Back in 2019, the Aeroflow World Fuel Altered Challenge was held at Sydney Dragway, with AA/FA race cars from both sides of the Tasman taking each other on in a nitro-fuelled display of true old-school drag racing. The event was supported by a full field of nostalgia cars and left a lasting impression on everyone who participated in it, including the crew from Vintage Gassers Australia (VGA). 

Spurred on by the memories of 2019, Simon Adrichem and Damien Kemp from VGA, along with Sydney hot rodding legend Joseph Rodriquez, dreamed up the idea of Bangers & Mash. The plan began as a trans-Tasman Vintage Gasser challenge at Sydney Dragway and evolved to include Nitro Funny cars, fuel altereds and much more, with a total of 130 entries. Off-track, chrome-bumper classics, flame-throwing cacklers and rock ’n’ roll vibes kept the old-school spirit alive for one unforgettable day at the strip.

The gasser contingent was 22 cars strong, including Kiwis Greg Bullot in his ‘Looney Tunes’ Ford Anglia and Eddie Trybula in his spectacular ‘Running on Empty’ ’57 Chev. The Kiwis put on a great show, with massive burnouts and wheelstanding launches aplenty. 

Such was the size of the field, the Gasser class was split up into two brackets based on ET. In Vintage Gas B, Dale Roughley’s just-finished ‘Sweet Temptation’ XP Falcon took the win over Matthew Moore’s ‘Hood Rat’ ’55 Bel Air. 

In Vintage Gas A, Damien Kemp charged to victory in his ‘Bad Company’ Willys after Ash Hayley’s angry blown ’55 Bel Air, ‘Haywire’, left a cherry on the tree.

The Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Cars team made a huge commitment to Bangers & Mash, bringing Nitro Express, King Kong and Terminator funnies after a short turnaround from Nitro Up North just two weeks earlier. The Aeroflow team were joined by Darren Carter in his ‘Jungle Jim’ tribute Trans Am and Chris Stipanovich in his ‘El Patrone’ Pontiac funny car. 

Morice McMillin had a big day out, steering both the ‘Nitro Express’ ’57 Chev funny car and the wicked ‘Psycho II’ fuel altered. Nitro Express romped to a best of 5.35@284mph over the quarter, while Psycho II scorched the earth with a 5.62@258mph.

Not that the rest of the team were far behind. The ‘King Kong’ Trans Am funny car pedalled by Graeme Frawley was hot with a 5.37 best at 273mph, and Justin Walsh in the ‘Terminator’ Camaro shot out a 5.59 in a day of awesome header pipe to header pipe action. It was the competition debut of Darren Carter’s gorgeous Trans Am, honouring the great Jim Carter. The car is 100 percent NHRA Nostalgia spec, and the team can be very happy with mid-six-second passes, despite a few gremlins and it being the first time Darren has raced anyone since 1996!

Joining ‘Psycho II’ in the fuel altered action, Stephen ‘Wombat’ Brown checked off a six-second pass from his bucket list with a 6.83@196mph, and John ‘JB’ Somoracz continued to make gains on licensing his Topolino altered, ‘Canned Heat’, with some nice half-track hits.

There was a bevy of other racing brackets to cater for every taste, with the blown action headlined by the Nostalgia Outlaws. A sentimental moment stole the spotlight when Greg Leahy, driving father Roly’s iconic FED, lined up against brother Peter in the Jim Walton ‘Thunda Downunda’ tribute funny car. Greg went on to seal the deal for the night, taking the win with a solo after Bruno Matijasevic’s blown HG couldn’t make the call.

At the other end of the speed spectrum were the Veteran Speedsters. Pre-dating drag racing, these century-old machines were the spark that lit motorsport. While ETs in the 15-20sec range over the eighth-mile is not exactly neck-snapping, these cars importance in history cannot be forgotten. Steve Fleming added another page of history to his ’23 T-Model, outrunning Alan Miller in the final.

In other results, third generation racer Nicholas Polito snared Nostalgia Pro Stock with a razor-sharp .001 reaction against Josh Boskovich. Chris Denny tortured tyres in his blown FED and took home the winner’s trophy over CJ Davies. Fiona Crisp made a dream competition debut steering her altered to victory against the seasoned Alan White in the Altered final. 

Nostalgia Sportsman honours went to Jack Moreau’s Capri defeating Paul Sabato’s Monaro, while in Nostalgia Gas, the huge field shook down to two XY Falcon’s with Tony De Maria breaking out at the stripe handing the win to Richard Matosevic’s ute. In Nostalgia Street, Damien Flood’s HR Holden proved too strong for Adam Maria’s EJ in Nostalgia Street and Peter Grant’s little HAMBster rumbled to victory over Bryce Stubing’s ’32 Ford coupe in Hot Rod. 

Plans are already afoot for the gasser boys to invade NZ, and for another Bangers & Mash event Down Under in the future. Stay tuned!