In last week’s episode of Carnage, we covered the first three days of our 1129rwhp VS ute’s maiden Drag Challenge campaign, and this week, it comes to an exciting – and somewhat surprising – conclusion.

When we left off, the twin-turbo, 427ci LS-powered ute we call Grimace had just completed Day Three of DC 2024, and it certainly hadn’t been smooth sailing up until then. Scotty and his co-driver/mechanic Tom Banks Jr had to contend with the ute’s continual propensity to overheat, boost pipe problems, and its apparent dislike for 98 PULP. 

After the VS posted a disappointing 6.19@122mph eighth-mile pass on Day Two at Mildura’s Sunset Strip (Day One’s racing at Calder Park having been called off due to unsafe track conditions), things started looking up a bit on Day Three at Dragway at the Bend, with the ute running a new PB of 8.49@163mph.

That was just a hair too quick for the PSR 8.5 Radial class Scotty and Tom were competing in, though, and an 8.90@148mph was what they ended up handing in.

The post-racing drive from South Australia’s Dragway at The Bend to Heathcote Park Raceway in Central Victoria was just as punishing, so much so that Scotty wisely broke up the 580km leg with an overnight stop in Stawell.

Once the boys arrived back at Heathcote Park Raceway for the final two days of racing, the road miles were thankfully done for the week, and they could concentrate on a big final push to improve the ute’s ETs.

Day Four’s Saturday-afternoon racing ended up running late into the night, the ute running a best of 8.60@164mph. The following day, Scotty ran as close as he’d ever been on the right side of the 8.50 dial-in, handing in an 8.54@165mph – enough to earn him and the VS third spot in the Pro Street Radials 8.5 class, and 13th overall!

Enjoy the second part of Scotty’s Drag Challenge adventure below – it’s a cracker!