LIFE BEGINS AT 40 (WELL, NOT QUITE)
Story and photos by JON VAN DAAL
11/15/05
 he 2005 U. S. Nationals at Indianapolis was the 51st running of that event, so it might come as a surprise to you that Australian drag racing was hosting its 40th version of the ultimate race Down Under. A big birthday party was to be celebrated—however, Mother Nature blew in and spoiled the party.
A tremendous race should have been on the cards but rain and thunderstorms kept coming back over the two days of qualifying to hamper the running of the event. A huge amount of rain was then dumped on the track on Saturday night and it reduced the pits to a series of outdoor swimming pools.
Also, the news came through on Saturday night that the road to the west of the track had received so much rain that it had been cut by a landslide, meaning that spectators could not arrive from that direction. A road block had also been set up a few miles to the east of the track to tell prospective travelers that the road had been blocked and as such an onslaught of 10,000 cars would have led to total bedlam. With the forecast being for more storms the management therefore had no choice but to cancel the event.
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| Darren Morgan was simply in a class of his own with three 5.6-second runs in qualifying with a best of 5.61 seconds |
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Despite this, qualifying
saw some incredible racing. Darren Morgan ran
three 4.6 second passes with a best of 4.615/315.79
which was the quickest pass outside North America.
Also in Pro Stock (based on 400 cube small blocks)
the field was separated by mere hundredths of
a second headed by Jason Grima’s Ford Probe
with a 7.347 while Nick Xerikas’ new Ford
Escort was on the bump at 7.405.
Of interest is the fact that these cars are all most identical to NHRA’s C/Altered class, which has a national record of 7.40. The Australian Pro Stock record is held by Dave Rogan with a 7.253 mark, Rogan could only muster a fifth best 7.384. There is absolutely no doubt that this bracket would have been worth the price of admission alone on raceday.
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