Mick Jury and his NEVERLIFT HQ Monaro took out the 11.00-11.99 Heavy Hitters drag racing for the third time on the trot at Red CentreNATS 2026.

“The coupe did 24 runs over the two weekends of the Desert Nationals and RCN without the need to put a spanner on it,” Mick said. “We took out both rounds of the Desert Nationals and then the Heavy Hitters. A difficult track meant we only ran eighth-mile at the Desert Nationals, with a best of 6.86, which I was happy with. The track was up to scratch for the Heavy Hitters and we ran a best of 10.95 in grudge racing in the morning. I’m pretty happy with that, considering it is a full-weight car in high elevation and heat.

“We had to pull a bit out of it on the 11-second index, and ran 11.0s all night,” Mick continued. “A lot of people don’t understand the technical and strategic side of drag racing. It is a mental game and knowing your opponents well. It was a very competitive group, and my crew chief Gav and I were working overtime to get an advantage.”

And for now, Mick’s class hat-trick will stand as the record for all time, as the Heavy Hitters concept will be replaced next year by the new War in the Desert 01 and 02 eighth-mile DYO shoot-outs, with a total of $100,000 on offer!

Read up on the details of the new War in the Desert drags here. Entries are open now, with 160 spots in each field.

The story here to here, September 2024:

With its tough, HQFORU-esque styling, Mick Jury’s gorgeous Monaro caught our attention big time at Red CentreNATS 10 in Alice Springs. Keen to learn more, we tracked him down for a chinwag about the lovely ’Q and why he keeps coming back to RCN.

She’s a nice HQ, mate! Tell us a bit about it.

It’s an August 1971 car, which I’ve had for around 20 years. A mate of mine painted it in the Holden Tangerine. I’ve been into HQs since I can remember; my dad had one brand new, and I’ve still got that same car today.

Nice! What’s under the bonnet of the Monaro?

It’s got a 434ci Dart Little M small-block Chev. She’s got AFR heads and will spin to around 7300rpm with no troubles. It makes 656hp, which goes through a Turbo 400 sourced from a Jaguar and a nine-inch that sits under the mini-tubs. 

We saw you taking on the drag racing in the Quey at Red CentreNATS. How did that go?

Really good – I won the 11-second bracket in the Heavy Hitters drags on the Saturday night! I’d never drag-raced that car before, and I was just hoping to run a 10 over the weekend. I got down to an 11.2 during the grudge racing before the Heavy Hitters, and that was on an unprepped track.

During the Heavy Hitters that night, when they prepped the track, I had a bye run, which is when I ran a 10.97@123mph. I was stoked!

It sounds like that might’ve given you the bug to do more racing.

Oh, for sure! We’ll change the rear-end gears to 4.11s, which I can still street-drive on, and I reckon I could get a 10.70 out of it. If I can run it in the 11.00-10.50sec zone consistently, I’ll be a happy man.

Was it your first time at Red CentreNATS?

It was my third, and the second time as an entrant. I had my One Tonner here back at Red CentreNATS 4 or 5, and I just love the Northern Territory.

I love the red dirt, the heat, the drive over. The section after Coober Pedy is awesome; the journey to me is half the fun of it!

Does that mean you’ll be back again next year?

Oh, you bet, I’ve already got my entrant ticket. I’ve got a title in the drags to defend now!

What other cars do you own?

I’ve got a few, but the other one worth mentioning is my HQ One Tonner. It was an old farm ute, which has evolved over the years to a methanol, big-block, supercharged thing. That’s the ute I had at Red CentreNATS last time, but it’s a bit full-on now, so I mainly use it for things like charity runs.

How often does the Monaro come out?

Around once a month, but I’m planning to make that even more regular now. There’s a group of us who go around to car events, so I intend to get it out and use it as much as I can.