AS WE reported yesterday, Calder Park dipped it’s toe into the ‘Lights Out’ racing pool last Friday and found that Melbournites loved the concept. With a full field of cars the battle in the Street Class was just as tough as in the Competition Class.

To qualify for Street the cars needed to be street appearing with full exhausts and radial tyres; and some serious contenders came out to play. It was a good mix of cars with Capris and Falcons up against Toranas and Commodores, with a few tough hot rods and muscle cars thrown in. Quickest car in the field would have been Adam Rogash’s NOSHOW Clubsport, which has run 7.99@171mph, but boost issues limited the cars performance to the mid-eight second zone (quarter mile) on the night and the car struggled with the short track eighth mile racing. That allowed some of the tough nitrous and naturally aspirated cars, like Danny Sharban’s Capri, Mick Brody’s LJ Torana and Victor Paplos’s big block Torana Hatch to show how it’s done. With around 28 entrants, there were enough cars to ensure the full $2500 would be going to the winner.

In the final it was Danny Sharban in the orange Capri up against Mick Brody’s black Torana. They were neck and neck off the line but the Capri pulled a small lead to cross the stripe a tenth ahead of the Torana and take home a fist full of cash.

Calder Park is keen to do another King of the Hill meeting on September 30th and we’re tipping that will be a big meeting. The concept has proven popular and the eighth mile keeps the racing tight between the nitrous, aspirated and turbo cars. Throw in the startline viewing experience and you’ve got a good nights entertainment. Check it out next time.