’TIS the season of giving, so jolly ol’ Michael ‘Gup’ Gilbert and his band of little helpers put on a special Christmas Powercruise event on Friday afternoon at Queensland Raceway.

Powercruise Quick Hits was free to both entrants and spectators, but there was a catch: Only 100 cars were allowed and they had to boast a minimum of 500hp or to have run quicker than 11.99 over the quarter-mile. The result was a stellar field of tough cars and some very close racing.

Bruce Woodward’s HQ might look sweet and innocent, but it packs an LS with a sniff of nitrous, and has run low 10s.

Corey Darke’s Barra-powered Fox-body Mustang came out to stretch its legs. It has run 8.8s on radials at Willowbank.

Shane Bray took me for some laps in his ProCharged small-block Chev-powered HQ, leaving me with an ear-to-ear grin.

Michael Lobie’s VH Commodore is a super-clean rig, boasting a single-turbo 408ci LS that makes in the vicinity of 600hp, and runs in the nines.

Mitch Hamilton’s CA18DET-powered Datto broke a few hearts on Friday by beating some very quick V8s!