Round two just got worse for the big Queenslander. His Mustang body was fixed and polished to a new shine but his engine wasn’t as it left a trail of oil on his burnout aside Gary Phillips. On the green Phillips just puttered down track on an engine saving 13-second pass. Just before Steve Reed had faced Ben Bray in an all flopper tussle and it was Bray who stole the day when a better reacting 5.70 was too much for a losing 6.01.

The final saw the young Bray taking on the seasoned veteran with Phillips being a twelve times Australian alcohol champion. This time round Phillips got a lesson on the tree (Bray’s .60 buried a .121) but at the other end it was the crafty veteran who pulled out all the stops and a 5.772/243.99 that was too much for a 6.00 in defeat.

I asked Phillips what he thought of all the newer drivers stepping up with that series of 5.64s in qualifying. “About bloody time” was his rapid fire response. When I asked him how he was going to combat this he said “cut a bit more off the wick” and sure as eggs he certainly did.

TOP DOORSLAMMER

Backing up the two top classes was a big prize money Top Doorslammer (Pro Modified) bracket. I was surprised that a better field wasn’t forth coming with a number of local and interstate teams giving the bracket a wide berth.

In the end only six cars fronted for the first round, with Maurice Fabietti in his Commodore (Pontiac GTO on your side of the pond) top qualifying with a 6.21 to just edge out Deno Brijeski’s ‘68 Camaro. It was no surprise to see these two face each other in the final frame. What the bracket lacked in quantity it really paid off in quality, as these two did super long burnouts prior to their match up.

On the green the two cars left almost as one but the maroon and white Commodore of Fabietti just struck the tyres and had to watch as the black Deno’s Cranes Camaro scooted off into the distance. At the other end it was an easy 6.30 to 8.47 win for Brijeski but he couldn’t pull up in time and this saw the black beast end up in the sand trap.

Overall this was a tremendous event with great support from good crowds each day despite the heat. Add to that a solid turnout of racers despite the fact many had to cut their Xmas celebrations short in order to arrive at the track in time for qualifying, and this truly was one of the best events at the new track. To me the event was a turning point for the track in another way as well. Sydney’s first drag strip at Castlereagh had an incredible atmosphere until it closed in 1984. In the '90s drag racing went to Eastern Creek and with the crowds sitting so close to the start-line it wasn’t long before it too had a unique atmosphere. Despite being opened in early 2004, this was the first time that I had really felt a great atmosphere at what is basically a super track on par with anything in America. A two day crowd of some 25,000 gave nearly every racer a huge round of applause as they towed back down the return road in front of them.