UPDATE, 17 July 2023:

Hundreds of top-notch cars and thousands of people have turned out to Exhibition Park in an overwhelming show of support for Ryan Tanaskovic and his family, raising almost $75,000 to aid their fight against leukaemia.

Cruise for a Cause took over the legendary Canberra venue on Sunday, with big-name cars including Livi Krevatin’s ‘Nats 35 Grand Champ Porsche 911 and Jovan Batar’s May ’22 cover car HK Monaro making a big impression.

There were blown toughies around every corner, from MRLOOS to Adam Ursino’s wild Datsun ute and Danny Younis’s Capri, both fresh from appearances on Hoonigan!

According to co-organiser and Ryan’s brother Mitch Tanaskovic, the event was a runaway success. “It was insane,” he enthuses. “From the hype we gathered, I was going to be happy with two or three hundred cars, but by 9am we had to get the next plot opened up to fill with cars!

“We didn’t get a final count, but I think we ended up with 450 to 500 cars.”

Thousands of spectators filtered through to enjoy the wide array of metal. “It was open to everyone,” Mitch says. “We had old Harleys, V-Rods, classics, some JDM stuff, but our main priority was as many Falcons as possible, because that’s what my brother loves.”

Even Ryan’s own XY Falcon dubbed ‘MYCURE’ came along, in which he ripped a massive trailer skid courtesy of the 393 Cleveland and toploader combo.

“He was just going to sell it off, but when he got diagnosed we put all the running gear in it and didn’t bother to paint it – it’s what he wanted,” Mitch says. “The patina paintjob’s sort of growing on me, so we might just leave it like that!”

Between entry donations and raffle ticket sales – which featured around $50,000 in prizes from local businesses – an incredible $74,851 was raised to support Ryan’s treatment and the Tanaskovic family’s living expenses.

“It was just crazy from start to finish, but it was all worth it in the end,” Mitch laughs. “I was working the front gate and I thought it would be pretty cruisy, but I had to rally about six of the boys just to get everyone parked. There was no cruise afterward, it was just too big!”

It takes plenty of voluntary manpower to pull off an event like this, and many of Ryan’s extended family and friends banded together to make it happen.

Alongside each sponsor and EPIC for offering the space, Mitch extends special thanks go to Aaron Schilg from Easy Life Automotive, George Solo and Zak Petrovski from AJDE Performance, Lochie Carnegie from Carnegie Customs, Andrew ‘Turtle’ Thurling, Matt Sullivan from Discount Towing, Didge Cahill and Josh Rendall, Gerry Krikoni, Todd Lynes and Hayden Smith from Mitchell Smash Repairs, Stella and John Voudouris, Penny and John Chronopoulos, Nick Kozak and Kara Tanaskovic.

The story to here

13 July 2023: A huge show ‘n’ shine and cruise will hit Canberra this Sunday to help support a local dad’s battle with cancer.

Ryan Tanaskovic is something of a local legend around the Canberra car scene thanks to his work with Discount Towing. He’s currently fighting leukaemia, so some of his great mates have organised Cruise for a Cause to help support him and his young family.

The event will open to car entries from 9am at the home of Summernats – Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC). Trailered cars and bikes are welcome too! Entry is $50 per car, with all proceeds going to Ryan and his family to support future treatment and expenses. Spectators are welcome at EPIC from 10am, with a gold coin donation at the gate.

The convoy will then head to the Bunnings Majura car park from 2pm, followed by the Fyshwick car wash and Braddon’s Caltex, with the opportunity for more cruising afterwards.

There’ll be BBQ food a-plenty and raffle prizes on the day, including a signed and framed Canberra Raiders jersey, a $500 voucher to performance gurus Profection Automotive, and even a $6000 custom outdoor kitchen!

That’s barely scraping the surface, so check out the Facebook event page for heaps more stuff on offer courtesy of awesome local businesses.

Some awesome custom show ‘n’ shine trophies from Josh Rendall are ready and waiting, too.

The event’s Facebook page has already had almost 1100 responses, including confirmation from the Real Steel Group that Livi Krevatin’s incredible Summernats 35 Grand Champion Porsche 911 will be in attendance at EPIC.

A range of other toughies are also set to turn out, from chrome-bumper streeters to JDM stuff, and even recent SM readers fare like Angus’s Merc!

If you can’t make it but still want to throw your support behind Ryan and his family, you can lend a hand via the GoFundMe page.