Halloween hits Benaraby Dragway for wild championship round
HALLOWEEN arrived at Benaraby Dragway last Saturday with round six of the Central Queensland Drag Racing Championships filled with lightning, a sprinkle of rain, numerous personal bests and breakout times on a wild weekend of racing.
Central Queensland Drag Racing Association president Mike Gawley said a new traction compound saw mixed results in the heat of the day, but when the air got cooler, cars and bikes launched harder than ever off the line.
"We had about 60 racers prenominate and we actually had 71 racers on the track, a whole bunch of them came to nominate on the day," he said.
"We were using a new track compound from the US from Rocket Industries and Friday's Off Street meet was the first go with it.
"It took longer to set up...so the track was prepped again on Friday night after the Off Street meet to give it more set time.
"In the heat of the day on Saturday the guys with the big torque were a bit slippery, but between qualifying and racing we went out and scrubbed the track and on the very next pass, Nick Horsborough in his little AMG Mercedes rolled up and snapped a CV joint.
"Then all three rounds of racing were phenomenal, everybody was commenting on the track and I watched all the really high power cars not only launch good, but hold the traction all the way down the track."
The biggest field of Junior Dragsters so far this year hit the strip.
"For the first time all year we had seven pre-nominated junior dragsters," Mr Gawley said.
"Two of these juniors were from the Bray Racing team (renowned Australian drag racer Victor Bray's race team).
When it came to the final in the Junior Dragsters it was Gladstone's Tayla Kelly who took the honours.
Mr Gawley said the Culey family of Richard, Keith and Patrick, who usually raced in the super twins bike class, split into different categories for the event.
"It was Keith who ran a 9.90 on a Busa (Suzuki Hayabusa) and even though its standard, he can still run it in the Mod Bike bracket," he said.
"He had been running 10.1's and 10.0's and he cracked a 9.90 this weekend."
The man who pressed the button to start the lights for each race last year recorded personal best times.
"Dylan Bennett, who was our starter last year and told me 'I'm gonna get my car done and get it on the track' saw great improvement in his little green V8 powered Mazda," he said.
"When the air came good and when the track came good he stayed on the accelerator and went 10.93.
"He'd been tinkering with the tuning and now he's got that sorted and it just took that little bit of extra air (cooler and denser) to make more power.
"So he was over the moon to do that."
Results:
Junior Dragster
Top Qualifier - Caleb Seng
Runner up - Ty Dransfield
Winner - Tayla Kelly
Junior Drag Bikes
Top Qualifier - Charlie Houston
Runner up - Charlie Houston
Winner - Bailey Schneider
Super Twins Bike
Top Qualifier - Sam Fry
Runner up - Dan Logan
Winner - Mark Harris
Street Cars
Top Qualifier - Kym McLaughlin
Runner up - Chris Sullivan
Winner - Kevin Cross
Super Street Cars
Top Qualifier - Peter Benson
Runner up - Dylan Bennett
Winner - Daniel List
Streetfighter Bikes
Top Qualifier - Patrick Culey
Runner up - Sheree Ivory
Winner - Donald Hagen
Mod Bike
Top Qualifier - Rick Houston
Runner up - Scott Schofield
Winner - Branden Lacey
Outlaws
Top Qualifier - Jordan Wex
Runner up - Jordan Wex
Winner - Shane Stefanuik
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