EIGHTH mile drags at Warwick Dragway was set to test the skills of the Turbosmart Dial-Your-Own camp, as they raced to not only match their day one nominated dial-ins, but adjust their driving style to factor in the 1:1.555 ratio quarter mile conversion – the tenths, hundredths or even thousandths of a second difference is often all it takes to knock you out of contention.

Clive Polidano made the long haul from Echuca in Victoria to attend his second Street Machine Drag Challenge in his blown HZ sedan, and backed up his day one PB of 11.44 at 120mph and 11.50 dial-in with a 0.51 second proportionately slower 7.725 (12.01) at the Warwick eighth-mile. Day two found Clive and his mate Scott tackling a minor fuel leak, but hopefully a change of plugs and a timing check will have it back to its best for Willowbank’s final runs today.

Action at the pointy end of the field was tight to say the least – less than 0.009 of a second separates the current best four standings and less than 0.0005 separating first and second place. Here’s the top four:

1. Stew Walsh in his HK Kingswood ran .00051 off his nominated dial-in!

2. Michael Higgs recorded a 0.001 split in his VH SL/E Commodore 

3. Andrew Dunnett in his Gen 3 Hemi-powered CL Valiant ute with 0.003

4. Alysha Teale rounds out this group with an 0.0089 gap in her 383 HQ sedan

The return trip to Willowbank via Scotty’s Garage – no relation – was mostly trouble free for the Turbosmart DYO entrants; Alysha punctured a front tyre of her black Holden and Mitchell Bean had a testy electric water pump in his ’68 Camaro, but apart from a few wrong turns by a handful of competitors it was a fairly smooth run.

The close racing for DYO is exciting to say the least and no doubt guarantees a nail-biting finish for day three tomorrow at Willowbank. Bring it on!