Drag
racing – a passion or an obsession?
Welcome to my second ADRMOnline column.
Well the Winternationals has been run and won. The 2008/2009
championship season is over and for the third time the Piranha Racing
Real Deal Motor Sports Insurance team has finished third in the
championship. We have now finished in the top three in four years.
Is it passion or is it obsession?
In the weeks leading up to the Winternationals, I lost track of the
endless hours we spent in the shed, even if some of the Piranha Racing
crew don’t like me near the tools, I was always there with them till
1am some mornings, watching the endless days run into the next.
I could never hope to achieve what I have and enjoy and participate with
unbridled enthusiasm without my wife Heather’s support (and signature
on the cheque
book).
Some days are hard as the sleep deprivation starts to kick in and you
find yourself nodding off at work.
Why do we do it?
For me it is the
unrestrainable passion I have for speed and the adrenalin rush
that comes when you or your driver has a great run or wins a final,
which, after all, is what we all strive for.
The emotions you experience cannot be bought at Woolworths and the super
rich cannot put a price on it.
The more passionate you are and the harder you have to work, the more
intense the feelings are.
The adrenalin rush when you win a final lasts a long time. We may have
won only one ANDRA Gold Christmas Tree, but that winning feeling can be
rekindled simply by reliving the moment in conversation.
The Winternationals
- another great event!
Piranha Racing
ran two cars at the Winternationals, the Lexus Piranha Hot Rod with
Nathan driving in Supercharged Outlaws and, for the first time, our new
Front Engine Dragster, which my other son Zachary drove in Modified.
It was 11pm on the evening of Friday, May 29, a week before the
Winternationals, when we eventually headed out of
Rockhampton with both cars on board and miles behind schedule.
Nathan did an excellent job driving the transporter and we finally
stopped at the Gympie Matilda (service station) at 5.30am for a few
hours sleep. The rest of us slept lightly in the back waiting for the
drinks call and in the end Crofty
(Alan Croft) came through waking everyone up, it did not matter how
sleep deprived we all were there is always time for a drink.
We arrived at Willowbank and set up ready for the Saturday night (May
30) Test ’n’ Tune prior to the Winters Warm Up the next day (Sunday,
May 31).
But by the time we eventually got both cars ready – we had missed the
Test ‘n’ Tune – we arrived in the staging lanes Sunday afternoon
ready to licence
the FED and then
licence number two son Zachary to drive
the car, only to have the heavens open up, washing away any chance of
doing both.
What do you do, go to Plan B of course.
We contacted the magnificent Loy family in
Lindsay and Moggie
were great company over the weekend and even helped John Ward out
as he had a shortage of crew for the Winternationals.
One thing Outlaw racers do, as do all racers, is help out when needed.
We had a tremendous amount of help on both weekends and may I add
it is definitely a lot harder running two cars.
My hat goes out to the multi-car teams, as packing up is now about a
four hour ritual. The sooner we get both cars running in Supercharged
Outlaws the better. I could not believe how frantic Modified racing is.
Most Modified teams are able start their cars in the staging lanes and
drive out. Not in our case. By the time we pushed the pencil out, pushed
it back, got the remote starter hooked up, most of the others had
already done their burnout and were ready to race.
Thanks to Jordon Radford, who patiently waited for us in the first
round, it is appreciated.
At the Test ‘n’ Tune, a fellow racer, Anthony Begley, came up to me
and frankly I didn’t know him from a jar of Vicks, but he needed an
angle grinder and as we have a pretty good supply of just about
everything, we lent one to him.
The very next day he brought it back and in conversation we explained
how we had a problem and needed to pack up everything to go to
Now here is a guy who has driven all the way from
Licensing
the
Front
Engine Dragster
The
Those of you, who know me, will know that I am as soft as a marshmallow
and at this point I found myself choked up and emotional.
If I thought I was choked up then, imagine how I was after Nathan
licensed the car and when number two son Zachary did that first burnout.
He may have been off and on the throttle a fair few times, but it was a
very emotional moment and fantastic feeling let me tell you.
You haven’t got to drive the car; you only have to be involved in the
team to feel the endorphins and experience the exhilaration blasting in
your brain.
I have said it before
and will say it again, the late great Kerry Packer couldn’t buy what
we feel, and you can only experience it.
It is amazing how quick the trip from the Penthouse to the Outhouse is. For
example at
What could it be? After two hours of changing things, checking
everything, we eventually went back to Chris Loy’s place and borrowed
his pro mag 20
points box, hooked it up and Bob’s your Uncle.
So from the moment we warmed it up to when we restarted it, the points
box had S#*t itself – unbelievable.
The first few passes the FED did at Willowbank, especially the last one
on the Friday night were very memorable and the fact that it leaned out
at 700ft, banged the blower, wrecked another manifold is immaterial.
We finally had the car going down the track and a million thanks to
everyone involved including the whole Piranha Racing team, machinist,
Bernie Bond, Ted Woodford, our engine builder, Lionel Durre, Crofty,
Craig Wessner, Lachlan Tree, my sons Nathan
and Zac,
my wife Heather and girls Bernie, Courtney, Bec and Raquel,
Macca, Whitey,
Damo, Lindsay,
Moggie and to Jeff Everett who helped at the track.
We tried to fix the FED with a sledge hammer and block of wood, but it
was leaking too much from the manifold and rather than risk
grenading the motor we shut it down and that was the end of the
Winternationals for the FED.
But we still finished third in
The first round win was a good run against ‘Psycho’ Steve Easton,
with both drivers performing nearly full-track burnouts, to keep our
championship hopes alive with an off the throttle 7.66sec on a 7.57(sec)
dial-in, going through at only 155mph and not pulling the chute.
With our championship and that Australian Number One still alive, our
second round race was against former Western Australian speedway
champion Pino Priolo.
As always the Hot Rod is being chased and we never have lane
choice.
We had a chat to Pino
and his crew the night before and can confirm they are a top group of
people and he is a real racer.
It was a good race, but unfortunately not in our
favour. Both racers had excellent reaction times with Nathan
having 0.418(sec) and
Pino 0.420(sec).
The Hot Rod trucked on down the track clocking an impressive 7.521sec at
168.35mph, breakout on a 7.60 dial-in.
Double breakout, Pino
trucked on down with a 6.829sec at 211.06mph on a 6.84 (dial-in), the
time to lift was there, but it’s a bit hard when you have a 211mph
blur blasting past you.
With most of the contenders, other than Christine Steffens, out in the
first round, including the leader at that point being
Matty Watts, John Ward and Paul Stephens.
The second round loss left only two people possible to win this show and
in the box seat was Christine Steffens, who had a nervous time waiting
for Matty
Watts, who has had a fantastic first year.
Being based at
We sometimes have a
whinge at being based in Rockhampton, but compared to
Guy and Tracy Watts, it is humbling to see people who are as passionate
as we are when it comes to drag racing and your dedication to the sport
and your sons is
commendable. To provide them with the opportunity to compete in
ANDRA championship drag racing is inspiring. We know we are biased, but
we think it is the greatest show on earth.
Christine went through to pick up both Christmas Trees, just like John
Ward did last year, with
Matty Watts running a creditable second; we came in third with
this being the third time we have been placed in the top three in four
years.
Well done Christine, but we will be back again as will everyone in the
new season.
We were two rounds short, second round loss in a double break out and a
fantastic race with
Pino Priolo ending in us being 56-hundredths of a second away
from a possible clash with Christine.
We will get there one day, but even if we don’t we have still got that
one ANDRA Gold Christmas Tree and no doubt we will be back at Willowbank
in August for the Blown Alcohol Championship event, Nostalgias and then
the Nationals in Sydney.
We always welcome visitors, acquaintances both new and old, friends,
fans and racers alike to call in and see us at the Piranha Racing Real
Deal Motorsports Insurance camp as we like nothing better and see the
need to promote our sport.
Winternationals highlight
The highlight for me was Paul Shackleton and Damien Harris running
Bring back Nitro Funny Cars as an ANDRA Official Class, I say.
See the YouTube
link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ET4yH2lTX8
Winternationals lowlights
The low point of the meet, without a shadow of a doubt, was the
devastating disqualification of Debbie Reed in the Top Alcohol final
after she scrapped the (safety) wall.
Prior to this we were still feeling a bit deflated, sad and sorry for
ourselves by yet again coming so close to
Once the crew saw Aaron
Hambridge’s red light, two Gold Christmas Trees were in Deb’s
hands, then the unthinkable happened.
Her vehicle crossed the boundary and launched into the wall –
it is a quick trip from the Penthouse to the Outhouse – our own misery
was quickly dismissed and no longer relevant.
Deb, I hope the flowers Piranha Racing sent to you cheered you up, as we
all felt your pain and anguish while witnessing your dream run unravel
so quickly right there in front or our eyes.
Again, well done and
better luck in 2009-2010.
Thanks to our dedicated band of
workers
Firstly my
neighbour Alan Croft, who sadly for me is heading off for a four
month caravanning holiday around
Also, Craig Wessner,
Bernie Bond, Zac,
Reece and my best mate Lachlan Tree, are just a few who have spent many
hours (working) in the shed.
Who would ever have thought that to just mount an engine into an
existing race car like the FED would take so much work – only someone
more intelligent than me would attempt it?
You can’t buy anything for it; instead everything has to be
painstakingly hand made.
Another animal joins the Piranha
Racing Team
Keen observers at the Winternationals would have noticed ‘Wally
the Wombat’ on the fuel vent of the new Penguin FED, which joins the
many other animals, including the famous Toyota Lexus Piranha Chook, one
of which we endeavour
to give away after each run, if we have enough supplies.
Each chook is generally given to a deserving youngster in the grandstand
and we appreciate correspondence from any recipients via a photo or
email of the chooks at their new abode.
Speaking of the Lexus Toyota Chooks, while the Hot Rod was having some
chassis adjustment work done by
By the way, thanks to Wayne and his team for an excellent job, Mark Brew
for the use of his workshop and
Trev (Blue Star Towing), the best tow
truck owner in
As seen by the photographic evidence, the chooks were let loose all over
These photos were gradually released over the Winternationals by various
racers, including Dale Clothier (the mad FC Holden driver from
The plot thickens, but someone, probably Ray Bernard, let the cat out of
the bag far too soon as I am led to believe a lot more activities were
planned for the chooks that never eventuated.
All-in-all it was fantastic fun, and it sort of tops last years
Winternats when the large blow-up penguin was kidnapped and held
hostage on top of a lighting tower by that disastrous crew from
Benaraby Raceway.
I suppose when you look at the team you can understand why we have
animals, a bit like Monty Pythons ‘The Flying Circus’.
Proposed
It has long baffled me the path ANDRA and Gary
Miocevich have gone down trying to introduce drag racing back
into
While we all can only admire the fact that Gary is using his own money
to try and persuade the Victorian Government to fund a stand alone drag
race complex in Melbourne, what has baffled me is that in this current
economic climate and the scrutiny on State and Federal government’s
spending, there is not a snowflakes chance in hell that you can sell to
any government in Victoria to fund such a facility.
Now I am not bagging Gary and I admire the effort he has put into the
project and I am certainly not being
negative, I would love nothing more that to go to Melbourne to
race at a big event, but regardless of the fact that Gary has injected
his own dollars into the project, obtaining a $25million plus government
funding for a drag strip will be extremely difficult because the
opposition will just slaughter the government in parliament.
Whether it is Labour,
Liberal, Greens, Democrats or the No Hoper party, it is just an
impossible political argument, being the way in which politics works and
when you are in opposition you just bag whatever the encumbering
government does, even if it is a good idea, you bag it too death, which
often results in the government backing away.
And even if you get both government and opposition on side, then there
is likely to be public opposition to a government spending that sort of
money on a drag race complex, particularly with the public wanting more
money spent of
infrastructure items such as health, schools, transport, etc.
The WSID and Perth
Motorplex situations were a lot different than that in
Car wraps verses the real thing
It is my opinion that the ever increasing amount of car wraps that
we see at the drags on racing vehicles these days is no substitute for
the real thing (paint job).
While from the grandstand they look spectacular; to me I would rather
see the real thing.
Both of our Supercharged Outlaw cars have an intricate paint job created
by Hans Kreuzen,
the Paint Doctor from
Maryborough.
The paint work probably has cost 10 times more than the actual car, but
I’m a traditionalist and it is my point of view that car wraps should
be used for one off tributes and promotions, give me the real thing any
day.
To be continued.
Peter Peirano
Photographs by Darryl Smith
What
I love about drag racing