Street Machine Australia – September 2019

Other standouts of the day included Jeremy

Callaghan, who continues to take his racing

to a new level each year. His stunning 1969

Camaro has recently had a phenomenal

makeover and ran a 4.11@186mph in the Pro

Street final to win the class. The ex-USA radial

car was built by Sheppard Race Cars and has

recently been fitted with a new 572ci stage

IV Pro Line 481X engine (rumoured to have

cost more than $100K) and the new Precision

102mm XPR turbochargers.

It was big weekend for the ProFlo Performance

team, with Paul Todarello pulling his stunning

hatchback Torana out of the corner of the shed

and Tristan Ockers being offered a drive in the

new and relatively untested Nova owned by

Mick Duggan.

Todarello had made a few passes with the

twin-turbo 557ci big block-powered hatch

leading up to the weekend, with mostly

bottom seven-second runs. To keep the front

end on the ground, at Grudge Kings they

added a set of bullhorn exhausts to the front

just to try something different, and boom – a

6.60@209mph pass. The additional downforce

from the exhaust gas made the car a lot more

stable and it even picked up 8mph on the pass.

The next run the car clicked off a 6.55, but

unfortunately developed a misfire that plagued

the team through the meet. They did try a few

changes that saw it still make a 6.60 pass, and

even with the misfire the car picked up another

8mph to click off a 217 – not a bad result.

For ‘Hollywood’ Ockers, it was a huge

weekend that saw him mix it against the

toughest turbo and blower cars in the country.

After running a 6.3 on a pedal and a startline

electrical gremlin in the early rounds, he backed

up with a 6.22@235mph in a car he had never

driven before. “The Nova is just so intense,”

Tristan said. “You just seem to go into full

survival instinct. I’m not sure which part is the

best; the first 60 feet is insane and the top end

ain’t bad either. It’s a very physical car to drive,

so raw and noisy.” We can’t wait to see how

this experience will affect the rebuild of Tristan’s

MINCER Capri, which is currently awaiting a

heart transplant.

The other standout of the weekend for me

was the Cortina of Wollongong racer Craige

Lewis; it would be one of the nicest real street

cars I’ve spotted recently. The attention to

detail is awesome, and it’s powered by a 363ci

Pro Line small-block Ford combination with a

pair of Precision 70mm turbos. Running in the

275 class, Craige was up against some stiff

competition, but with the awesome weather

and track conditions he managed a personal

best of 7.34 at an impressive 194mph, and a

4.7@153mph over the eighth. s

TRISTAN OCKERS WAS OFFERED A DRIVE IN MICK DUGGAN’S NEW AND

RELATIVELY UNTESTED NOVA, AND RAN 6.22@235MPH