COMING ATTRACTIONS Pro-Street Falcon Sprint

STARS, STRIPES And Blowers!

Whilst Australia may lay claim to having the biggest street machine events in the world, there’s no denying the original Street Machine Nationals held each year in Du Quoin boasts the wildest street cars…

Pro-Street still rules supreme at the annual Street Machine Nationals. So much so, that the diehard Pro-Street guys travel from across the US early to meet up for the Pre-Nats Party – a get together where big engines, big rear tyres and big attitude street cars are considered the norm. Held on the Thursday before the Nats gets started, it’s here that you get a taste of what’s to come during the next few days.

2022 saw the return of the ever-popular Pro-Streeters, who get to line up in their own specific area – Pro-Street Alley.

Staged by Bonnier Events, the Street Machine Nationals is one of two Nationals held each year – one in St Paul and this one, held in DuQuoin, the spiritual home of the Street Machine Nationals. With plenty of space on offer, the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds is the perfect venue to hold this type of event. With its grassed area’s providing the ideal area to kick back and watch the cars idle around the expansive cruise road, a popular past time at the Street Machine Nationals.

2022 saw the return of the ever-popular Pro-Streeters, who get to line up in their own specific area – Pro-Street Alley. This is where you’ll find the biggest engines, the widest rear tyres and the cars with the largest attitudes. Bradley Gray made a huge impact with his Blown Mafia truck and line up of cars – all of which had the most elaborate engine combinations you’ve ever seen – with blowers combining with turbo’s, nitrous and more blowers just for good measure. Just as in your face was Wally Elder’s mind-blowing Daytona, arguably the most insane ProStreet car on the planet. Check out the feature in this Issue! Add to this the ohso-cool candy Cuda owned by Wendy Beard, a couple of wild ’59 Caddy’s and Jamie Pipher’s blown BOSS-powered ’70 Torino (to name but a few) and you have enough horsepower to rotate the earth just a little quicker! Paul Gragg scored the Grand Champion Pro-Street award for his ’64 Corvette.

Hell, this is America, so you can always expect the unexpected – just like the chopped up VW Beetle that is now powered by a twin-turbo small block Chev.

It’s not just those over-powered ground pounders that get to cruise around the fairgrounds. There’s an abundance of cool rides that make up the majority of the entrant list including Lowriders, slammed trucks, cool classics, hot rods, muscle cars and everything in between. Hell, this is America, so you can always expect the unexpected – just like the chopped up VW Beetle that is now powered by a twin-turbo small block Chev. Sure, it may not have been everyone’s favourite car, but you have to give it the thumbs up for creativity!

Just as in your face was Wally Elder’s mind-blowing Daytona, arguably the most insane Pro-Street car on the planet.

Whilst the Street Machine Nationals is primarily a car show with the emphasis placed of showing and cruising, but there’s so much more to take in at this event. There’s a swap meet, dyno challenge, sound-off and somewhat of a burnout challenge – more of a static smoke show. Unfortunately, after a heatwave ravaged the venue for the first couple of days, the dreaded wet weather rolled in over Saturday night, bringing the event to an early close on Sunday. By all accounts though, the 2022 Street Machine Nationals in DuQuoin were a successful one. The team at Bonnier Events now have their focus set on the next Street Machine Nationals to be held in St. Paul over the weekend of July 15-17.

KILLERRides Rides AT THE JOSH PAGE 9-SEC, 600HP, 366CI LS-POWERED LJ TORANA

Words / Pics - - Paul Beck Race Pics - Grant Stephens STRIP 25-years after making its debut on the race track, Matt Marsh’s PIG-350 LJ Torana

has returned with a new driver, new driveline and a new group of followers.

It’s funny how things go full circle. Matt built his LJ way back in the day and campaigned it for some 15-years with various engine combinations – the most memorable being the injected small block that provided enough punch to get the Torana’s front wheels way up high when the green bulb flashed. But with that engine package sold, and Matt spending more time building up his Pro-Street Industries business, the Torana has been sitting collecting dust. That was until Josh Page came along.

Josh has another LJ Torana that Matt is preparing for better things, and it will be powered by a LS Chev combo that Josh has had Matt screw together. Whilst the Torana will primarily be a street car, there’s a very good chance it will see some quarter mile action when finished. So, to get some seat time to learn the ropes and give the freshly built LS some laps, Matt offered up his original LJ as a test mule. Externally, it’s still very much an LJ Torana with a cowl bonnet and straight Orange tinter covering the sheet metal that was in very poor condition before the body work was completed and the paint laid on by cousin Ron.