THE PACEMAKER Radial Aspirated class at Drag Challenge Weekend is home to some of the baddest naturally aspirated bangers in the country, and now a new beast has entered the fray in the form of Brett Armstrong’s HK Monaro.

There’s no doubt that Brett’s HK is a beautifully presented street machine, fitted out to the highest standard both inside and out, which saw him take out the Tuff Street Champion gong at Street Machine Summernats 32.

| Watch next: Brett’s HK Monaro on the dyno at Summernats – Video

But as impressive as the aesthetics may be, it’s the 615ci fire-breather sitting under the bonnet that’s the real party piece. The mill is a 615ci big-block Chevy, with Dart SR20 heads, a Mark Sullens-built Dominator four-barrel carburettor and 14.8:1 compression. That combined with E85 meant this HK was able to lay down a best of 962hp on the hub dyno in the Haltech Horsepower Heroes Eight-Cylinder Aspirated class, adding that class win to Brett’s winnings from Summernats 32.

The car ran a best of 8.79@154mph with the old engine, but Brett is yet to hit the full quarter-mile strip in anger since the car was finished around eight months ago. He has run the HK over the eight-mile at Willowbank though, with a PB of 5.53 @125mph in full street trim, over a tenth quicker than the car’s previous best with the old combo.

| Read next: Resto-mod 434-cube Holden HK Monaro GTS

While Brett’s aware that a mid-eight could be on the cards for DCW, he’s more interested in simply being part of the event and enjoying it.

“I’m going for the experience and to see what the car will do for the event,” he says. “I’ve driven it on the street, but not to that extent, so it should be interesting to see how the car goes.”

If all goes well and Brett can hit his high-to-mid-eights target during the weekend, he could be in with a serious chance of threatening Alon Vella’s record streak of five consecutive combined Pacemaker Radial Aspirated titles, in what could be a classic Ford versus Holden shootout. But he’ll need to prove his mettle on the road first.

BRETT ARMSTRONG

1968 HOLDEN HK MONARO

Class: Pacemaker Radial Aspirated

Engine: 615ci big-block Chev

Transmissions: Powerglide

Converter: 5500rpm stall

Diff: 9in, 3.7:1 gears

PB: 8.79@154mph