warwick winners weekend 010309

Feb 28th - March 1st was our first weekend away for some time and because of missing out on our Indy Sprints last year I felt the need for a "rev head" event incorporating some ladies activities as well, and the 40 plus participants proved me correct.

Leaving Maccas Loganholme just after 9am the convoy of Vettes headed over Tamborine in beautiful Queensland conditions to our morning tea stop at Aratula. A few racey manoeuvres along the way were in order as the boys warmed up for the afternoons events.

Arriving at Warwick Drag Raceway the ladies proceeded to put on a luncheon whilst a brief introduction to drag racing was employed by the local organisers. All participants received their race names, Bob Burner, Ron Austen Powers, Brad Stormer, Ol Yella, Captain Hi-Tech Dave and Neil Stunt Double were a few that come to mind. Just cant remember Ernie's, think it started with a "P". Great to see Bretto Hoskins and Ron out on the track joining in, and not doing to shabby either!

After drawing names from the hat, the heats began. In the early stages we could see the competition was going to be hot. And it sure was when Barb Kelly not only took the C5 down the strip, but my C3 as well which gave her the title of the Clubs fastest lady. Not to be out done though, Denise and Ali were showing us how fast they could be by emptying all the wine they could find then spurring on the racers by exposing their midriff's. Stunt Double Neil came well prepared packing a race crew that fitted his slick tyres before starting and as the day unfolded proved to pay dividends.

Each class had their run off to provide a winner in a best out of three competition. I'll tell you about reaction times in a minute.

C2 winner.......Harps 2, Greg Harper

C3 winner.......Crasher, Peter Turner

r / up .......Aitter , Bob Aitken

C4 winner.......Doyley , Ray Doyle

r / up ...... Harps , Keith Harper

C5 winner......Stunt Double, Neil Turner

r / up ...... Capt. Hi-Tech, Dave Kelly

C6 winner.....Warts , Brian Wharto

Lady .... Babbs , Barb Kelly

As Burner Bob and Silky Kev didn't have their Vettes they decided to race their 4x4's in an RV contest and Bob took home a lovely bottle of "Signature Series" wine.

Anyway how about my reaction time? 4 hundredths of a sec is perfect in drag racing and my old C3 climbed out of the gate several times in .o4 of a sec..... How was I ????

The fastest 4 then had a run off for outright fastest with Ray, Brian, Neil, and Dave all contending. These 4 were all in the 8 sec bracket which the locals tell us is excellent for street cars. Stunt Double Neil won in the well prepared C5 with the fastest time of 8.1 @ 88mph and a very commendable 2nd to the Doyley camp in the blingy C4.

Pack up, drink beer, trophy presentation, then off to McNevins Motel, Happy Hour, wonderful 3 course meal, then continuous Happy Hour until lights out.

Ladies Day Sunday at the Farmers Markets at Glengallan Homestead, shared some old time scones with horse hair and after saying fair wells to some fellow racers a few of us decided the weekend was too good to finish yet. We elected to go over the mountains via Kilarney to Boonah. Single lane sections, river crossings and cattle grids became quiet a contrast from the previous days driving.

Great scenic countryside made Ali hungry and Ernie thirsty, Boonah for lunch and the C3 was home for dinner with about 450k's more on it.

The weekend was just what Ali and I needed after moving house last week and also to re-focus on the year ahead. Keeping everyone entertained and having fun ourselves is definitely on the agenda and we think that "The Winners Weekend" was exactly that.

I reckon that we should make it an annual event, what do you think?

Cheers Peter & Alison

Special thanks to Silky for these great photos.