FUELLING THE Fire

TOP FUEL SCORCHERS RETURN TO MILDURA AFTER ALMOST A DECADE AWAY

- JACK HOULIHAN

I’LL admit I’m pretty fresh to the world of drag racing. Since my first days as a Street Machine intern a couple of years ago, I’ve covered a few quarter-mile events, including seven-second street car action across two Drag Challenges. But none of them have prepared me for the visceral thrill that is Top Fuel racing.

The location for my baptism of nitro is Mildura’s Sunset Strip, an eighth-mile facility nestled in the north-western corner of Victoria. The Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship chose this country track for Round Two of its inaugural season, in a now-rare appearance of the category in Victoria. So this is a special event not only for Sunset Strip but for the Top Fuel racers themselves. Mildura last saw Top Fuel action in 2014, when Lamattina Top Fuel Racing put on an exhibition event.

This meet also marks the first time an Aussie Top Fuel championship round has been held over an eighth-mile rather than a 1000-foot track.

The round is part of the Ken Scroop Memorial Meet, dedicated to the late South Australian racer. Sunset Strip is a second home for many racing-starved Croweaters, being the same distance from Adelaide as Whyalla’s Steel City Raceway. Top Fuel aside, 10 other classes fill out the weekend, ranging from Junior Dragster to Super Street and even nitro-powered Top Bike.

Arriving at Sunset Strip just after lunch on Saturday, I find a respectable crowd already posted trackside. Even more observers wander the pits, stopping to marvel at the four Top Fuel teams doing their thing. I soon find myself doing the same. Watching a 10-person crew working with such rehearsed efficiency is an amazing sight as they torque up valve gear, screw-on fuel lines, strap down blowers and pack ’chutes.