Many upper North Island sheds have been a constant hive of activity over the darker months, as New Zealand’s drag racers fixed breakages, sorted upgrades, or touched up their battle-scarred machines. All the long nights and lightened wallets were for one thing — the upcoming IHRA 2017–18 National Series, which kicked off with Meremere Comp Meeting 1 on Sunday, October 29.
Missing out on Saturday’s Test and Tune day due to the weather certainly had an impact on Sunday’s racing, as with all the new combinations put together over the winter, it was not ideal to go straight into all-out racing, but such is life …
Barry Plumptons new car was one of the most impressive pieces of gear out, and according to one of the crew, it was purchased from Saudi Arabia. ‘The Bullet’, a 1968 Camaro Pro Mod, was built by Jerry Bickel Race Cars and is packed with a monster 959ci nitrous-snorting mountain motor — a sure step up from his already-impressive Monte Carlo which ran over 800 cubes of nitrous-assisted mountain!
Up from the Canterbury region, the Alsops had their tough Altered on track for some wild shenanigans — buttoning off after a hairy ride, the commentators were impressed with the 100-foot times before taking the jandal off. As New Zealand’s first five-second small block and first five-second Altered, this car is going to be one to watch over the upcoming season.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t all peaches and cream. Andre Gil suffered every drag racer’s nightmare, as his immaculate Chevelle decided to go one-on-one with the wall. There could only have been one winner, and we hope he’ll have the Chevelle back in due course.
The next Meremere Dragway competition meeting will be the IHRA Spring Nationals held on Sunday, November 19.
