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Cairns local and Rare Spares and Repco Rockynats 06 Pro Burnout driver, Kev Davis, doesn’t do burnout competitions for trophies. He does them to keep people safe and ensure the future of the sport he loves.
Kev was barely old enough to see over the dash of a car when he fell in love with burnouts at the age of six.
“I stumbled across some old VHS tapes of an early Summernats event. This guy, Gary Myers comes on and does a burnout and I was hooked,” Kev explains, reflecting on the moment he discovered the sport that he would go on to compete in professionally. “I fell in love with it straight away.”
As he got older, any excuse to get behind the wheel meant dropping what he terms ‘a little sneaky burnout’ here and there. Not to show off or with any dreams of it taking him anywhere, just because he found it fun. When he finally realised burnout competitions existed in the Cairns region, he started attending whenever he could, sometimes to compete, often just to volunteer.
“I never went thinking I’d get really good or anything,” he reflects. “I was just there to be involved. I started out at the very bottom sweeping pads, helping crews and slowly worked my way up to pad chief before taking over running the local comp.”
It’s that mindset that has ultimately seen Kev quietly become one of the most respected figures in the burnout scene and instrumental in ensuring that others can experience the sport he loves. In 2014, he launched Tropical Meltdown, a major annual burnout event backed by Summernats and offering direct pathways into the Pro Burnout Series.
“I wanted to make sure people have a safe, legal place to do what they love. Get them off the streets. Give people a place to have fun, compete and then go home safely.”
Today, Kev is also seven years deep into being a familiar face on the Summernats Pro Burnout circuit, travelling across the country from Cairns to attend events like Rockynats, Summernats and Red CentreNATS.
“It blows me away,” he admits as he looks back on how far he’s come throughout his burnout career. “I still don’t think of myself at that calibre, even now. I still don’t know how I got here.”
His car, a 2006 Holden VZ Thunder ute called ‘EPAWHO’, was also an accidental competitor, with Kev never intending on it being a car capable of lighting up Pro Burnout pads across the nation. After all, Kev admits he picked it up for $100 as a roller and that it was simply intended to be a party car.
“It was never supposed to be what it is today,” he laughs. “It was just something I was having a bit of fun in and happened to take to my first Red CentreNATS one year. I was driving back home from my local comp in Cairns, where I’d sadly just crashed it into the wall when Summernats called to say that I’d qualified for the Pro Series from my run at Red CentreNATs.”
With the competition ruling that competitors are unable to swap cars between qualification and Summernats, Kev suddenly found himself and his mates racing to rebuild, repair, upgrade and evolve ‘EPAWHO’ ready for competition.
The sheer effort required by drivers to get to events like Rockyants is a side of the sport that Kev confesses fans don’t always see.
“The cost of owning and running these cars just to put on a show is huge,” he says. “You don’t go into it thinking you’re going to win money and cover your costs. You do it for the love of the sport. If you walk away with something, that’s just a bonus.”
That love is exactly what keeps him coming back to Rockhampton for Rockynats year after year. He’s competed at Rockynats every year since Rockynats 02, even when the pad hasn’t been kind to him. He’s nearly burnt the car down. He’s broken parts. He’s even crashed his tow car rolling into town.
“It hasn’t always been nice to me,” he laughs. “But it’s always been fun. It’s the atmosphere of the event and the people that truly make it.”
Kev is part of the ‘Handful Hotel’ crew, a group of burnout entrants who take over a local motel each year and turn it into an after-hours hub of stories, laughs, music and camaraderie.
“It creates the whole vibe,” he says. “After a big day, everyone’s there. You’re having a feed, a drink and a laugh with mates that have travelled from across the state to be there. It’s awesome.”
For Kev, Rockynats represents what burnout culture should be: welcoming, connected, safe, and community driven.
It’s also why he remains so passionate about running local events and building genuine relationships with sponsors and drivers alike after so many years.
“I want to be involved for the right reasons,” he says. “Make sure I don’t lose sight of why we all started doing burnouts in the first place. Because it’s fun and because we love it.”
As Rare Spares and Repco Rockynats 06 approaches, Kev will once again make the 1000km trip south, not chasing glory or trophies, but the atmosphere and friendships that come with the sport he loves, as well as the chance to put on a stellar show for the crowd.
To secure your spot in the grandstands at the Rockyants 06 burnout pad, grab your Platinum pass before they sell out. You can also check out the full event program, which details what will be an action-packed weekend of drags, elite car displays, drifting, live music, stunt shows, and more, via the Rockynats website.
About Rockynats 06
17-19 April 2026
Set along the iconic Quay, East and Bolsover Streets in the CBD, combined with our Northside Burnouts and Showgrounds Precincts, the city of Rockhampton will take centre stage for a revving-good me at Rare Spares Rockynats!
Rockynats 06 is proudly brought to you by Rockhampton Regional Council in association with Summernats, naming partners Rare Spares and Repco, and is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland. The event wouldn’t be possible without our event partners Buddy’s Fire, Tuned by Chop, OzWheels, FMX Kaos, Insane Performance, SWL Racing, Meguiars, Aeroflow, Ingenia Holiday Parks, Pedders Rockhampton, Bravus, Frenchville Sports Club, Dobinsons
Spring and Suspension and JRT Civil Pty Ltd.