First published in the January 2003 issue of Street Machine

In a career spanning four decades Dennis Syrmis has succeeded at the top level of almost every strata of drag racing. As a competitor, his Time Machine sedans were among the most well-known cars of their era. As ANDRA National Director from 1974 to 1983, he introduced the dial-your-own Group Three category and an explosion of new racers joined the ranks. Perhaps most importantly, Dennis was the driving force behind the establishment and promotion of Queensland’s illustrious Willowbank Raceway.

When did you start racing?

“In 1960 and I was 18. All my hoon mates used to brag about how fast their cars were, so I decided to organise some street runs. There is a section of road alongside the Brisbane River that runs dead-straight for 13 blocks, so we marked out the quarter mile in paint and timed the cars and bikes with a stopwatch.”

So you were organising things even back then?

“Yep, but I raced, too. I had an FX Holden with a side-plate six that ran 21.2-secs over the quarter. I eventually got that down to a flat 20 [laughs].”

Must have been some wild times back then?

“Yeah, we all used to hang out at the C&V Café in Melbourne Street, South Brisbane. One night we decided to race a tip truck and a Lambretta scooter from South Brisbane Station to the C&V Café. That was along the busiest street in town … the Lambretta won.”

When did you move into real drag racing?

“The first official meeting in Queensland was held at Lowood in 1965, but that was run by CAMS and they wanted us to get full CAMS licences. Things really started happening when the Surfers Paradise Raceway opened in 1966.”

What were the big tracks at that time?

“Really there was only Sydney’s Castlereagh, because it was designed for drag racing only. Ron Richards and I towed our Time Machine FJ down there for the first Mr Holden event. We had installed a new 186 to the car, but there was a Wade supercharger waiting for us in Sydney and we had to fit it when we got there. We hammered a hole in the bonnet for the air intake and headed off to Castlereagh.”

How did you get involved with becoming an official?

“Because we had the blower on the car, we were running methanol. Back then there was no provision for running methanol in the rule book and after arguing with this guy on the Hot Rod Federation committee at the track, I convinced them that it was just common sense to allow it. It flowed on from there and I became the director of the South Queensland Division of the Australia Hot Rod Federation in the early 1970s.”

How did Willowbank come about?

“The people who were running Surfers Paradise were just into roundy-round racing. They didn’t give a sh*t about drags and weren’t looking after the racers or running the events properly. The last straw came at the 1981 Nationals – a Super Sedan took out the Christmas tree and there weren’t enough spare light bulbs to replace the broken ones. It was a total sh*t fight, so I made the decision there and then to do something about it.”

Are we doing enough to safeguard the future of our sport?

“No, but within the ranks we have the ability, the knowledge and the capacity to get the sport back on track. The ANDRA system is too slow – it’s like the public service. Look at Supercharged Outlaws – everyone loves it, but ANDRA thought it shouldn’t be there. We told them to get f@#$ed and it’s gone from strength to strength.”

What’s been the toughest part of your life?

“Rain. The worst thing in all of my years was having the Winternationals rained out a few years ago. Not only did we lose what we stood to make but it cost us close to $500,000 in cash. Track prep is expensive as all sh*t – the VHT comes from the States and we use 10 205-litre drums of the stuff. Oil-downs are a killer too; things turn to sh*t when that happens.”

What’s been the highlight of your career?

“Racing. I’ve won the Nationals twice, which is no small feat. My favourite race car was the third Time Machine, an Altered powered by a small-block Chev. It was fun, cheap and won quite a few events for me. As a promoter I’d have to say my career highlight has been the Winternationals. We started our own event because ANDRA had given the Nationals to Calder permanently. We started the Winternationals as a local event and after three years it was bigger than the Nationals. It’s getting bigger every year.”

Dennis was inducted into the ANDRA Hall of Fame in 2013 and passed away in December of the same year at the age of 71.