For 22 years now, Michael ‘Gup’ Gilbert’s Powercruise events have been offering Aussie revheads of all stripes the opportunity to cut loose in a safe, controlled race-track environment. Powerskids, off-street racing, drifting, burnouts – if it’s not allowed on a public road, chances are it’s welcome at Powercruise.

First published in the April 2025 issue of Street Machine

It’s a formula that has seen the event develop a devoted cult following, and the faithful turned out in force when Powercruise 97 took over Queensland Raceway in early February for a weekend of unbridled automotive tomfoolery.

As always, the menu included powerskids, drag racing and cruise sessions, giving entrants many and varied opportunities to push their cars to the limits. Burnout battles, drift demonstrations and a show ’n’ shine added icing to an already jam-packed cake.

Tyres hit the track at 9am Friday, with drift demos and the first cruising sessions. A brief but heavy morning downpour left the track slick and slippery, which made for plenty of sideways action.

Friday’s schedule offered plenty of track time for entrants to get acclimatised to the track, with practice sessions and a quick hit-out on the burnout pad on offer, but the real party started on Saturday, as thousands of spectators poured in and hundreds of cars packed the garages and spilled out of the pits.
The show ’n’ shine was full of stunners, and Powercruise frontman Gup even had a few of his own machines on display, including his turbo big block-powered HQ sedan and 2000hp, nitrous-fed HQ wagon, which he wasted no time in firing up to blow the dust off on track.

For the first time, the cruise sessions alternated between two modes, Smooth and Extreme. For the Smooth cruising, drivers could bring up to three mates along for the ride with no helmets required, as long as they kept it under 120km/h. Gup wasn’t sure how it would be received, so he was surprised when nearly half the entrants opted to lap four to a car. “People have taken to it more than I thought they would,” he said. “If you’re not going to make a bunch of speed and smoke, then go in the Smooth Cruise with your buddies. If you wanna go completely nuts, you can enter the Extreme Cruise and go out and race each other.”

Sure enough, the Extreme Cruise sessions saw the pace cranked right up. This time entrants were limited to only one passenger per car. It wasn’t long before the track was heaving with high-horsepower machines being pushed to their limits, with plenty of drifting, powerskids and roll-ons down the main straight.

Both flavours of cruising proved to be a hit, and Gup is already looking at ways to streamline the experience for next time. “I want to have a Smooth Cruise lane and an Extreme Cruise lane,” he said. “When the lane is full, we take that lane out.”

After the first couple of rounds of cruising, things got serious for the powerskid finals. A bunch of toughies threw down on the straight, and after plenty of skids, Ryan ‘Bubba’ Lofts took the win in his ORWHAT Calais, with Iain Burns runner-up in his 900hp VC burnout rig.

Further fury was unleashed when the Dream Team hit the track for a demo display of tight tip-ins and savage powerskids, drowning the crowd in coloured smoke. Madison Chester let rip in his 1000hp, blown LS-powered VE, ONBAIL, while Ben Bolton’s twin-turbo Barra-powered OVERKILL Cortina certainly lived up to its name. Shane ‘Barney’ Barnard’s 440-cube hybrid XR-XY panel van had the crowd roaring –especially when he wrapped up his demo with a backflip off the car.

Barney doesn’t just put on a killer smoke show, though, he’s also the bloke who decides whether your car belongs among the Dream Team big-hitters. “Being on the Dream Team is about more than just entertaining the crowd,” he said. “We want guys who are long-time entrants, who support our car scene and have a good attitude. We’ve picked another six or seven drivers to join the squad, and we’ll announce them after Sydney Powercruise.”

After more cruising, it was time for the off-street racing finals, which ran elimination rounds until it came down to the final two. Todd Kopelke took home the win in his wild SINISTR Capri, while Noah Moskwa grabbed a close second in his turbo Barra-powered VK.

Wrapping up the event, the burnout comp ran late into the night, and when the smoke finally cleared, Bubba Lofts was crowned Burnout Champion in ORWHAT. Crowd favourite Thomas McManaway snatched second place in DATO KNG, while Eric Latimore rounded out the top three in his BUILT2FRY Commodore.

With the dust still settling from this go-round, the countdown is now on for Powercruise 100, slated for September at Queensland Raceway, and it’s set to be the biggest one yet. For the first time, the event will expand to seven full days, with different days dedicated to imports, V8s, burnouts, cruising and off-street drags. Cars will be shipped over from the USA and New Zealand to mix things up, and there’s been talk of a camp-out and a night-time concert.

As for the man behind it all, Gup has teased that after 22 years at the helm, the 100th Powercruise might mark a significant shift in his involvement. It would certainly make for one hell of a retirement party!

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Todd Kopelke is the new owner of the well-known, nitrous-huffing 540ci Capri formerly owned and piloted by Stu Henry. Todd grabbed this drag weapon six months ago and is sticking with the proven combo for now, but big things are in the works – think street rego and Drag Challenge-style events.

2. Mark and Jana Kingsford came out in their HZ One Tonner, SKIDIBLE. Powered by an LS1 with twin 750 Holleys, the Tonner had no problem shredding tyres. Mark spent the day tearing through cruise sessions and lighting up the straight before bolting on fresh rubber for the burnout comp.

3. Steven Lagana’s ’74 HQ GTS coupe is one tough bit of gear, running a 454ci LSX, TH400, 9in diff, Wilwood brakes, mini-tubs and a fresh interior.

4. Ryan ‘Bubba’ Lofts put on a wild show during the powerskid finals in his ORWHAT Calais. He laid down a monstrous skid the full length of the straight but didn’t lift in time and hit the fence, leaving his back bumper behind. It didn’t matter, though; Bubba still took the powerskids win and backed it up by dominating the burnout comp for a double victory.

5. Josh Smith made the trip up from Canberra with a bunch of mates for his first-ever Queensland Powercruise in his blown VT Commodore, OVAR8D. After having a good old play on the track, Josh was laying down a solid skid in Saturday’s burnout finals until a nose-first run into the wall curtailed his fun.

6. Josh Mitchell’s ’85 VK Commodore wagon is a shed-built weapon running a fully forged RB30 with a G40-1150 turbo, backed by a transbraked Powerglide and a built 31-spline BorgWarner diff. The Nissan six makes 887hp on 36psi.

7. Putting out 1000hp, Ryan Paki’s street-registered, turbo 6.0L VN SS was built for one thing: powerskids. “Drive it, abuse it, park it,” said Ryan after going rounds in the off-street racing and powerskids.

8. David Power’s FLATRAT was a crowd favourite. Who doesn’t love to see a chopped, blown HJ Tonner fry a set of tyres?

9. Iain Burns’s 1980 VC Commodore is a 900hp monster packing an 8/71-blown 6.0L. “It’s built for Powercruise events,” Iain said. “I’m part of the Dream Team, so it’s all about burnouts, drifting, and getting the tyres off the thing!”

10. Powercruise veteran Mark Stumer returned with his freshly rebuilt and repainted LJ Torana, UNTIDY. Still rocking the tough 6/71-blown combo with some extra boost, it was looking meaner than ever.

11. Zac Volpato brought his 720hp, turbo LS1-powered VL Calais, TKNOFF, all the way up from Sydney to let loose with his mates in the powerskids and cruise sessions at Powercruise. “We were on the track non-stop Friday and Saturday,” Zac said. “The only thing that slowed us down was burning through all the tyres!”

12. Madison Chester certainly knows how to put on a show, spewing thick plumes of blue smoke from his wild VE, ONBAIL. The methanol-chugging Commodore rocks a 408ci forged LS with an 8/71 blower.

13. Ronnie Driemel’s 2001 HSV ClubSport is as clean as they come, with just 20,000km on the clock and barely a thing changed since new. Ronnie took out first place in the Show Class in the show ’n’ shine.

14. Noah Moskwa’s VK packs a Haltech-controlled FG turbo-Barra that punches out 850hp through a Powerglide. “We brought it out for racing, skidding, and a bit of a thrash,” Noah said.

15. Troy Crouch was hammering his LX Torana around the track every chance he got. Running a Holden 304, TH400 trans and 9in diff, the LX proved it could keep up.