First published in the December 2007 issue of Street Machine

Well? What did you expect from a Gary Myers presentation? The GazzaNationals was never going to be some kind of restrained static display that went weak at the knees if someone turned a tyre out on the track. Adelaide International Raceway (AIR) was cast in the shadow of sacrificial tyres set ablaze under a mountain of highly tuned metal.

The faithful who made the pilgrimage to that mountain were rewarded with a pretty full-on display of burnout talent and it seems even Mother Nature got jealous; she put on her own little event in the form of a bushfire in the hills to send up a rival tower of smoke.

Back at AIR the girls weren’t getting jealous; they were getting even. Deby Myers managed to steal a few moments out of her organising role to get behind the wheel of the famous black and flamed Mustang and cut a few laps in the cruise.

The cruise didn’t live up to its name of course — this was a Myers cruise, so burnouts were factored in. Anyone who wanted to, or could, was allowed to get in line and make some smoke. Deby was one of those who wanted to and she did. It was only when GM176 drove past and fans saw Gary waving from the passenger seat that they realised what was going on.

Meanwhile, in the real burnout competition, the standard was as varied as you’ll find at any of the big shows and the crowd was pretty generous, rewarding the effort put in even if one or two cars struggled to make smoke that would have impressed on a quiet Friday night in the Hungry Jack’s drive-through.

One orange Torana certainly didn’t disappoint; in fact on Saturday arvo it got one of the biggest cheers of the weekend and the noise only increased when Helen North stepped out of her husband James’s 304-powered LX. She blew him a kiss that seemed to make up for the blown tyre and wrecked flare. The only real trouble for James was putting on a display to match his missus when he went out in the second qualifying group. That and finding a couple of sets of plugs after oiling them up in the cruise — should drive it harder, mate!

Sadly, a couple of highly anticipated heavy-hitters couldn’t make it; Peter Grmusa called in sick, while Clint Ogilvie’s pink Torana was still in hundreds of pieces on the weekend. Clint’s wife Robyn said that after months of resembling a kit it was rapidly coming together again and beginning to look like a car. But not near enough.

One of big outfits that did make it was the Crossroads Racing team. But Nudge’s UC Torana was left feeling a little worse for wear after an impressive trans fire that certainly heated things up for the driver and his passenger. With a wall of fire up the driver’s door, he had the presence of mind to push his passenger out the other side and follow straight behind. Judging by the time recorded on the camera, it only took them about two seconds to realise there was a problem and get clear of the car. Not bad going.

If sitting on the railway sleeper bleachers and sucking smoke all got too much, there was plenty to see around the place, from some very neat cars on display in the show ’n’ shine, to serious competitors getting their cars up and running for a bit more track action — or in a few cases, for their very first runs. All while enjoying the obligatory trackside menu selection of ice cream, dagwood dog and yiros.

The Saturday plan ran well into the evening and just in case the floodlights weren’t keeping your eyes on the action, George Separovich in the black HK Monaro added a bit more colour with his own take on the under-car barbecue. This time it was a combination of the metho spitting from the pipes, the red-hot pipes themselves and the accumulated rubber under the car and in the smoke that formed the combustible material and the big car sat on a pretty impressive flame-out. Luckily damage was limited to a heat-treated (and now quite neat-looking) numberplate and some easily replaced lines. After a bit of time on the jacks in the morning, the car was fixed and back out for day two.

Keen to put the pressure on, Gary set the burnout qualifiers a big task on Sunday: their efforts had to last at least two minutes and could run up to the three-minute mark. Never mind whether tyres can take that much punishment, plenty of cooling systems couldn’t and gallons of green coolant were puked onto the AIR pad. Inevitably that slowed the proceedings as it all had to be cleared for the next car (have you ever tried to do a burnout in coolant?) but neither crowd nor competitors were that bothered. Whether watching or driving, it seemed everyone was there to find where the limit of machine endurance lay.

Asking around, the crowds were pretty pleased with the mix of burnouts, drifting demos, cruising, wheelstander ute runs and show stuff. With some trade stands to pick over too — from the ever-present Aussie Desert Cooler to airbrushing try-outs and entertainment for the little ’uns — there was enough to keep people busy and the only request we heard was for a dyno to be added to the mix. Since Gary’s more interested in what the tyres do on the track than the rollers, I wouldn’t hold your breath for that.

WINNERS

• Blown Burnout Leigh Rees – HJ Statesman
• Top 10 Burnout James North – Torana
• Six Cylinder Burnout Shane Carr – EH ute
• Four Cylinder Burnout Mark Dewall – 808 Mazda
• Show ’n’ Go Shane Carr – EH ute
• Show ’n’ Shine, Paint Matthew Richardson – Holden VYSS
• Show ’n’ Shine, Engine/Overall Shane Dale – HZ panel van
• Undercarriage Ron Tebby – XY GT
• Dash 4 Cash & Super Skid Mark Dewall – 808 Mazda
• Go To Whoa John Bain – EH Holden

AUSSIE BANDIT

Nigel Benson and his wheelstanding Holden ute, Aussie Bandit, have a bit of an unfair advantage when it comes to two-wheeled runs — the donk’s in the tray, so the weight balance is about 20:80 front to rear. Under the skin, the ute’s a full-chassis beast and in the cockpit there are two handbrakes side by side, for steering when it’s up on two wheels. “I had trouble finding grip out there,” Nigel said, after his first attempt failed to get much air.

A change of lanes, where there was less dust on the track, sorted that and he ran the full length of the old drag strip with the front boots in the air. Saves on tyre wear. In the near future Aussie Bandit will be replaced with a completely new VE ute and a new paint scheme. This car will be kept, however, as a back-up.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

Capturing the action for his 16-year-old son was Brenton Miller. He’d travelled all the way down from Cairns, where he can usually be found on the other side of the action, driving his Chrysler Centura with supercharged Lexus V8 four-litre power.

What did he reckon to the show down south? “Ingham’s the biggest show we’ve got up there. This is a lot bigger and a lot better. Having the cruising here is great but maybe they could have a dyno here too. This is definitely growing — I’ve been watching the DVDs and it’s a good event. The beautiful weather helps.”

SILVER FOX

Adam Weddington’s silver Cortina might not look a million dollars but it’s making plenty of power from its turbo 250 Crossflow — dyno print-outs put it at a best of 303.4kW and 1017Nm of torque. How tough is that? Enough to snap axles with ease, it seems. He’d already done a set before Gazzanationals and within seconds of hitting the burnout pad he did it again!

We saw him later, frantically replacing bits in the rear end. The custom plenum was due to be HPC-coated but in true streeter style, Adam said: “It’s a project and we ran out of time. It’s a beautiful driver though, thanks to the injection.” But maybe it needs some stronger axles.

PONTIAC 706ci

Sadly lacking its engine, so we can’t tell you how crazy it sounds, this Pontiac is due to hit Aussie drag strips in the next few months. Despite the monster scoop on the bonnet, it’s not there to cover an equally crazy blower — instead the Pro Mod car is going down the big-inch route. How big? Try 706ci.

According to figures from the US, where all the parts are coming from, the engine should turn a healthy 1400hp naturally aspirated but it’s also going to have a 600hp bolt of nitrous on hand for when it needs the 2000hp round figure to really get it moving. Greg Cowie is the man behind the build and his guys say it won’t turn a wheel in public until it’s 100 per cent sorted. Target will be high sixes.

OFF ROADER

How do you keep tyre speed up for a good burnout when your car’s running drag gearing? Rather than pull the diff apart and change gears, Lance Larcombe reckoned the answer was putting larger diameter 4×4 tyres on the back. They barely cleared the rolled guards but a miss is as good as a mile, hey?

The HX (below) runs a 400ci small-block and makes 549rwhp “with no nitrous — that’s naturally aspirated. The motor was put together in 1996 and it’s run a best of 9.71@138mph. Not bad for a 3350lb car — with me in it.” His plan worked — he picked up Best Cruiser plus nods for Toughest Ride and Promoter’s Choice.

SUNBURN

Trent Brooks was sheltering in the shade of the commentary box when we collared him but maybe it wasn’t sunburn he was worried about — the day before, he’d been in one of the hottest seats at the event, riding shotgun in the Crossroads Racing UC Torana when it went up in flames.

Trent works at Blitz Custom Exhausts. “That’s where Peter Grmusa builds his cars,” he said. “He got crook but we thought we’d come anyway. It’s a good show — I can’t wait for the Melbourne one now. I was at another show near Sydney recently and this shits on that one!”

LIKE HUSBAND, LIKE WIFE

Helen North was grinning like a loon and shaking with adrenalin after pulling a brilliant burnout, blowing the right rear tyre and taking a chunk of the flare with it. Helen was worried about leaning too hard on James’s LX as he’s had the car longer than he’s known her.

It runs a 304 bottom, HQ heads, twin Demon 575 carbies and burns avgas. It’s backed up by a 4000rpm stall and Powerglide with full-spool 9in. “If it’s gonna break, it’s gonna break,” James said. Nothing broke and they both won trophies; James took the Aspirated class tin and Helen won Iron Maiden and Top Qualifier.