstate for a weekend of old-school, eighth-mile drag racing fun.
Put on by the Tamworth Drag Racing Association (TDRA), everything from blown Top Sportsman machines, Junior Dragsters and hot rods to more subtle grocery-getters packed the lanes to have a rip down the temporary half-track.
Aaron Brookes was the ANDRA Chief Steward onsite during the weekend, and said there is a big following for regional racing events such as this. “The people that race at tracks like this are big about grassroots stuff; they’re not as interested in the bigger events and tracks,” he said.
“The cars are still very serious though. People don’t realise how many seriously fast cars there are out here in regional towns, and the people take their racing really seriously.”
Saturday was a straight-up test day, before qualifiers and finals on the Sunday. All the racing was run in dial-in format, with three major brackets splitting the bumper field.
Because Gunnedah is still very much an operating airstrip, the only surface prep the Tamworth club officials were allowed to do was a basic track sweep and throwing down some water for the burnout box.
Despite that, cars were still dialling-in as quick as 6.00 seconds over the eighth, which is a pretty stout achievement on a no-prep surface.
“This is really the heart of drag racing,” said Aaron.
“People travelled from as far north as Brisbane and as far south as Windsor to come and race that weekend, and because of a few rain delays earlier this year, it was the first big event they’ve had in a while.”
The TDRA will be hosting another Gunnedah drag weekend in just over a month’s time, 29-30 October, and the exciting bit is that this is just the beginning of regional racing in NSW.
“We’re looking at starting a regional New South Wales Sportsman Championship soon,” said Aaron. “
There’s a massive appetite for it, so it’s really exciting for us to be able to offer something for people who love this sort of racing.”
Here’s the full results from the Gunnedah Drag Day on 6-7 August, and if you’d like to enter their upcoming weekend in October, visit the TDRA’s Facebook page by clicking here, or email [email protected].
FULL RESULTS
Bracket A
- Winner: Geoff Alston – Chevrolet Camaro
- Runner-up: Sam Campbell – XD Falcon
Bracket B
- Winner: David Smith – XC Falcon
- Runner-up: Kevin Griffiths – VP Holden ute
Bracket C
- Winner: Alissa Munn – Commodore SS
- Runner-up: Chris Rassatti – Ford Falcon
Best Reaction Time
Sam Campbell – 0.018sec
Closest to Dial-In
Nicole Thomas – 9.80sec on a 9.80 dial-in
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