First published in the July 2009 issue of Street Machine

Many street machine events promise the ultimate family atmosphere and the ideal venue for horsepower junkies. But few deliver to the standard of the Repco Easternats, held at Sandown International Raceway.

Year after year this event kicks arse on all levels: huge crowds, super-tough cars, thundering burnouts and non-stop action for entrants and spectators across three days.

For entrants, the event is a petrolhead’s wet dream with drag racing, burnouts, and a wide variety of action on and off the track. And this year’s event saw the biggest crowds ever and a 20 per cent increase in entrant numbers over 2008.

There are many things the event has become famous for, big prize money and awesome trophies among them, but what’s increasingly obvious each year is the serious level of competition. Win a trophy at this show in a driving event and you know you really deserve it.

The burnouts have always been killer but the Easternats drag racing is fast becoming an event highlight thanks to the hefty prize money on offer.

The format is simple: heads-up racing, an 11-inch tyre limit on the unprepared street surface, no whining and lane choice for the final 10 cars is on the toss of a coin, as the left lane is used as a burnout strip for most of the weekend.

It seemed that all 650 entrants had a lash at the street drags, an event run with surgical precision by the Easternats team. After breaking his gearbox before last year’s event, it was pumped-up local Daniel Nunziante who went round after round this year, destroying the competition in his GASDUP Cortina.

Ali Sead made a surprise visit with his low-8sec LJ Torana and was almost beaten in the early rounds after drawing the ‘rubber lane’. He was looking to be a serious contender for the event win until the semi-finals, when he ran out of road and went into the sand trap.

It was a greatly relieved Nunziante who won the final against fellow Victorian Pat Caruso in his Chevy-powered LJ Torana, claiming the fistful of cash and the trophy.

While the dyno competition was axed for this year, organiser Jon ‘Davo’ Davison added a new event called Stampede. It was pretty much a powerskid-style event, though the winner was timed over a set distance for a combination of smoke and speed rather than simply the longest, smokiest burnout.

Scotty Briant would have easily been the crowd favourite, though he wasn’t the ultimate Stampede winner, as he swung his blown 355ci Holden-powered KE Corolla from guardrail to guardrail at an insane speed with thick smoke pouring out from under the rear quarters.

As a veteran of uncountable burnout competitions, I rate the Easternats skidfest as one of the best there is and this year’s event didn’t disappoint. In addition to the seemingly endless line of competitors, Davo added a selection of the country’s best Burnout Masters to spice up the action. What was especially interesting was that six of the eight Masters were behind the wheels of new cars.

The standard was high, as expected, and the prize was more than the incredible tinware on offer — national bragging rights.

Danny Smith almost didn’t make it in his Chevy pick-up after frying his transmission during the morning cruise session but aside from Victorians Steve Loader and Phil Coulton, who suffered a variety of car problems, all competitors blew both tyres and had the smoke-greedy crowd demanding even more.

Glen Eastwood once again produced a cracking Masters burnout in his hatchback Torana but it was local boy Richard Harrison who really stepped up, with a burnout that must rate as one of the greatest skids of all time. Huge revs, massive smoke and crazy high-speed wheel-work were the ingredients that pushed the blown Gemini to the winner’s circle.

In the main burnout competition it would be a near-endless task to give credit to all the awesome skids. Peter Grmusa spent most of the weekend rolling around in a pool of oil in the garage after the sump split on his blown Falcon during cruising. He fixed it and his burnout was superb, with huge smoke and rpm — and he didn’t make the Top 10!

Ballarat’s Phil Micallef was an Easternats virgin. He started strongly in his blown HG but the 355ci Holden motor popped an intake gasket at the halfway point and it all went downhill from there. Warren Eustace really upped the ante this year, in his blown HQ. With every event the car gets a little cleaner and his burnouts get better.

It seemed like a big weekend for the Holden fans and Craig Johnson kept the GM theme going in his VS Commodore, DEFCTV. Running a stout 355ci stroker motor fitted with quad IDA-style throttlebodies under the hood, Craig wrote his name from one end of the pad to the other at around 7000rpm.

But it was Leroy Rees, Australia’s latest burnout showman, who claimed the 2009 title. A fitting end to a rumoured $60,000 spend on his HJ Statesman in the three weeks preceding the show. While his burnout was short and stout, the hard-revving and freshly rebuilt big-block Chev was certainly the loudest car and will be a welcome addition to next year’s Masters.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Joe Pagano decided not to compete in the burnout finals after his car developed an electrical gremlin on the day.

2. After a minor mishap at Summernats, James North’s Torana hatch was back on song and looking the part — except the front numberplate.

3. With a nitrous-fed 10sec Windsor combination under the scoop in the hood, Daniel Nunziante’s Cortina was a serious competitor in most events.

4. Steve Titcomb would have to win the award for attending the most burnout competitions in history. His big block-powered family truckster ‘CRITTA’ was once again on song.

5. George Haddad looking pleased as punch with his monster 450ci small-block Windsor-powered XY, which runs low 10s on pump gas.

6. ATRISK — a toss up between the Big & Ugly and the world’s longest throttle cable!

7. Oh what a feeling! Scott Briant’s KE355 Corolla wagon is a killer combination.

8. Not your everyday conversion; RB30-powered hatchback is owned by Victoria’s Steve Ives.

9. Check out the wheelchair in the back! Rod Watson might be paraplegic but that didn’t stop him blowing the bags off his Holden ute in the burnout finals.