We’re back in the big red centre of Australia for Red CentreNATS, this one being extra special as it’s the 10th anniversary of the event. It’s hard to believe 10 years has flown by so quickly!

This year is promising to be a proper celebration of the tenure, kicking off on Thursday with the second-ever RCN Fringe Festival in the Alice Springs CBD from 6pm. 

A whole block was blocked off to all cars except RCN entrants, who lined the streets in front of bustling bars, pubs, food trucks and a live band as entrants and locals packed the streets. There were even mullet cuts on offer!

Though the 34 degree temperature from earlier in the day (it’ll hit 37 tomorrow!) was pretty balmy even for Alice at this time of year, the fading evening sun paved way to some beautiful weather, perfect for the Fringe Festival.

Earlier in the day, we hit up the afternoon sessions of scrutineering to see who’s making the trip to the red centre. Plenty more are still expected to pass through tomorrow, but here’s a select few we found getting stickered up for the weekend.

Drag Challenge 2023 combatant Tim McClure brought his sleepy turbo LS EH sedan all the way over from Perth for the drags. He’ll also have a crack at power skids during the Supercruise on Sunday. “I’m here to have a crack at the grass driving events, everything!” he grinned.

Another Perth fella who made the trip over for RCN is Kevin Jones, who’s one of the few to attend all 10 RCN events to date, first in his Valiant and then in his HZ van. “We get dirty and we’ll have a crack at Grand Champion, that’s what it’s all about!” he says.

Darren Booth’s beautifully presented XP Ford Fairmont sedan would be a familiar sight for RCN diehards, having claimed the Grand Champion gong at Red CentreNATS #2 with its previous owner, the late Greg Foss.

Since then, Darren has sorted a new interior for the XP. Under the bonnet is a supercharged 1UZ Toyota DOHC V8. “It runs 13s, I’ll be having a crack at Grand Champion this year, so I’m keen to see how it goes.”

Adam Howell brought two wicked Japanese vans along for the weekend, his yellow Suzuki Carry burnout machine and a stupidly cool, JDM market Suzuki Every Van (yes, that’s what it’s called). 

The yellow Carry has a freshly built LS3 that’s set to go ham in the burnouts tomorrow, while the white Every Van is a factory 4WD, three cylinder turbo cruiser, with a moonroof! “That thing will just get to 80km/h pinned, but it’ll be great fun to cruise around in this weekend,” says Adam.

We’ll be back tomorrow for more action here in Alice Springs, headlined by the Burnout Pro and Open class qualifying at Alice Springs Inland Dragway from 5pm. Catch you then!