Flashback: Summernats 22
First published in the February 2009 issue of Street Machine
Go to: Elite | Burnout Mayhem | Hero Horses
SUMMARY
Scott Taylor
Shaking off the spectre of economic doom and gloom, almost 1300 of Australia’s toughest streeters made the annual pilgrimage to Canberra for a wicked weekend of screaming horsepower and bodacious bodies.
This year’s event was never going to match the excitement generated by 2008’s 21st anniversary bash but it wasn’t as bad as organiser Chic Henry feared.
“It was always going to be hard,” he said. “At one stage I thought it was going to be down nearly 30 per cent but we’re closer to 12–15 per cent down. It won’t be until the final wash-up that I really know what sort of figures we have. I think we’ve come out of it fairly well.”
Things started off slowly as Thursday was New Year’s Day and many punters were trying to get over their celebration follies. Chic’s ‘no alcohol before 6pm’ rule seemed to work well and the day had a very laid-back feel. In fact the slow start and a lack of pissed idiots could be the reason that Summernats 22 was probably the most chilled out festival yet.
Don’t go thinking it was like having lunch at nana’s — there was plenty of boobage on show and action aplenty but everyone just seemed more relaxed and Summernats was definitely better for it.
One of the big things this year was having legendary car crafter Troy Trepanier over from the States. Troy and his dad, Jack, were well received by Aussie fans and certainly dug the local scene, especially the burnout comp. Troy said his ride in Peter Gray’s Camaro in the Burnout Masters, which Peter won, was the highlight of his trip to Summernats.
“I had to go back to my hotel and punch myself in the face to wipe the grin off,” Troy joked.
Despite a hectic schedule, Troy endeared himself to the crowd by being friendly and approachable throughout the event. In the Elite Hall he checked out the best and brightest on show and watched as six new rides were unveiled to a packed house during the Great Meguiar’s Uncover on Friday night.
In front of the grandstand, Miss Summernats was a smaller affair this year with only nine girls fronting the crowd but it was a quality field and officials decided to go straight into the finals. With the votes tallied it was the deliciously tiny brunette Kylie Woods edging out the busty Berenger Rose and former SM Iron Maiden Molly Rowland.
Saturday afternoon saw 13 elite cars go head-to-head on the grass during the Supercruise for the coveted Grand Champion award, before hitting the go-to-whoa track on Sunday morning. Darrell Leemhuis and his radical Rodeo just edged out last year’s Grand Champion and recent SMOTY winner, Rob Godfrey. Rob came within a whisker of winning the top trophy twice in a row but he didn’t leave Summernats disappointed. Over in the dyno hall, his tough orange Holden reeled off a stream of 1000hp+ runs to take out the Naturally Aspirated Big-Block class.
Another memorable Summernats moment in the dyno cell was Rob Vickery returning to Canberra with Lyle Lemon’s MR PSI twin-turbo Commodore ute. Lyle’s passing early last year was a shock to everyone but the HPF boys campaigned the car this year on the behalf of Lyle’s family. With a pair of runs in excess of 1500hp, the Chevy-powered beast stomped the competition for an emotional and well-deserved win.
After that, all there was left to do was burn rubber. Some entrants went all the way in the fight for glory and there were plenty of bruised and burnt panels by the end. Standing tall when the smoke cleared was Aaron Mackley who scorched the tarmac from end to end. His airbrushed HG panel van bellowed its intentions loud and clear before destroying the rear bags in a seamless smoke show that blotted out the sun.
You couldn’t have had a better ending to an event that seemed to build in momentum each day. It was a finale that left the crowd weary but sated on Sunday arvo. Was it the biggest Summernats ever? Nope, but it was one of the best, with a low aggro factor and plenty of stress-free fun in a safe and family-friendly environment. What more could you ask for?
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. While Brett Stevens has closed his drag team, he was at the Nats for the Burnout Gladiator showdown. His challenger was Steven Gallace’s BLOWNHX, who won the first round. Steve’s car failed to start for the second round and couldn’t front for the third, so Peter Gray stepped in, with Brett a comfortable victor.
2. Andrew Coulman blew up his engine on Christmas Eve after giving it a little too much nitrous and only made it to the Nats after a frantic thrash in a mate’s workshop. “It’s a genuine HJ Sandman with air and steer,” he said. “I put in the injected 5.0-litre and painted it Hothouse Green. This year it will get a COME 383.”
3. Jason Hansen from NZ’s Auto Colour Matrix brought this awesome ’67 Camaro (SM, Sept ’08) to Canberra, and won PPG Supreme.
4. To win the Rare Spares Real Street Award, you need a neat car and a yarn. This year Rob Montanez from Canberra won with his XB GT sedan. “I called my story ‘Low Speed Getaway’ because of something that happened at Summernats 20. I had a stroker motor in it that made about 600hp. As soon as I turned onto Northbourne I saw cop lights come on, so I turned into a carpark, turned off my lights and he came flying past me. So I got away, but without breaking the speed limit, that’s why it was a low-speed getaway!”
GRAND CHAMP
Trophies don’t come bigger than Summernats Grand Champion. It’s the Big Kahuna of the Australian show scene and this year’s winner was Canberra’s Darrell Leemhuis with his tricked-out 1990 Rodeo.
Darrell spent six years building the slammed mini-truck and it debuted last year. He won an impressive haul of trophies then but was unprepared for a Grand Champion assault.
“I didn’t bring a helmet or long sleeves and was sort of flustered. This year I knew what I had to do, I went in and did it.”
A strong finish behind the wheel of the 300kW turbocharged 2.6-litre pick-up, a Top 10 result and a good showing in People’s Choice gave Darrell the points he needed.
A mini-truck might seem odd at this level but not to Darrell. “To me it’s not a mini-truck. It’s got some hot rodding, it’s got some street machine, it’s got everything in it.”
Though he’s not a professional car builder, Darrell was very hands-on with the build. “It’s not something that I can pay someone to do because it’s all in my head. I can’t draw what I want so that’s my biggest problem.
“My aim is to have all the Meguiar’s trophies. I’ve got the high tech one; now I want the street machine and the hot rod ones. You’ve got to have goals.”
MISS SUMMERNATS
Only nine ladies fronted up for Miss Summernats but what the field lacked in numbers was made up for by the quality.
Most were petrolheads, including third-placed Molly Rowland, a former SM Iron Maiden who has been coming to Summernats for 12 years.
Winner Kylie Woods was making her third Summernats trip in her boyfriend Grant’s 5.7-litre LJ Torana, when Grant’s sister talked her into entering the Miss Summernats competition.
“Emma dragged me over there but I’m glad she did. It’s been an awesome experience — I’m really pumped about it — I love cars.”
Kylie, 19, from Manly in Sydney’s north is a promo model. As well as winning a swag of prizes, Kylie will be a Summernats ambassador for the next year.
REAL STREET
This year’s Best Overall Street winner proves street machining is a family affair. When Matthew Jordan cruised up to the donut pad in his Atomic Mica VK Berlina to receive his award, he had wife Nicole in the passenger seat and their children Blake and Chloe on their laps.
Matthew admitted that Nicole almost walked out on him during the build but it looks like all that time in the shed has paid off.
“Last year I won Top Modified but the build was a bit rushed, so I took the advice from the judges and improved on those areas of the car.”
Matthew started off with the one-owner factory V8 about 10 years ago but the major changes started about four years ago when he decided to take ideas from the Elite Hall and apply them to a street-driven car.
“I worked for Drago [Ostric from Sefton Smash] for about six years and he taught me everything. It’s got smoothed door frames, shaved handles and smoothed engine bay and boot, all done in metal. The interior is full leather and the motor is a 308 at the moment but I’ve got plans for a bigger one this year.”
Matthew celebrated his win with last year’s winner — and fellow Penrith boy — Damien ‘Chubby’ Lowe until 2am. Two nicer blokes and cars you’d be hard pressed to find.
TROY’S STORY
Troy Trepanier has built more killer cars than most of us could manage in two lifetimes. His 1960 Chevy Impala on the cover of Hot Rod was a sign of things to come and almost 20 years later the 39-year-old’s building multi-million dollar cars and winning major awards. And visiting Summernats.
Have you known Chic for long?
I met him at the ’92 Street Machine Nationals.
Was the Summernats what you expected?
It was but if you hadn’t looked through Street Machine over the years you’d be shocked. Even knowing Chic and having read about it in SM, it was still more than I expected. It’s awesome and the variety of cars has been incredible.
How does Summernats compare to US events?
We have huge events, 7000 cars and 100,000 people, but from a variety standpoint and everybody just having fun, it doesn’t compare. There isn’t the crazy cruising and all the people cheering. It’s about making a statement at our car shows and Summernats is about having fun.
So how does the quality stand up?
There are four or five cars that could qualify for the [Ridler Award]. I think the driveability you guys are preaching and the fact that the dirt doesn’t bother these guys is just amazing.
THE ELITE
Craig Parker
This year the Meguiar’s Elite Hall was overflowing with fresh machinery — no fewer than seven new cars made the Top 20 (11–20) and there were two fresh admissions to this year’s Elite Top 10 as well.
And what a rocking Top 10 it was, with a number of firsts: the first time someone has had two cars in the mix; first time there have been five hot rods in the Top 10; first Rodeo to win Top Judged; and the first person to win People’s Choice back to back. On top of that, Darrell Leemhuis became only the second entrant ever to win Top Judged Street Machine and Grand Champion!
Despite all that, the rest of the Elite Hall wasn’t overshadowed and there was plenty of automotive eye-candy on offer. Instead of over-the-top show cars, this year the hall was dominated by nicely detailed practical and drivable machinery that still sported plenty of subtle yet exceedingly clever engineering. The big advantage of this bumper crop of new elite show stoppers is that they’ll provide their owners with years of motoring enjoyment well after completing their tours of duty on the show circuit. Hail the new era!
And talk about diversity. There were ground-pounders, Pro Streeters, corner carvers, mouth-watering muscle cars, sweet streeters, burnout beasts, hot rods, mild and wild customs, retrotechs, high-techs, utes, trucks, panel vans — even a Fiat Bambino! There certainly was something for everyone. If you couldn’t find a ride that pushed your buttons in this mob, you really need to double-check you’ve got a pulse. What a show!
TOP TEN
HOWARD ASTILL
1966 FORD MUSTANG COUPE
1st Top Standard Paint
1st Top Coupe
MARK COURSE
1932 BOYDSTER II ROADSTER
1st Top Open Hot Rod
1st Special Effects Paint
2nd Top Body
3rd Undercarriage
PETER ELLIOT
1937 FORD ROADSTER
1st Undercarriage
1st Top Interior
2nd Special Effects Paint
2nd Top Open Hot Rod
AARON FITZPATRICK
1969 DATSUB 510/1200 SEDAN
1st Top Super Street
Outstanding Engineered Super Street
2nd Undercarriage
3rd Engine Bay
3rd Special Effects Paint
Meguiar’s Superstars
LES LAWRY
1932 FORD ROADSTER
Outstanding Engineered Hot Rod
LES LAWRY
1930 FORD VICTORIA
2nd Closed Hot Rod
DARRELL LEEMHUIS
1990 HOLDEN RODEO
Grand Champion
Top Judged Elite
1st Engine Bay (’86 or later)
1st Top Body
1st Top Graphics
Outstanding Engineered Street Machine
Top Mini Truck
2nd Top Interior
JOE LORE
1971 FORD XY FALCON SEDAN
1st Top Pro Street
1st Top Custom Interior
People’s Choice
Meguiar’s Superstars
WILLIE PARKER
1957 CHEVROLET BELAIR SEDAN
1st Top Sedan
3rd Top Interior
STEPHEN RICH
1933 FORD TUDOR
1st Top Closed Hot Rod
2nd Engine Bay
2nd Top Standard Paint
3rd Top Body
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. It might look the same but Anthony Fabris has given his sumptuous ’55 Chev a complete frame-off restoration. It now drives a lot better and sits somewhat lower thanks to a new ’57 Nomad chassis equipped with a WB front graft.
2. Paul Elms spent 10 solid months rebuilding Willie Parker’s immaculate Razberry Pearl ’57 Chev. With such a short build time it came as a huge surprise to them when it made it into the Elite Top 10.
3. Timeless, gorgeous, classy … you could go on and on with superlatives to describe Justin Hills’s amazing custom ’49 Buick Sedanette. It’s a great lesson in the ‘less is more philosophy’, as the simple car stopped everyone in their tracks from the second it was unveiled.
4. With a new all-steel boot and killer cross-ram E.FI injection, last year’s Best Overall Street champion, Damien ‘Chubby’ Lowe, elevated his VB Commodore into Elite for 2009.
BURNOUT MAYHEM
Mark Arblaster
The 2009 Summernats Burnout competition was a war of attrition. The award was but a trophy and a handful of cash but the prize was fame as the winner of the toughest burnout competition on earth.
Never have we seen so many tough cars throw down the gauntlet in such fine style. Massive revs, screaming blowers, boiling radiators, exploding tyres, engines and gearboxes and a volatile crowd were the background to the greatest weekend of smoke-infused carnage ever.
Friday qualifying saw a number of standout performances as 200 competitors waged war on the EPIC burnout pad for one of 50 spots in the big show on Sunday. Many needed the lay day to lick their wounds and watch the best Burnout Masters ever.
Peter Grmusa was on song in his blown and injected Clevo-powered ATRISK Falcon and looked a certain winner — until the back half of the car was consumed by a massive methanol-fuelled fire, leaving the door wide open to Masters newcomer Joe Pagano.
Joe’s supercharged VS ute has been on song for the last few years and this event was no exception. Massive revs, huge smoke, fancy wheel-work and two exploding Bridgestones had him set for a convincing win. Until Peter Gray stole the spotlight in the blown, big block Chevy-powered 2005 Monaro.
The main burnout competition on Sunday saw an incredible 60 per cent of the competitors towed off the track with heavily damaged cars. With such a high rate of attrition it became a simple case of big smoke, two blown tyres and good skills to land in the top end of the field.
Nathan Allen was looking like a real contender in his blown and 8-throttle body injected LS2-powered VK until his high-speed whip off the burnout straight into the donut pad went horribly wrong and sent him rear-first into the Armco at 80km/h, crunching the back half of the car.
Car after car was skull-dragged off until popular Victorian Aaron Mackley hit the pad with an assault that was impossible to match, in his blown HG panel van VANTSY. Leaving thick smoke right from the start, the 330ci small-block Chev was singing its heart out as Aaron ripped up every inch of the pad and both rear tyres.
After five attempts at cracking the big time, fellow Victorian and growing burnout celebrity Leroy Rees cleaned up second place in his blown and alcohol injected 540ci big block-powered HZ Statesman. The big man had the Chevy glued to the rev limiter from start to finish in a thunderous performance that saw him tear up a set of new tyres in just under a minute.
Queanbeyan’s Tim Gruber claimed the final runner-up spot in his Whipple-equipped, 392ci Boss-powered XY Falcon.
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. The wildest combination of the weekend belonged to Riverina spannerman Clinton Rowley. The TF Cortina has a super-tough 302 Cleveland with a 692-series supercharger and Hilborn mechanical injection bolted to the top. And it all works perfectly!
2. Mathew Sultana’s Suzuki was one of the highlights of the weekend. The LS1-powered Mighty Boy was like a spinning top around the burnout pad and made insane smoke.
3. It looks like a mess, but Nathan Allen plans to have his blown LS2-powered VK ready for action again at Kandos.
4. Yet another blow-up for Ryan Pearson. This time the gearbox exploded and ended up lying on the ground under the car in a puddle of its own vital fluids.
TUFF STREET
If you’re into cars dripping with attitude, Tuff Street was the place to be. Rearranged into Street, Pro and Comp, it was easier to match cars to classes. The overall winner could only come from Street or Pro.
Top of Comp was Angela Dow’s incredible 1977 LX hatch Torana. Fresh from a front-to-rear makeover, the attention to detail was a credit to her Queensland-based team. The blown 370ci combo looks fearsome, with billet heads and a high-helix 10/71 blower. Angela now wants to go and run low sevens.
Phil Kerjean’s VC Commodore burnout car has had a massive makeover with two-tone paint, smoothed engine bay, new interior and a blown 383 Chev with a new Blower Shop 8/71 and a Big & Ugly injector. The show and go car was immaculately presented and won in Pro.
Beside him was Johnny Wilson’s HK Bathurst Monaro, now running a 510ci, Pontiac-headed big-block Chev with 8/71 and Big & Ugly injector. With gun-barrel straight lines and eight-second timecards under its belt it was a shoe-in to take out the Street award.
Other cool rides included Peter McKirdy’s twin-turbo 426 Mopar-powered Falcon coupe boasting EFI, intercooling and an engineer’s report. McKirdy is confident the pump-gas screamer can make up to 800hp at the tyres.
Joe Geri’s twin-turbo, quad-cam Lexus V8-powered Capri won a heap of awards and is a perfect example of what Tuff Street is all about. Aside from being 100 per cent street legal it’s rattled off nine-second quarters and came second overall to Kerjean’s VC Vacationer.
GO TO WHOA
Smoke it, launch it, steer it, stop it. Seems easy enough yet despite the mountains of horsepower on tap, the final of the Go-To-Whoa was led by a handful of four-cylinder cars and some sharp girls driving V8s. The eventual winner was Victorian Jackie Tribe in the FNTUF small block-powered HJ Premier, after she ran an incredible 7.43 in the final rounds. It came as no surprise to many that her hubby is a brake mechanic. Not only did she win the girls’ division but she cleaned up the overall title as well!
HERO HORSES
Glenn Torrens
The elation of success was tinged with sadness for Horsepower Heroes winner Rob Vickery. The MR PSI VX Holden ute he strapped onto the Dyno Dynamics rollers was owned by his friend and customer Lyle Lemon, who passed away from a heart attack last year aged just 32.
The monster ute — built for horsepower comps with a twin-turbo small-block Chev — ran cleanly through qualifying and won the event (and the Forced Induction Small-Block class) with a best of 1533.8hp.
Next on the podium was the newly crowned SMOTY winner, Rob Godfrey’s TOYTON. His result was 1053.3hp, the highest-ever naturally aspirated figure at Summernats. On the way to his runner-up spot he outgunned even the supercharged big-blocks and won the Naturally Aspirated Big-Block class.
Third place in the world’s toughest dyno competition — and the Forced Induction Six-Cylinder win — went to Terry Cook. Terry’s a first-timer in Horsepower Heroes but his 1027.6hp shows he’s put plenty of effort into his Nissan R32 Skyline GTR. The car will be put to drag duties in 2009.
Forced Induction Big-Block winner was Mark Yardy’s YUMMY Holden ute. Mark had a few dramas with fuelling during his qualifying runs but his higher average figure of 798hp on Sunday just managed to edge out Johnny Wilson’s HK Monaro, on 791hp after earlier spiking the dyno to a massive 999.7hp.
Andrew Orphanides won the Naturally Aspirated Small-Block class with 656hp from his 7.0-litre V8 VZ Holden SS ute.
The Naturally Aspirated V6 class win went to Simon McKeon, his serious little 275ci Buick V6-powered LJ Torana putting out a best of 242.4hp. A Buick-powered Torana also won the Forced Induction V6 class: first-timer Jason Jones’s factory supercharged 3.8-litre putting out a peak of 146hp during the finals. And his consistency during the event gave him the V6 Dyno Dial-Up win.
WINNERS
1. OVERALL CHAMP
Rob Vickery brought Lyle Lemon’s MR PSI twin-turbo Commodore ute back for another shot at the title and he didn’t go home disappointed. Rather than a current-generation LS-series donk, the car uses a traditional iron-block Chev fed by a pair of massive turbos pushing through a dry-ice packed intercooler.
2. BIG-BLOCK BLOWN
The YUMMY HX Holden ute is a regular on the Summernats burnout strip and owner Mark Yardy put his blown big-block ute on the dyno to sort out the tune. As a bonus he carried off the Big-Block Blown win!
3. V6 ASPIRATED
The win in Naturally Aspirated V6 went to Simon McKeon, with 244hp from his race-prepped and dry-sumped 275ci Buick under the bonnet of this early Torana.
4. BIG-BLOCK ASPIRATED
Is there anything this car can’t do? Rob Godfrey won Naturally Aspirated Big-Block and scored second overall — both for the second year in a row — with TOYTON. His figure of 1053.3hp was a new personal best.
5. V8 A4. SPIRATED
It looks like a high-mount turbo but the through-bonnet Wilson throttlebody of Andrew Orphanides’s Holden ute feeds directly to a Beck sheet-metal manifold on a James Young Race Engines 7.0-litre LSX motor. Best figure of 686hp was simply stunning.