COMING ATTRACTIONS Southern Rod & Custom ‘56 Chev

On ShowKILLERRides Rides Words / Pics - Paul Beck RAY ELIA

VN GRPA COMMODORE TRIBUTE

Inside, the Commodore never looked so damn good! There are acres of red Nappa leather and suede spread across the four Devonish seats, door trims, headlining, customs centre console and dash. Gone are the factory gauges, with a much more stylish Dakota Digital display added to the facia in a billet surround to compliment the billet steering wheel and surrounds for the speakers in the door trims. The custom trim also extends into the boot area, encompassing the fuel cell. After a long build, Ray unveiled the tough VN, dubbed KING GROUP A to an appreciative crowd at the recent Sydney Hot Rod & Custom Auto Expo at Rosehill Racecourse. There are more show appearances planned, including Killer Rides Live before Ray hits the blacktop – after all, that was its intended use right from the outset! THANKS TO:2SUS Custom Resprays. Lowes Fabrications. Chubby’sGarage. Darren at Advanced Custom Trim.

HSV certainly got the job done with their Group A Version, widely regarded as the toughest of all Group A Commodores. Then Ray Elia come along and took it way past anything HSV could ever imagine.

Getting The Idea!General

A move to a two-day format proved to be the right one for the 2022 Holden Nationals held at Heathcote Park Raceway, with an increase of entrant and spectator numbers.

For any promoter, increasing the length of an event is a big call. Will it bring in more entrants? Will the crowds come both days? Can I justify the increased costs of venue hire etc? I’m sure Todd Foley must have asked himself those questions a hundred times before locking in the Holden Nationals as a two-day event.

When entries officially closed, there were 180 car owners all ready to run down the Heathcote quarter mile and with the track booked for two days, the opportunity to make more passes was certainly on the cards. There were seven classes on offer this year including two eighth-mile, heads-up radial classes – one for those running a 255 tyre and another for those running the bigger 275. Add to this, five dial-in brackets that run over the full quarter, and you have a big couple of days of drag racing action. There was also a show and shine for those wanting to be a part of the event away from the racing.

Day one (Saturday) was hot, and those conditions offered up a track surface that was challenging to say the least.

Day one (Saturday) was hot, and those conditions offered up a track surface that was challenging to say the least. It was the big-guns that struggled the most, over-powering the tyres at the hit of the throttle. That’s not to say that no one made a great pass. Luke Foley squeezed his Commodore down the track to record a 7.84 @ 178mph – a time that was unbeaten over the weekends racing. As Saturday was qualifying day, many decided to try different set-ups in preparation for the eliminations on Sunday. Some worked, some didn’t…

When entries officially closed, there were 180 car owners all ready to run down the Heathcote quarter mile and with the track booked for two days, the opportunity to make more passes was certainly on the cards.

Come Sunday, the show and shine was well underway before the blacktop action started. With 40-less cars that qualifying, it was a simple case of you lose, you’re out in all classes. In amongst all of the usual Torana’s, Monaro’s, Commodores etc sat one car on the startline that probably had a few people confused. Jason Waye from Tuff Mounts (the events major sponsor) got permission to bring along his turbo Barra-powered Fox-bodied Mustang to make some passes in preparation for Drag Challenge. I’m guessing most people probably thought it was LS-powered before Jason fired up the hot six-pack and dropped a couple of quick passes for the crowd. With more sponsors coming on board, more than $20,000 in cash and prizes were up for grabs, no doubt pleasing each brackets winners and runner-up’s, taking home $1250 and $250 respectively.

The 2022 Holden Nationals proved to be a huge success. With more sponsors coming on board, more than $20,000 in cash and prizes were up for grabs, no doubt pleasing each brackets winners and runner-up’s, taking home $1250 and $250 respectively. At the end of the proceedings, more than 3000 spectators had made the trip out to the track to take in some of the toughest, quickest and wildest Holden’s ever assembled at Heathcote Park Raceway. Todd will be keeping the two-day format for future events, but may implement a Friday qualifying, Saturday racing program. Stay tuned…

With 40-less cars that qualifying, it was a simple case of you lose, you’re out in all classes.