UPDATE, 26 February: Ben Neal, or as some may know him, Mechanical Stig from the Mighty Car Mods world, came down to Calder Park Raceway on 15 February for the Optima Ultimate Street Car 2025.

He was running a Vortech-blown Holden VE SS ute – with a manual! – owned by Sparesbox and built on Ben’s Benny’s Custom Works YouTube channel, which you can read more about below.

As for the racing itself, the VE was a bit of handful for Benny in the changeable but typically Melbourne weather conditions, undertaking the autocross, speed stop, hot lap and drag racing challenges.

“The car went fantastically, didn’t put a spanner on it all day and had zero issues,” says Benny. “It’s fantastic track actually, it’s pretty technical.

I was a bit nervous this year in a new car on a track I’ve never driven on, but coming back next year will be a bit of a different animal, I know what to expect so it should be a bit more fun and hopefully I’ll be a bit more competitive and really start to tear it up.”

You can see how he fared in the latest episode from Benny’s YouTube channel below.

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3 February 2025: Ben will be piloting a Holden VE SS ute, which he’s fitted a CAPA Performance Vortech blower kit to. The installation process was documented on his Benny’s Custom Works YouTube channel, with our own Iain Kelly lending him a helping hand. Check it out in the video below.

The addition of the blower kit saw the manual ute punch out 614rwhp. Benny then took the VE to Summernats 37 to give it a shakedown in the grass driving, motorkhana, and a cheeky blat down Skid Row, hoping to uncover any weak points before OUSC.

“The suspension, while it works for a street car, is probably not up to the task for motorsport, and the seat doesn’t really work when you’re throwing the car around,” Benny says.

To remedy that, he’s thrown a set of Shockworks coil-overs into the ute and will be upgrading to a race seat and harness as well. He broke an engine mount at Summernats, so a set of Tuff Mounts made their way into the ute – albeit painfully – on a recent episode of BCW.

“I can’t wait,” says Benny of the VE’s upcoming adventure at OUSC 2025. “It should be really fun with some cool cars and mates there, so I’m really looking forward to getting down and having a crack.”

Benny will be road-tripping down from New South Wales alongside Iain Kelly’s 1964 Pontiac Bonneville, which, with its Harrop-blown LS, will be one hell of a handful in the Optima Ultimate Street Car driving tests, and we can’t wait to see it!

You can grab OUSC spectator tickets or apply to display your car in our VIP Park-Up at the event for just $30 at ultimatestreetcar.au.