Street Machine Drag Challenge Weekend is all about putting your street-registered ride to the test under both race and road conditions – and having a bunch of fun along the way.

To successfully complete the event, entrants must race three times in three days and drive from drag strip to drag strip under the vehicle’s own steam. Thanks to our event sponsors, Turbosmart, Pacemaker and Tuff Mounts for their assistance in making it happen.

Entry is $320 per car, which includes your crew. One crew member can be designated as an extra driver, for a cost of $150. Wanna enter? Click here.

We’ve got the Drag Challenge rules here, but here are some basics you’ll need to know as an entrant:

• Street Machine Drag Challenge Weekend kicks off on 13 April at Willowbank Raceway, where entrants will be signed in, scrutineered and then have the rest of the day to make as many passes as they like within the set time frame before starting the drive to Warwick Dragway for Day Two. On 15 April, we’ll have the final day of racing back at Willowbank Raceway.
• Race vehicles need to be registered and insured, with working street equipment (horn, blinkers, brake lights), and will need to drive up to 500km during the weekend. No support vehicles are allowed – all the people working on the car need to travel in the race car and any spares and tyres need to be carried either in the race car or in a small trailer towed behind the race car.
• Race vehicles may be towed to Willowbank before the start of competition, but tow vehicles and trailers must be left at the track and not accessed until the end of competition. Around-the-clock security will be provided for the duration.
• The on-road drive is part of the Drag Challenge competition, and following the specified route is mandatory. Traffic, heat, rain, bumpy roads and wildlife should all be expected. Drive accordingly and be safe at all times. The route from Willowbank to Warwick and back will be different each way, to add some variety.
• Each day’s drive has at least one mandatory checkpoint. Each entrant is required to take a photo of their car at the checkpoint and show it to Drag Challenge officials when they hand in their next timeslip. Please take your photo and move on so other entrants have space to take their photos.
• Competitors are required to sign in and have their vehicle scrutineered at Willowbank Raceway on Friday, 13 April.
• Competitors may be scrutineered at each drag strip before running. All drivers must be present. It is up to the entrant to ensure their vehicle will pass tech inspection at each track for their ET and speed capabilities. IHRA licences and tech will be required to race at Willowbank, while Warwick will accept either IHRA or ANDRA tech and licences.

• Competitors will be allowed to make as many passes as they wish each day on a first-come, first-served basis, until the Event Director announces the staging lanes are closed. Drag strip sessions may be divided into run groups. Times and details will be announced at the drivers’ meeting and may change from day to day, depending on conditions.
• To complete a track day, a competitor’s car must stage under its own power and take the green light at least once within the specified times. Entries that take the green but are unable to complete a full drag-strip pass will be given an ET of 20 seconds (and a speed of 50mph) for the day. If a competitor misses a track day and is out of the running, they may be able to make exhibition runs during the remaining days of Drag Challenge if time allows.
• Any entrant who is unable to make a pass because of rain or other issues outside the control of the entrant or Event Director, but makes it to the staging lanes before the planned competition time cut-off, will score an automatic 20-second time. If a day is rained out before three quarters of the field has made one pass, no results will be recorded for the day and the competition will move on.
• It is the competitor’s responsibility to hand in their timeslips to the specified Drag Challenge official before the nominated cut-off time each day. Once a slip is handed in, no other timeslip for that competitor will be accepted that day.
• Route maps to the next track will be provided once a competitor has handed in their timeslip. We do not supply route maps to non-competitors, or entrants who haven’t handed in a timeslip.
• If a day of racing is rained out, competitors are still required to drive the entire route, including making their mandatory stops, and must check-in during the specified hours at the drag strip in order to remain in the competition. Here they will also receive additional information about the schedule and driving directions to the next track. In the event that the final day is rained out, the following day may be held as a rain date at the officials’ discretion.
• Should a competitor wish to submit a protest against a fellow racer for any rule infraction, they must do so by submitting a $100 bond and filling out an official protest form (available from the Event Director) detailing the infraction/s and supplying any evidence, including photos or video, to support the claim. If the protest is upheld or negated by forfeiture of the racer being protested against, the $100 will be returned to the complainant. If the protest is not upheld, the $100 will go to the racer being protested against. The decision will be handed down by the Event Director and no further discussion will entered into.
• Each entrant may only compete in one class. You must state your intended class when registering. Class changes are not allowed after the first day of racing, however, the Event Director reserves the right to move an entry into a more appropriate class due to compliance issues at any time. Multiple drivers per vehicle are allowed, at a cost of $150 per driver. Each vehicle can still only submit one timeslip per day.
• The winner is the car with the lowest combined ET during the event – in the event of a tiebreaker situation, average mph will be used to determine the winner.