Brad Smith and his Chrysler Centura make it two from two as Central Queensland’s newest bracket race heats up.

Nobody said chasing gold would be easy, and the second running of the CQ GoldRush660 at Benaraby Dragway on 3 October proved exactly that. With a

$7100 prize pool on the line, a scorching Central Queensland sun overhead and a track that kept every racer guessing, the gold had to be earned the hard way. Held on the Benaraby drag strip just south of Gladstone, GoldRush660 has quickly become a must-do event on the CQ calendar. The eighth-mile format rewards consistency and nerve as much as outright grunt, and the heat made the job even tougher. Same track, same conditions for everyone, but the racers who could read the surface and adapt on the fly were the ones left standing at the end of the day.

When Brad Smith took out the inaugural GoldRush660 in May, plenty of competitors hoped it was a one-off. No such luck. Smith returned to Benaraby with his gold 1977 Chrysler Centura and backed up his earlier effort in emphatic fashion, winning the 7.00 Index before going on to claim the overall GoldRush660 Shootout title for the second consecutive event. Two GoldRush events, two Shootout crowns.

.

The rest of the field will be spending the summer working out how to stop him. Brett Kelly gave Smith a solid run in the Shootout, finishing runner-up after a strong day in his wheels-up orange 1976 Ford XB hardtop, which also carried him to victory in the 6.50 Index

The Outlaw index, sponsored by Rum City Realty, turned into a Torana showdown. Mark Harris took the win in his blue 1975 LH, with Jeff Harbeck runner-up in his 1977 Torana.

In the 6.50 Index, backed by Warflow Performance, Kelly’s XB got the better of Kerri Rayner and her 1971 XY Falcon in an all-Ford final. Smith’s Centura claimed the 7.00 Index, sponsored by Mieplace Niteclub, ahead of Brett Collins in his 1979 HZ sedan.

The 8.00 index, presented by M8s Rates Mechanical, was an all-Commodore affair, with Cameron McAlpine’s 1980 Commodore taking the honours over Luke McCurdy’s 1984 VH.

Benaraby Dragway is run entirely by volunteers, and the track crew, officials and helpers put in a massive shift to keep the show rolling in brutal conditions. Their efforts didn’t go unnoticed by racers or the club. Spectators also deserve a mention for sticking it out through the heat and some challenging track conditions that meant the racing didn’t always run to plan. The crowd stayed trackside and helped create the kind of atmosphere that makes grassroots drag racing so addictive.

The event was presented by Port City Mechanical and Servicing, with class support from Rum City Realty, Warflow Performance, Mieplace Nightclub and M8s Rates Mechanical. The club has already locked in two GoldRush660 events for 2027, on the May and October long weekends, with the goal of building the event into a Benaraby tradition. On current form, everyone will be gunning for one bloke in a gold Centura. Whether anyone can knock Brad Smith off his perch remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the gold won’t come easy.

 Benaraby Dragway: Feel the Rumble!