For years Easternats was one of the premier shows on the scene. The on-track antics at Sandown were legendary. At my first Easternats l watched with a frozen grin of delight as entrants signed their names on the track in rubber, like an aerial signwriter would in the sky.

This was the defining difference between Easternats and Summernats — a fast and controlled cruising environment where visual anarchy was the order of the day.

These days the car scene is buoyant; the number of car shows with on-track cruising increases every year. Looking back 10 years, it’s hard to imagine there was only one show providing a world-class racetrack for cruising, complete with a burnout deviation. Everyone who enjoys track cruising today can thank Easternats for pioneering this type of event.

So when Sandown Raceway closed its door on the show it felt like the scene had lost an old mate, the end of an era. To take Easternats away from the heart of Melbourne was like me explaining to my four-year-old that the authorities had pulled the plug on the Easter Bunny — it didn’t make any sense.

After a year’s hiatus, Easternats has returned at a new venue — Winton Raceway. The rural landscape around the district of Benalla and the raceway is spectacular. During the late 1870s, Ned Kelly and his gang of bushrangers roamed these lands. Ned’s defiance of the colonial authorities and refusal to accept the British ruling class are etched into Australian folklore.

Watching the cars smoke it up around Winton during the first cruise session, I was reminded of the larrikin attitudes of the Kelly Gang; these modern-day four-wheeled renegades were thumbing their noses at the constabulary, as Ned would have.

The schedule of the weekend followed the same format as at Sandown — track cruising each day filling the gaps around the go-to-whoa, street drags, burnout comps and Stampede (aka timed Powerskids).

Winton added camping into the mix and fun was high on the agenda. The pits were alive with social activity; people barbecuing, swapping yarns over engine bays and enjoying the superb autumn weather. The atmosphere was holiday and at night the camp fires burned brightly.

Many entrants made the most of the weekend, competing in more than one discipline. And while a full skid in the drags is hardly the way to be competitive, it’s more than entertaining for the crowds.

It seemed everyone was keen to compete in the street drags, held on the straight in front of the pits, and the organisers kept the momentum up with run after run quickly eliminating the dead wood.

It soon became clear that the dedicated drag cars were going all the way. In the end, Matt Filipenko and his show-quality GTR XU-1 lined up next to Mark Whitla, who’d made the journey all the way from Hobart to compete in his tough ’71 Capri. Both drivers had made easy work of their earlier opponents on the way to the final and the odds were on for a close race.

On the green light, Matt got the holeshot and Mark was eating cliché dust, but he wasn’t going to give up without a clichéd fight and if there’d been another 50 metres to go, the result may have been different.

When it came to the burnout performers, the crowd was merciless. If you weren’t lapping the pad with precision and making strong, instant smoke you were swiftly and impolitely invited to vacate the space.

The top competitors in the Open and Masters divisions were separated by mere fractions of a point. But someone has to win and with the likes of John Taverna Jr, Steve Loader, Brad Murnane, Rodney Waters, Harry Haig, Richard Harrison and Jason Rose frying the tyres, tiny mistakes decided the Masters. The day belonged to Murnane, who had the X-factor in the judges’ eyes.

In the Open class there were many great skids in the eliminations and finals but my favourites without doubt were Mick Sullivan’s qualifier, when the rear of his car exploded into flames reminiscent of a war scene out of Libya, and Mark Gillett skidding his sweet blown HG for the first time.

Winton is close to Shepparton and Wagga — traditionally strong centres for street machining — and if more cars from these communities enter, the event will be an absolute cracker. As it is, Easternats has the potential to come up to the numbers of competitors and spectators it once enjoyed at Sandown but only time will tell for certain.

As the last of the smoke settled over Winton raceway, I did wonder if the ghosts of Ned Kelly and his gang were watching over the Easternats. If they were, I’m sure they would have approved of the modern-day rebels in their high-horsepower machines. There is only one more question ask: would Ned have been a Ford, Holden or Mopar man? I’ll let you decide.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Matt Filipenko in his 383-powered GTR XU-1 gets the better of Mark Whitla of Hobart in the final of the drags.

2. It doesn’t get better than big, bad, black and blown — Tam Stoer spent five years restoring his ’62 F100. Boasting a 488 big-block and 6/71, this tubbed pick up is slammed without airbags. It’s also up for sale.

3. Bob Stone of Pakenham had a hard time not making smoke during the driving events. His schmick XP sedan runs a 289 into a C10 with 5600 stall.

4. Burnout Masters winner Brad Murnane hit the burnout pad with a mate during one of the cruise sessions, using it as a smoke ’n’ tune. He was over the moon with his win.

5. Rodney Waters was rewarded for making the trip down from Sydney by winning runner-up in the Burnout Masters in his stunning HQ (SM, Apr ’11).

6. Monday was ANZAC Day. A short but moving ceremony with a minute’s silence was conducted in the presence of current and past diggers. Lest we forget.

7. A ’71 K20 Corolla was the bowling club transport of choice for suburban nannas. Canberra’s Charlie Rose kept the exterior sleepy, down to the 12in rims. But the donk is a turbo VL RB30 running 22lb boost and 400hp — until he dials in 30lb!

8. The crowds loves a skid that ends in fire and Mick Sullivan won them all over with his super-straight HQ. This is Mick’s first car, now in its fourth reincarnation. Running a 383 with a 6/71, the suspension has been set up as a circuit racer.

9. Open Burnout runner-up Brendon Thompson’s sweet ’72 F100.