The sound of punished tyres and bashed limiters filled the air at Street Machine Summernats 34 late Thursday afternoon, as twenty hopefuls tore up the pad in a last ditch effort to get their name on the Burnout Masters list.

Ongoing nationwide circumstances meant that a number of last minute withdrawals yielded new spots on the shootout list, with competitors like Tim Brown in CEMBLO scoring a late appearance in the ranks.

Jack Seaman (who already holds a Burnout Masters ticket) opened the show in his one-tonner LOOSEQ with a killer exhibition burnout to skid, giving the drivers a taste of what they’ll be up against in the big leagues while also pumping up the bumper crowd around the pad and in the grandstand.

Despite unseasonably the cooler weather, there were plenty of tyre and engine bay fires. Mechanical issues and misjudged manoeuvres also caused multiple stop-start performances, with a handful of cars from the tough line-up making contact with the wall.

Steve Titcumb tipped in hard, laying a thick cloud of smoke in his blown 1967 Camaro DRAGON. Unfortunately, Steve suffered a red flag after a trail of flames came raging out from the rear of the Camaro mid burnout, but thankfully car and driver emerged unharmed.

Craig Meston looked like he had a good chance of winning a Masters spot for a second year in his VK Commodore PINKY. Despite running a donor motor, Craig tipped in hard and fast, making consistent clouds of smoke while throwing the VK around in the exit chute. An abrupt front end hit into the wall on re-entry stopped Craig in his tracks, but it wasn’t long before he had tyres turning again to the tune of the cheering crowd.

Craig Ingold proved that he could keep up with the blown cars in GUSBOY his twin-turbo, LS-powered Chevy truck as he flew across the pad, not letting off until drove off on rims.

Steve Robson began with a solid run in the SPOTTO57 Chevy, until he hit a tight spot in the exit chute and had to throw the big ’57 into reverse twice. A fire then cut the last section of his run short.

After two hours of impressive skids and carnage, the judges selected their top five that will added to the already massive 40 car field that’ll line up for the Burnout Masters qualifying on Saturday afternoon. Just 20 of those will go on to the Masters final on Sunday, competing for a whopping $25,000 grand prize.

Burnout Masters Last Chance Wild Shootout Qualifiers

• Aaron Schlig 2IMPRES
• Tim Barby MOJO
• Tim Brown CEMBLO
• Brenden Stapleton TISDA1
• Craig Ingold GUSBOY