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Drag Racing In Victoria Association Incorporated (DRiVA) has scheduled a public meeting for Wednesday 22 October. The meeting is to be held at the Redback Hotel Function Room, 75 Flemington Rd, North Melbourne. (Opposite the Royal Melbourne Hospital), the meeting will start at 7:30pm.

The purpose of the meeting is for DRiVA to inform the Drag Racing community about the details of the Association, its goals and future direction. The meeting will allow DRiVA to receive input from interested parties and generate support support from the Drag Racing community.

For further information regarding the meeting please call 0418 172 409 or email drivainc@bigpond.com

With confirmation of the first major events at the new Western Sydney International Dragway, and additional Group One opportunities in Queensland and Western Australia, the calendar of ANDRA Drag Racing events for the new season has been released.

The iTel Community Telco Australian Nationals on the refurbished Willowbank Raceway in southern Queensland kicks off six Australian Championships for the ANDRA Group One categories, and the 2003/2004 Australian Drag Racing Series for Groups Two, Three and Four next month.

The ANDRA Championship trail moves west in December with Top Doorslammer and Top Bike at the Kwinana Motorplex for the Southside Engine Centre Goldenstates Challenge.

Willowbank Raceway gets 2004 underway with Top Fuel and Top Alcohol rounds at their January event, before the brand new Western Sydney International Dragway opens officially in February. The 2004 Summernationals will showcase everything ANDRA Championship Drag Racing has to offer with the first ANDRA National Championship event in Sydney since 1997.

Top Doorslammer and Top Bike return to Perth in early March alongside Round 3 of the Australia Drag Racing Series at the 2004 Westernationals, Western Australia's biggest drag racing events of the season.

Two weeks later Australia's fastest V8 sedans return to Sydney with Top Doorslammer, alongside Pro Stock on four wheels and two.

The Australian Drag Racing Series moves to northern Queensland in April for the Sunstate Nationals at Mackay's Palmyra Dragway. A week later it's sedan time in Brisbane with Top Doorslammer and Pro Stock heading the bill at Willowbank Raceway's 2004 Tin Top Titles.

In May Western Sydney presents the Nitro Champs featuring the fire breathing Top Fuel and Top Bike classes, and Top Alcohol.

A fabulous ANDRA Championship season comes down to the wire at the 2004 Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway, with the crowning of 15 Australian Champions and more great ANDRA Drag Racing.

Regional ANDRA Championships will continue with Tri-Series in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria.

With over 250 ANDRA events listed around Australia between now and September 2004, most areas will be able to access the best the straight-line sport has to offer. For those who want to do more than watch, tracks in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth will provide weekly off-street opportunities through the summer, with additional regular special interest events.

Don't forget the numerous regional venues, both permanent and temporary, which provide opportunities for competition and off-street racing through the year.

The ANDRA Drag Racing Calendar for the 2003/2004 season may be found at the ANDRA Online website (www.andra.com.au/calendar.htm)

As there has been no Melbourne based championship drag racing for nearly three years, a small but determined group has been established to chase a long-term future for ANDRA championship drag racing in Victoria, a future that provides continuity and lasting stability. DRIVA, (Drag Racing in Victoria Association Inc), has been formed to focus the efforts of the Victorian drag racing community on achieving a dedicated drag racing facility and the return of ANDRA championship drag racing to the State. DRIVA, a not for profit association is incorporated in Victoria and is affiliated with the Australian National Drag Racing Association.

Interim President Neil Hendry said "You can't sit back thinking that a saviour is going to come along and find some magic solution for Victoria. We've decided to set up DRIVA to try and turn a negative into a positive. There's too many great racecars sitting stagnant, too many lost opportunities, too many people losing from the lack of an ANDRA sanctioned venue in Victoria. Victorians were always great supporters of drag racing and we hope we can get Victoria back to its prominent position as a major player on the National stage".

"We're in this for the long haul" Hendry said. "We know that we're not going to achieve much over night, but we're prepared to work hard and we're prepared to persist and do whatever it takes. We take heart from the successes of other groups in Queensland and Western Australia and we're inspired by the recent achievements in NSW. We all know the positive influence ANDRA sanctioned drag racing can have and the economic benefits that can spill over to the area that plays host to major drag racing events. We're prepared to do the work to convince others of that".

In the near future DRIVA will be hosting information nights for interested individuals and groups. "We can't do this alone. There are many people out there with lots of good ideas and plenty of pent up energy. Just like the South Australian and ACT racers, we need to think about how we can raise funds and do whatever it takes to advance our cause."

The Chev Offroad and Marine Engine boys (C.O.M.E) have completed a new engine for their A/AP Oldsmobile Cutlass. With a p.b. of 7.26 / 189 mph run several years ago with the old engine, watch for the A/AP national record to drop into the six second barrier at over 200 miles per hour. Sam and Issy will be testing the car with the new bullet shortly. Another familiar name who has stepped up, is Steve Athens. With the sale of the capri, and the purchase of Dave Tucker's camaro to accomodate for the big horsepower his turbo 8 is making, Steve and the team are looking forward to better his personal best of 7.92 / 176 mph.

No more ads, no more pop ups. Thanks to Paul Rogers Jr, who has very kindly leant us some webspace from his NASSA Vic website, we have been able to upgrade most of the pages on the Engineroom from the free, and very very slow Angelfire system. After some initial teething problems with the upgrade all seems to be working well with each page being viewed considerably quicker than the old system. Once again special thanks to Paul Rogers Jr.

Wheeler Machinery Nitro Funnycar - Nitro Nationals
Wednesday August 4 - team report by Robert Schwab

Saturday night was our biggest race of the year, the Nitro Nationals. We were honored to have a group of Wheeler Machinery customers and the marketing department as guests with a hospitality area and a gourmet meal provided by Mr. and Mrs. Rocky Forman.
The team went into this race not just to put on a good show, but with the intention of winning. The competition was among the best in the world with nationally ranked number three Del Worsham and number eight Johnny Gray.
The first race, at 7:00 pm, the track temperature was very high and the Wheeler Machinery funny car got loose at the top end. It was like hitting black ice at 270 miles an hour. At 1000 feet, we were very quickly running down Johnny Gray, but when the car drifted over to the wall the safe decision was to get out of it. The team then went to work and spanked the competion in the rebuild. Out of eight national event teams, the Wheeler crew was the first to fire for the warm up .
The second race, the track temperature was down and it was time to see what this CAT yellow missile could do. We set the car at about 95% power and sent it. Worsham ran a 5.11 at 297 miles an hour the run right before ours. Then we ran a 5.15 at 278 miles an hour to whup Keith Jackson. The beauty of this run was our incremental e.t.'s and miles an hour were as good and at times better than Worsham's 5.11 run to 1000 foot. We just need to work on the last 320 feet of the track and we will have one seriously bad hot rod.
I would like to thank the marketing team, Rocky Forman, and all the salesmen that helped make our customer hospitality area a very special debut. The car is already maintained and we are off to Idaho for a event sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Idaho on Saturday. Then the Wheeler Machinery funny car will be at the E Center in West Valley City for the truck show on the 22 and 23 of August, then at Totem's Restaurant August 31 for a fund raiser. We have had a very successful year so far. I keep thinking, it was so great that Wheeler stood by us through last season, one that wasn't that successful, but that is what they are all about. Wheeler Machinery has a reputation of standing by its customers and its employees when times are tough.

Robert & Lisa Schwab

Despite nearly five weeks of fine weather, the impacts of three months of
unseasonably heavy rain from April to June have forced a cancellation of the
proposed opening meeting for Western Sydney International Dragway.

The planned official opening event was to have been the Pacific Coast
Nationals, over the weekend of November 14-16, which was to have been an
ANDRA Australian Drag Racing Series round and the official start to the
2003/2004 ANDRA Group One Championship series.

"We have been overwhelmed with enquiries for the event, from all over
Australia as well as overseas," said WSID Chairman Tony Beuk. "The level of
interest indicated a likely competitor turnout of as many as 600 race teams,
and with spectator interest expected to be at an all time high, and
unprecedented enthusiasm from the corporate and business sector, there was
obviously a lot riding on this date.

"At the moment the current construction schedule has extensions to October
28, but that just leaves two weeks to the originally scheduled opening date.
If there was no rain between now and the end of October we could possibly
proceed on the existing schedule. However, we need a minimum of two weeks to
prepare the venue for that opener, and there is a negligible chance of there
being no rain in the next four months. The expectation of both the
construction company John Holland and the NSW Government is that
construction will now be completed in mid-November. We cannot afford to take
the risk for the many people who would be planning interstate or overseas
trips, accommodation bookings and other expenses."

In addition, some recent additions to the fit-out of the venue, which will
enhance its level of comfort, may add to the construction time.

The original schedule called for construction to be completed in early
September but to that had to be added time lost to weather or other
circumstances beyond the contractor's control.

In an average year Sydney experiences 36 days which would impact on such a
project, but in less than three months the WSID project suffered 38 lost
days, and even when it was not raining the ground was so saturated that
water lying on the surface prevented much work being done.

There are several constraining factors on an alternative date, including the
Australian Nationals event at Queensland's Willowbank Raceway on the weekend
of November 21-23, and a major touring car race at the neighbouring Eastern
Creek Raceway on November 29-30. Planning approvals and local authorities,
as well as common sense, dictate that two major events cannot be held at
adjacent venues on the same day.

An alternative opening date will be announced in the next three to four
weeks, once progress on the construction is further advanced and a better
idea of a likely completion date is more evident.

"We deeply regret any inconvenience caused by this," Mr Beuk concluded, "but
we really have no choice. We look forward to seeing all the fans and racers
at what will still be one of the great events in Australian drag racing
history."

Keep an eye on the track web site - www.wsid.com.au - for announcements
regarding the opening event.

The Victorian Division of ANDRA is pleased to announce that they have secured three more dates to conduct events at the Heathcote Park Raceway, located just out of Heathcote, over the 2003/2004 season. The dates are October 26th 2003, January 18th 2004 and April 25th 2004.

These dates have been secured to give an interim 'fix' for those in need of the chance to run on the full 1/4 mile in the Victorian Division. With there being limited opportunities to do this under the ANDRA banner in this part of the country, the Division has decided to try and aid the racers once again (there was a successful Test and Tune in April of this year). Once again, though, it will only be with the support of competitors that these dates will be successful.

With the continued support of the Heathcote Park proprietors, Joanne Barker and Russell Clarke, the Division Director can see three very successful events. The Division Director said "these events will give locals, and interstaters, the chance to run their vehicles in a southern state over a 1/4 of a mile with all the safety levels of any ANDRA sanctioned meeting".

The first event will be a Test and Tune, offering competitors the chance to run their vehicles leading up to the opening of the new Western Sydney International Motorplex and the Nationals at Willowbank Raceway. The level of the second two events has not been decided. It is hoped that the second could be scheduled as a possible Pro Am or 'Big Bracket Cash Attack'. The idea of the 'Big Bracket Cash Attack' is to run several brackets, possibly Junior Dragster, all Bikes and an all Sedans, Dragster and Altereds combined bracket, which will run on a DYO format for a larger than normal prize purse. The Division, who will be looking for sponsors, has already been approached by several potential sponsors to help ensure the success of just such an event.

April 25th is hoped to be run as an ADRS round. This will be tabled by the Victorian/Tasmanian Division Director at the up and coming ANDRA AGM and it is hoped that the NCC will support just such an event in the Division. This will fill a hole in the current ADR series.

People interested in running any of the dates, and wishing to be put on the mailing list can contact the Division Director on (03) 9742 2622, on e-mail at goonda@alphalink.com.au or by post at 4 Barwon Court, Werribee, Victoria 3030.