CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

from KILLER RIDES #53_JAN/FEB 2023

On SHOW

For four days at the beginning of Jan, EPIC in Canberra transforms into a place where rear tyres and sometimes engines are taken and sacrificed to the horsepower Gods. Summernats 35 was to be no different.

Summernats 35 will go down in history as the biggest event ever, but not always for the right reasons. There were lots of highlights about this year’s Summernats, but unfortunately those created some lows as well. And that is a shame for those legitimate street machiners that enter this event to have a good time. It was the first time we had been an entrant since number 12, and the first time I had been back at all since number 29. I have to say, it’s a very different event to what I remember. Now with the Chev in the garage, it was time to make a return to Canberra to do some cruising with a couple of thousand like-minded car guys and girls. From Summernats 13-29, I spent those four days with two cameras slung over my shoulder taking pics for features in various magazines including my own mag, Extreme. It was at Chic’s funeral that Kathy and I decided that we should return to the ‘Nats as an Entrant after catching up with many people we only really get to see in Canberra. Missing those interactions, I sent our entry in, looking forward to cruising around the venue and being regular entrants again.

The coverage across these pages isn’t an in depth look at every part of what makes up the Summernats, rather the view of the event that I took in. I wasn’t there to work, first and foremost it was a time for me to relax with family and friends and grab a pic or two of things that grabbed my attention.

I’ve always enjoyed seeing what new cars are released onto the scene, and this year, that happened on Thursday night, with no less than 24 new rides unveiled to the cheers of those surrounding each car. I have to say, there was some pretty spectacular cars have the covers ripped off them – and with some luck, you’ll be seeing a bunch of them at Killer Rides Live #5 in August! More on that soon.

the cool street cars that occupied space on the dusty oval, with those in the know, realising just how special the car is! For us though, it was about cruising and having a great time. And this is where things took a turn for the worse. With 2700 registered entries, the cruise route inside EPIC was crowded, as you’d expect, making cruising slow, hot and difficult. We did just two laps all weekend, and constantly had people abuse me for not doing a skid! Adding to the insult was the quality of cars that wore entrant stickers. The event is promoted as being the best car event in Australia, yet some of the cars cruising should have been in the carpark. I understand how much it costs to put an event of this size to take part is destroying what the event was set out to be. You wouldn’t believe how many times I heard people refer to the event as the Commodore Nats! For what my opinion is worth, I would rather see the promoters limit cars to 1200-1500 and have the minimum standard, as set out in the entry information, strictly adhered to. I don’t want to see 1000 late model cars with stock tyres on the back, doing burnouts all around the cruise route, whilst the cool cars sit idle. The Summernats has such a strong history of being the number one modified car event in Australia, that it would be a shame to continue to water down that reputation by filling the venue with ‘every day’ cars. Again, just my two-cents worth.

One part of the Summernats that I was lucky to be a part of was the Fringe Festival in Bradden, where a select group of cars were allowed into the sectioned off street to park up and create a show and shine amongst the many food outlets etc that was open to the general public for free. The atmosphere was amazing and the organisers should be applauded for adding this to the Summernats program! By far, this was my favourite part of the weekend. But, whilst we were enjoying the Braddon experience, things were getting way out of control inside EPIC. I’ve seen videos of car owners (usually in substandard cars) blowing off a set of tyres just millimetres from crowds that had jumped the baracades and proceeded to surround cars. I’ve had conversations with people who had cars damaged by these clowns and who said they will never go back. And that’s a shame. But reality is, the biggest crowd ever were overriding the rules put in place and the cruise road became another burnout pad. You either comply or face the consequences. I’m not writing this to stir up problems, its fact and the number of video’s doing the rounds on social media back up what I am saying. Changes need to be made, but that’s up to the organisers…

Our return to the Summernats was always going to be just for the one year. To be frank, it wasn’t an enjoyable experience. Trying to get into the venue was a massive pain, with entrants and spectators having to go in the same direction, and once inside, the cruise road was almost at a standstill, you got pelted with stones and rubber from the near stock car in front of you doing static burnouts every ten metres and you had abuse hurled at you when you refused requests to do a burnout. Unless things change, my time at the Summernats has sadly come to an end.

THUMBS DOWN!

Quality of Entered Cars. Too many cars on cruise route. Long queues to get into the venue. Ridiculously priced Food/Drink. Dickheads on the cruise route.