Day two of Northern Nats brought all of the goodies for car lovers near and far. Competitors from along the East Coast of Australia sent it on the quarter mile and on the burnout pad.
The day kicked off with a round of roll racing followed by drag racing qualifying. Steven Reid dipped into the 9 second zone with his father Shane’s, LH Torana RACE 01. Plenty of other racers found the sweet spot in their set up to pick their dial in time for Sunday’s Chicago Shootout style finals. On of our favourites was Toby in his XY, running 11s in full street trim.
Liam Schafer had a gnarly trailer incident on the way down from Townsville, but recovered to run a 10.44 at 130.36mph in his LS-powered WB ute.
Darren Sanewski’s 351 Cleveland-powered Chrysler Sigma ran an 11.2 at 120mph.
The show and shine display of beautiful cars was out in all of its glory under the watchful eye of judges Owen Webb and Rachael Durbidge. A great mix of new cars and vintage cars such as the new SS Camaro from the Steven Marino stable and the vintage XB hardtop of reigning NN Grand Champ, Chris Borzi.
The monster truck jumping castle was set up for the kids to have a great time; while the Blundell Classic Ford Museum stretched Limo was kept busy with plenty of people climbing in to check it out and go for a drive.
The drag racing qualifying came to an end after lunch, opening the burnout pad up to the drifting machines who put on an outstanding display of driver skill. While the drifters showed us how to steer ‘fast and furious’ style, the Ringbrothers arrived to check out the biggest car festival in Far North Queensland.
Brothers Mike and Jim from Ringbrothers first made their mark in the custom car scene building a one of a kind Mustang. With a legacy built on the Ford muscle car, they headed straight to Sicko to check out the Myers GM176 Mustang. A previous two time Northern Nats winner, the Muzzy impressed the Ringbrothers with Mike accepting an invitation from Jake to sign the glovebox.
Jake Myers is piloting Sicko for the very last time at Northern Nats with plans to retire the legendary car from competition next year. Mike also took the opportunity to head out on the cruise route in the passenger seat of Sicko with Jake showing why he is a champion driver in the Australian burnout scene.
With Sicko heading out on the cruise route, plenty of other drivers took the opportunity to have some fun behind the wheel. Springmount Raceway General Manager Michael Gonzales reported more than 4000 tyres crossing the start line throughout the day as a broad mix of vehicles lay down power skids, side by side burnouts and took passengers for a lap of the facility. “It isn’t often that you can see two big cars side by side in skid row pumping out smoke and laying down rubber, but you can at Northern Nats.”
After two hours on the cruise route, a second round of roll racing kicked off giving drag racers yet another opportunity to get some track time. Plenty of opportunities for passenger rides in the roll racing with generous rides offered by the Ladies who Limo, Leteisha Chun Tie in Party Time (Pic FOA6405) and Liborio Hernandez in his funky Mercedes Benz.
With roll racing finishing out the day on the track, burnout fans came from near and far to the pad to see the big cars come out to play. With two tickets on offer to qualify for the Summernats Pro Burnout Series at Summernats 37 and a chance to win a record $50,000 plus the glory of being crowned Summernats Pro Master; competition for the winners of the Burnout Competition was seriously hot. The weather turned cool and moist but that didn’t deter the drivers who waited for their turn and put on a show for the crowd late into the night. Today’s finals are sure to massive.
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