Day two of Rockynats 2022 delivered even more high-horsepower thrills to a sunny Rockhampton.

Street drags joined the weekend’s roster, offering up eight solid hours of eighth-mile, Pro Tree racing next to the Fitzroy River.

It was a squirrelly time on the no-prep surface, thanks in no small part to the no-burnout rule.

John Clifford went for a wild ride in his white Valiant ute, skating across both lanes and coming perilously close to the concrete barriers before straightening out.

Nostalgia racing enthusiast Callum Scott christened his AP6 gasser on the temporary strip. He finished the 477 big block-powered racer in February, which also runs an A-833 ‘box and Dana 60 rear. Up front is ‘37 Plymouth suspension.

Callum has named the gasser ‘Brutal’ in honour of his ailing mate ‘Carby Mik,’ referencing his favourite phrase. “I did the street cruise yesterday and it did a whole lap without breaking down,” he enthuses. It ran an 8.3-second ET on Saturday morning.

Racing continues on day three, running in elimination format until one entrant is left standing. Expect to see a few cars crack the six-second mark – an impressive feat on such an unfriendly surface.

The Insane Performance dyno competition returned for its second day, giving entrants a chance to lay down some big numbers in pursuit of a $1000 prize.

Mark Johnstone’s aspirated big-block Chev-powered Capri set an early benchmark when it recorded 1107hp on the Insane hub dyno. Jamie Meier shot back in the afternoon, with an 1128hp run in his stunning HQ Monaro.

Dan DiBella also brought his corker twin-turbo Coyote XB Falcon along for a pull, yielding 948hp but cooking his plugs in the process.

A wide variety of rides lined the Quay Street footpath for the show-and-shine, proving a great place to chill out and enjoy some beautifully-finished metal up close.

Muz Sutherland’s VS Commodore ute was unmissable as it towered over its two-wheel-drive peers. It sits on a short-wheelbase ‘88 Ford Maverick chassis, and is almost entirely self-built. “There’s about three different cars in it all together,” Muz laughs.

An injected 304 rests under the bonnet, paired to the Maverick box for total 4×4 functionality. 400mm was taken out of the ute’s tub to fit the chassis. Believe it or not, those big flares are all steel!

There was no forgetting about Rockynats’ wall-to-wall burnout action, as big revs and vapourised tyres drifted across the river all day. Round 2 of Burnout Masters qualifying capped off the precinct’s schedule, which saw entrants jostling for 15 spots moving into Sunday’s final sessions.

Jake Myers made a typically violent entry in the legendary S1CKO Mustang, while the enduring crowd favourite TINYTOW Suzuki Carry put on a glorious display thanks to Jay Chun Tie.

The carby LS1-motivated pocket rocket smashed the tyres at huge RPMs, exiting the pad through a shower sparks from two bare rims.

Easter Sunday at Rockynats will be packed with deciders. Drag racing continues, as does the dyno comp and burnouts for both the championship and Masters categories.

The Road to Rockynats Champion will continue at 10am, when the Go to Whoa takes over the CBD’s Drift World. It will all culminate in the 6pm awards presentation back at the Showgrounds, where the Rockynats 2022 Grand Champion will be crowned!