TAKING on a drag-and-drive event is no mean feat, especially when you're on the other side of the world, challenging Americans at their own game. Pushing your car to the limit on the road and track in soaring temperatures and contending with long daily drives, potholes and adverse track conditions becomes a hell of a lot more difficult when you don't have mates and local contacts to back you up. Flying into the United States and attempting to build a car with limited resources is an even bigger challenge again. Many Aussie teams have thrashed like madmen, only to arrive with untested cars or simply be outgunned in their chosen class.
That's why you've really got to hand it to Mike Ward and his mates from Western Australia, who have run the quickest drag-and-drive average of any Aussie team in the US, with an impressive 7.35-second average over a week of racing. In doing so, they reeled off a PB of 7.14 on leaf springs and 275 radials, with bigger things still to come! To rewind, fellow racer Kevin Boulton took Mike to Hot Rod Drag Week 2018 to show him how it all worked. Mike was obviously impressed; as soon as he got home, he and his mates formulated a plan to run their own car Stateside.
They decided trying to build a car from scratch in the States would be too hard, so they started looking for a turn-key car that met their criteria. It had to be registered and capable of running quicker than an 8.50, and most importantly it had to be complete. The hunt began, and as luck had it, they found a Chevy Nova owned by a guy called Eddie Whipple.
This story is from the April 2024 edition of Street Machine Australia.
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This story is from the April 2024 edition of Street Machine Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
ARBY’S EFFORTS TO IMPROVE HIS VG VALIANT’S 60-FOOT TIMES YIELD PROMISING RESULTS IN THE RUN-UP TO STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE
ANIKA HODGES
THE CAR DROVE INTO OUR SHED AS A CREAM 202CI VC AND DROVE OUT AS A SILVER CAR WITH A 355 V8
STAGE FRIGHT
IT TOOK OWEN SCOTT MORE THAN 20 YEARS TO BUILD A TROPHY-WINING, 600HP EH HOLDEN UTE THAT WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME
THE Ummmal SUSPECT
FORGET WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT MINI-TRUCKS. THIS SUMMERNATS TOP 60 HILUX IS A PROPER STREET MACHINE
FULLY UTILISED
HARDWOOD ROD & CUSTOM TURNS DARREN ISON'S HAND-ME-DOWN HT INTO A SMOOTH OPERATOR
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
ARBY’S EFFORTS TO IMPROVE HIS VG VALIANT’S 60-FOOT TIMES YIELD PROMISING RESULTS IN THE RUN-UP TO STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE
PEOPLE POWER
WE TAKE A LOOK BACK AT 36 YEARS OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS - AND MOST DEMOCRATICALLY AWARDED - HONOUR IN OUR SPORT: STREET MACHINE OF THE YEAR
OUT-AND-OUT MAYHEM
STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE IS ALREADY A ROLLICKING GOOD TIME, BUT WHAT CAR EVENT CAN'T BE MADE EVEN BETTER BY ADDING A BURNOUT COMP? INTRODUCING OUR INAUGURAL RODS OUT!
BAD TO THE BONE
THANKS TO HIS SON, ANDY, THE LATE MARIO COLALILLO’S 39 PLYMOUTH COUPE IS BACK ON THE ROAD AND STILL ONE OF THE BADDEST HOT RODS IN THE COUNTRY
THE CHALLENGE IS REAL
FROM TRACK DRAMAS TO SOARING TEMPERATURES, DRAG CHALLENGE 2024 THREW US SOME OF ITS TOUGHEST TESTS YET, BUT IT ALSO BROUGHT SOME OF THE QUICKEST TIMES THE EVENT HAS EVER SEEN
