27 March, 2005
Report, Gallery

Roma's Easter in the Country celebrations, held over the Easter long weekend in Roma Queensland, were anything but calm when the annual Easter in the Country Drags Meet hosted by the South West Drag Racing Association rolled into town. For those of us who love horsepower, noise, smoke and smooth rides the town's $400 000 purpose built eighth of a mile track 10 kms east of Roma town, was the place to be on the Saturday and Sunday of the Easter Celebrations. Some of the finest equipped cars, dragsters and motorbikes this side of the great divide made their way to Ironbark Raceway for their annual Easter Drag Racing obsession.

Last years race program - the second year at the new facilities - attracted 80 entries. This year's event attracted a record 92 entries with some of the cars, motorbikes and junior dragsters traveling from Taree NSW Cessnock NSW and Rockhampton. It was also great to see the association's own drag racing members compete on their home track.

The 1700 strong crowd that passed through the gates, were treated to 7 brackets of racing, with all the competing cars and bikes being moved through the qualifying and racing rounds efficiently. This was due to the professional preparation of the track surface, the organization of the meeting director President Geoff Moore, and the control tower volunteers operating the computerized timing system, speaker system and computerized staging lane lights. The spectators set themselves up for an afternoon of drag racing action on the purpose built spectator mound, which gave them a view of every car and bike that competed on the day, and in particular the fire that took place half track when a SLR 5000 was damaged by fire during the qualifying runs. Due to the quick thinking of the track crew the fire was quickly contained.

The feature race of the meet was the second round of the Mayoral Challenge which tested the driving skills of Roma Town Council Mayor, Bruce Garvie, driving Roma local Greg Lattemore's TE Cortina against the Mayor of Warroo Shire Council, Donna Stewart, driving Mark Bright's HG Monaro from Surat. Maybe the Mayors might have to remember in Drag Racing 101, that the orange lights mean R E A D Y and green means GO. Let's say they didn't take the perfect light, on the day, but Mayor Stewart thought "the race was one of the most marvelous experiences of her life".

The Challenge was born in 2002 when Mayor Donna Stewart invited Mayor Garvie to a grudge match on the Surat Airstrip. The meet was a fundraiser for the Surat community to raise funds for air-conditioning for the Surat State preschool, on home soil Donna was beaten, but it was great to see the two communities working together for a worthy cause.

Taking out the gong this year for the second time was Mayor Bruce Garvie with a three nil win, but yet again both the Warroo Shire and Roma Town communities were the winners with Bruce and Donna splitting the $1000 prize money proudly donated by Roma Motors the Roma based Holden Dealership and Southern Cross Ford and Nissan to their chosen charities Pinnaroo Roma and the Surat Local Ambulance Committee.

The Drag Bike Riders Association of Australia (DBRAA) held Round Two of the National Championships Series at the Meet. Members contested the Crane Cams Hot Street Pushrod bracket and the S&S Pro Gas Bracket. Both brackets were sponsored by East Coast Custom, the Australian Distributor for S&S Cycle and Crane Cams. The two exciting classes featured close racing with riders chasing points in the DBRAA series plus points and trophies in each class. Most of the visiting riders in this section race throughout QLD and NSW in the HOG (Harley Owners Group) with the winner of the Crane Cams Hot Street Bracket sponsored Taverber Motorcycles of Brisbane by female rider Virginia Baker.

The crowd were kept entertained with competitors vying for over 20 trophies and over $4000 prize money up for grabs. The hot conditions on and off the track made the canteen, drinks stall and bar a very popular place to be for the Sunday afternoon.

The other major attraction was the first Burnout Comp held at the track. Darren Harvey in his Camaro took on 5 other competitors to take out the title. The burnout comp was and will no doubt remain the show stopper, for the annual meet, as the crowd pressed against the fence to score the best burnout. Darren also took out the Bob Godfrey Memorial Trophy for the lowest ET of the day, with a 6.8 second pass.

Ergon Energy have assisted in constructing the tracks power lines and lighting poles, this will now enable the Association to have night racing. With Ergon Energy contributing towards this facility upgrade, the test and tunes will be able to be run in the late afternoon into the night, making for a more comfortable climate for both spectators and racers. From humble beginnings with racing at Lynton Street and local airstrips, South West Drag Racing Association's major meet is now one of the most attended events on the Easter in the Country schedule. The Association is looking at further upgrades; these will include seating and shade structures for the spectator mounds and improvements in the pit areas.

The SWDRA President, Geoff Moore, said "A lot of effort went into the day and credit must be given to all those who volunteered for the day, and a special thanks to all our sponsors and the supporters of the South West Drag Racing Association."

Results

Bracket	Winner Runner Up
Supercharged	Steve Wolfe (Roma) Andrew Brindley
Super Sedan	Bevan Murray (Surat) John Brumpton
Street	Mark Bright (Surat) Brian Drabsch (Roma)
Open Bike	Warren Dunn (Brisbane) Darrel Cowell
S&S Pro Gas Series	Glen Richards Neal Bolan
Crane Cams Hot Street	Virginia Baker Peter Strickland
Junior Dragster	Jordan Redford (Brisbane) Zane Radford
Burnout Comp	Darren Harvey
Lowest ET of the day	Bob Godfrey Memorial Trophy Darren Harvey - 6.8