Spectators and competitors alike braved some often wild weather to gather at Queensland Raceway on Saturday 1 November for Fryday #18, the second-last event in the popular Frydays series for 2025.

Ryan Cobb and his Hi-Octane Motorsports crew created the Frydays concept to provide a family-friendly environment for young and old alike to get out in their cars and enjoy some quality track time across a range of motorsport disciplines. “Our priority is always that the entrants have a great time; we want to look after them,” Ryan said.

Images by MShaw Media

Nearly 1200 spectators poured through the gates to watch 200 entrants fry tyres on track, with drifting, roll racing, thrash sessions, burnouts, sprints and the very popular family cruise all on the menu.

Unfortunately, the weather gods were apparently not amused and dropped plenty of the wet stuff – not to mention hail – on the track at various points throughout the day. But while a few chose to head home, most entrants weren’t about to squander the opportunity to test their cars’ mettle on the QR track, ensuring the air thrummed with noise and smoke all day.

The Boosted Ride team of Adam and Jason Kelley would certainly have won the longest distance travelled award, bringing their wild, blown LS-powered ‘Agent Orange’ ZL1 Camaro all the way from the USA to fry tyres Down Under.

Shane Ardouin and the Torqueline Automotive team put on an eardrum-busting show, with six of their cars on track bringing all the noise. Joe Gosschalk was a stand-out with his big Ford LTD hearse, UNDEAD, and while Matt O’Kell spent most of his day working on other people’s cars, he still managed to sneak in a thrash session with his patina-clad ’64 EH Holden ute.

Luke Mitchell was back behind the wheel of the OzWheels SMOKEBOMBA HQ for some demo skids. Joining him to fry some tyres for the crowds were Adam Kelley in the Agent Orange Camaro; the wild Commodores of Jamie Harvey (MISFIT), Damo Stockham (WINGINIT) and Shane Ardouin (XTINKT); and Gary Hall’s INDECNT One Tonner.

Fresh from winning the Top Lady Entrant gong at the 2025 Cairns Show Auto Spectacular, Kaylene DiBella towed her pink VK Commodore south to throw it into the Fryday thrash session. Her first outing on track almost ended in disaster, with the VK’s rear wheel hub leaving the chat after the studs snapped. Ever-resilient, Kaylene and her team leapt into action, replacing the hub and sending her back out for more thrashing before the hail hit.

The last Frydays event for the year takes place at Queensland Raceway on 12 December, and Ryan Cobb is making sure regular attendees will be well looked after. “If a competitor can show they have entered two Frydays events since November 2024, we will give them a free general entry to the December 12th event,” he said. Sounds like a good deal to us!