Gallery: NPRA’s inaugural War in the Sticks at Wilby Motorsport Park

We’ll admit it; we raised an eyebrow when Johnny Habib and his No-Prep Racers Australia (NPRA) crew announced their War in the Sticks event at Wilby Motorsport Park’s quiet, grassroots eighth-mile track in northern Victoria. Don’t get us wrong – Wilby is an awesome track and the staff there are one of the best-drilled crews in the country, but the thought of big-tyre, sub-five-second cars hurtling down Wilby’s narrow, grass-lined track had us all a bit nervous. But for the racers themselves, that was half the thrill.

“I loved seeing the videos from War in the Woods that they do in the States, so I wanted to bring some of that here,” Johnny explains. “I stopped in at Wilby and was blown away with how they go about it; their professionalism is a cut above.”

Those of you who’ve been big into the Sydney drag racing scene will know Johnny from his Australian Pro Street Association (APSA) days. “I ran those events around 10 years ago, and people in the scene were pressuring me to start something else, so that’s where NPRA came from,” he says. “Unlike APSA, it’s low stress – you just show up and run with what you have on the street-like surface! It keeps it fun, simple, and nimble for me to take anywhere.”

War in the Sticks was NPRA’s second event and the first at Wilby. Johnny used his pull in the Sydney scene to entice a bunch of NSW heavy-hitters to make the trip down the Hume to Wilby, challenging the Victorians to bring their best in a State of Origin-style showdown. “I know these guys and girls like my brothers and sisters of racing, so I was very humbled when they all agreed to come with me on this journey, and the feedback we got after the event was amazing,” he says.

The two-day event over the Anzac Day long weekend saw testing on the Friday, with the racing for keeps taking place on Saturday. Although he didn’t plan on it, Johnny ended up serving as the de facto event announcer – revving the crowd up, offering some ripper insights into what it takes to go no-prep racing, and giving plenty of cheek to the entrants.

The 115 entrants could choose between three bracket racing categories or three heads-up classes, with plenty of prize money on the line in each from a $25K total prize pool. Combine that with the grudge racing going on in between, and there was plenty to race for every time the lights went green.

“The track was a great equaliser; people really had to adapt to the surface, so it made it very exciting and unpredictable,” says Johnny. “We saw basically all the track records broken, with plenty of guys running in the mid-fives consistently.”

MORE Video: Hardass 1000 invades Wilby Park Raceway

It wouldn’t be a no-prep event without plenty of trash talking and call-outs, so in between class runs, Johnny was more than happy for racers to unofficially duke it out for cash and bragging rights. Egos were stroked, hearts were broken, and plenty of dosh was thrown down for those grudge runs, giving the event a real street-race feel.

“That’s the best bit!” Johnny enthuses. “People were throwing down cash, trash talking, and Simon Kryger and Mick Brody had the last race of the day over a slab!”

MORE Video: Retrospeed Wilby Park Sprints

That said, the class racing for sheep stations was also in full effect, and with no times displayed on the timing boards during qualifying or eliminations, racers were handed timecards with only their numbers on them. The sandbagging that went on as a result was tremendously entertaining to watch.

MORE Junga Bunga’s No Prep Cash Days #3

Saturday’s finals took us through to just before dark, with the crowd getting plenty of value for money. The bracket classes were up first, with the 8.0 class in particular throwing up an unexpected winner in Ryan O’Hara’s Morris J2 van with its mid-mounted LS1. Then it was time for the big guns in the tyre classes to take to the blacktop.

In the Small Tyre class, John Elfes’s twin-turbo LS VT Commodore got the jump on Daniel Saliba’s Barra-powered Datsun 1600, and Daniel’s attempts to run the VT down saw both cars getting loose and sideways over the line.

The Street Gangster class final was one of two that featured Mk1 Capris duking it out. Arty Roumbos nearly crossed into Alon Vella’s lane after the initial hit, but Al ran it out the back door to take the top gong and $5500 cash.

The second final with a Capri lock-out saw Rob Gullotta facing off against Pat Defranceso for the top honours in the Big Tyre class. Rob got the initial jump before Pat edged ahead to win and take home more than $4500.

With an estimated 5000 spectators across the two days and all entrants raving about how much fun they’d had, it was one hell of a debut for War in the Sticks. “We’ll definitely be back; we’re targeting four events a year,” says Johnny. “I can’t thank my family and the Wilby staff enough. I do this for the scene and for my drag racing family, so to get help from so many around me is everything.”

See the full gallery

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Wodonga-based Mic House calls Wilby his home track, and his nitrous-assisted, LS-swapped HD wagon ran multiple PBs in testing to crack the 6.5sec zone. “I had to slow it down for the bracket racing – it killed me!” he said. “But it goes to show that you can definitely hook up at Wilby!”

2. Although not taking part in the official racing, the CK Automotive crew had their CKRACN VL at Wilby for exhibition runs. It’s purported to be the quickest SOHC VL in the world, having run a 6.64@209mph at Sydney Dragway, so putting even half of that power down on Wilby’s surface was one hell of a challenge.

3. Will Wallace’s LC Torana ran a V27 Vortech-blown, 327ci Holden mill when we first met him at the Holden-Powered Nationals a few years back, but it’s now packing a 1500hp, blown 350ci small-block. “The Holden snapped the crank, and I think the Roots blower is more fun anyway,” Will explained.

4. Fresh off his win at the Western Highway Shootout in the MRCUBE Ford Bronco, Robbie Adamo was in fine form at Wilby. With the Bronco benched due to blower problems, Robbie piloted his small-block Ford-powered Scorpion and called out plenty of racers.

5. Rob Gullotta piloted one of the many Capris that came down from Sydney, thumping his 700rwhp, 557ci fatty all the way to the finals in the Big Tyre class. “It’s an awesome event, but she is a bit sketchy – you’ve gotta pedal it, that’s for sure!” he said.

6. With its mid-mounted, tunnel-rammed LS1, Ryan O’Hara’s Morris J2 van attracted plenty of attention from the punters, and it was consistent enough to take top honours in the 8.0 class – which came as surprise to Ryan. “I had no plans of being competitive, let alone winning!” he laughed.

MORE Ryan O'Hara's Morris J2 at Summernats 29

7. Tasmanian Chris Palfreyman had a new build at Wilby, a genuine XH XR6 ute rocking a cheapie 5.3L iron-block LS and 88mm turbo combo good for 1200rwhp. With the ute still on leaf springs and basically untested, Chris had his work cut out for him at War in the Sticks, but he didn’t mind: “The track is a great equaliser, so I’m having a ball!”

MORE Chris Palfreyman’s 1200hp Barra-swapped XD Falcon at Drag Challenge

8. Cover star of Street Machine’s October 2024 issue, Simon Kryger’s WB Tonner was involved in plenty of call-outs on Saturday arvo, with Simon wanting a second dip at the racing action after bowing out in the first round of eliminations.

9. Our good mate Deni Dave had one of the event’s coolest sleepers: a 2002 Suzuki Vitara with an LS2 conversion! He purchased the car already converted, drove it down from Tocumwal, NSW and was driving the hell out of it. “It’s got a 200-shot of nitrous, so it’s pretty fun,” he said. “It drives so nice on the road, and we’ve run a 6.8 this weekend.”

MORE Dave Downie’s nitrous LS-swapped Suzuki Vitara sleeper ready for Drag Challenge

10. Jason Ruby’s RB-powered S13 Silvia is known for being an AWD beast, but because nobody else’s cars at Wilby had drive to both axles, the organisers asked him to disconnect the front end in the interests of fairness. But even running RWD only, Jason was towelling up plenty of the V8 guys.

11. Anthony Trevaskis’s 540-cube big block-powered AGRO64 EH is always a crowd favourite, but unfortunately a suspected head gasket issue on Saturday arvo put him out of the running.

12. Al Vella had his green, aspirated Mk1 Capri down from Sydney – a car that’s won more Radial Aspirated trophies at Drag Challenge than people have fingers. He continued that form at Wilby, taking out the Street Gangster class to nab $5500.

13. Po Tung’s Gas Racing-built Mk4 Toyota Supra took out the Small Tyre class at NPRA’s first shootout event in Sydney, and it was looking just as impressive on the narrow path of Wilby. Sadly, the billet 2JZ machine couldn’t back it up in the sticks.

14. Daniel Saliba’s Barra-swapped Datsun 1600 was on song all weekend, leaning back on the big rear meats to run all the way to the final in the Small Tyre class before just losing out to John Elfes’s VT Commodore.

15. One casualty from the event was Steve Athans’s fourth-gen Mustang. During a heated grudge race during Friday’s testing, Steve hit the scramble button in the deep end to win and take the overall track record with a 5.05, but once over the line, the Mustang rolled. Steve was unharmed, but it was a reminder of the risk that comes with this sort of racing.

16. Shaun Parsons’s WB ute cuts a mean figure, and with a 1500hp, hairdryer-assisted 500ci BG Engines big-block in the engine bay, it has the shove to back it up. Running in the Big Tyre class at War in the Sticks, Shaun has ambitions to bring the big ute to Street Machine Drag Challenge next year.