On Saturday just gone, Ahmet Sehirligil’s Supernats made Winton Raceway its home for a day of tyre-smashing action. Track cruising, powerskids, roll racing and competitive burnouts all shared the stage, making for a packed twelve-hour roster.

A contingent of tough feature cars came out to play on the race circuit, including Aaron Taylor’s blown ZF Fairlane and Matt Watts’s freshly-featured LX hatch.

There was also a show and shine held in the car park, which formed part of the two-pronged ‘show and go’ competition.

Fine weather helped encourage a strong crowd, much of which stuck around to witness the evening’s burnout finals.

Russell Harris steered his blown and injected VL Commodore, LOO5E, to victory in the final, taking home the John Peterson Trophy.

James McGregor took top spot in the Aspirated V8 class in his LS-powered VN Commodore, EX5LTR

Mark Ansaldi won the Six-Cylinder burnout class in his Barra-powered XE Falcon ute, BARRA6.

Roll Racing winner was Jamie Watson in his eight-second, turbo LS-powered HQ sedan.

Shane D’Amato in GHETTO took out the win in the Super Skids and second place in the Show-and-Go class. The ute has recently been upgraded from an aspirated engine to blown EFI LS2 running on E85.

The new combo is backed by a Turbo 400 trans and a BorgWarner rear end. “I’ve been having a great time; I’ve been through eight pairs of tyres and the car hasn’t missed a beat all day,” Shane said.

Top Show-and-Go as well as runner-up in the Super Skids was Matt Smoors in his blown VK Commodore, FSTGMH. “It’s been an awesome day,” Matt said “I’ve gone through over 100 litres of E85, six pairs of tyres and spent a whole lot of time on the rev limiter!”

Tony Leist recently finished building his big-block powered ‘67 Camaro, and, in true street car style, drove it to and from the event from nearby Benalla. The car’s been built with events like Drag Challenge in mind.

“The engine is a 505ci big-block Chevy that’s built for nitrous,” Tony said. “We raced it at Heathcote for the first time recently with the second pass off the trailer being a [email protected].”

Adam Slorach claimed runner-up in the Six-Cylinder burnout class in his blown 202-powered HR Holden ute, NUMNUTZ. Adam had a hectic week re-sorting the ute, only getting a newly built engine into the bay the night before Supernats began.

The last time we saw Peter Nusser’s XR Falcon ute was in May 2019 at Wilby Park drags. Back then it had a blown 363ci Windsor poking through the bonnet but the ute has undergone a major transformation recently. “I’ve gone to the dark side and fitted a turbo Barra and a Powerglide,” Peter said.

“It’s set for track duties now and will be heading to Drag Week.” Tuned by Tunnel Vision, the ute makes a tidy 1250hp at the hubs.

Adrian Cuthbertson was on a mission in SKIDMA. After hitting the pad with a massive tip-in in the burnout finals, he produced a wild skid show that was worthy of victory. Unfortunately, despite blowing both tyres, he finished up stuck back up in the entry lane and had to hit reverse, which meant instant DNF.

Matt Corish had entered his V12 LS-powered Holden Caprice for the event but since that wasn’t quite finished in time, he brought along his 1965 Mustang instead. The owner-built fastback is perhaps best described as a period-correct image of a car that never existed.

“It’s a one-of-none ‘Hurst Edition Mustang’ with a 289ci solid-lifter engine, manual gearbox and a nine-inch LSD rear end,” Matt explained.

Brett Travers had his WB Statesman out for its first show since being built. “I’ve still got a few things left to do but thought I’d bring it out for a bit of fun,” said Brett, who has owned the car since 2014.

“The motor is a 402ci LQ9 with a fully forged bottom end and a TBS 8/71 blower with a Joe Blo EFI system inside the hat. It makes around 1000hp.” Backing the LQ9 is a T56 six-speed manual and a 9in. Inside, the Statesman is graced with a custom interior and a Haltech iC-7 dash.

Among the cars cruising the track and competing in the driving events were several well-sorted sleepers, including Rob Bartlett’s VK SS tribute. “The car was built back in 2014 but I’ve recently given it a SS replica respray,” Rob told us. “The motor is an unopened LS1 with upgraded valve springs and a Chinese GT42 turbo. It makes 500 kilowatts at the wheels through a Powerglide and 9in, and it’s run a best of 9.0@150mph.” The VK could have easily be mistaken for a stock street cruiser if it wasn’t for the passenger headlight being pulled out at the event for better air flow into the turbo.

Shaun Eckert had his immaculate XR Falcon out in public for the first time at Supernats. Under the bonnet lurks a 440ci Winsor-based donk backed by a Bob Grant C4 transmission with a four-linked 9in rear.

“The motor made 1000hp on the engine dyno and just over 800hp at the hubs at 8600rpm,” Shaun said.

Sam Crabbe punished his CRABBY Corolla all day out on the cruise track and then gave the rev limiter a major workout out on the burnout pad. “The engine is just a basic LS1 with a cam and twin throttlebodies on a ram,” said Sam. “It runs a Powerglide and a shortened Hilux diff. It’s been a fun day!”

Aspirated V8 burnout runner-up was Aiden Leist in his black LS-powered VK Commodore, JOYRIDE.

Reyne Wilson’s HQ One Tonner runs a ProCharged LS1 with a camshaft upgrade that’s good for 425kW at the tyres. “It’s my daily driver,” Reyne explained. “I brought it up here for a bit of a play. The laced paintwork is just a home job that I did. I grabbed some cheap paint and some laced curtain material and blew it over for something different.”