Potentially this could be some four seconds quicker than what the slowest car in the field could potentially run. Add to that the fact that this car also holds the speed record at 203.58 mph, and when lined up with a slower car in the other line, the other car could cross the finish-line up to seventy mph slower than Campisi’s mount. We also have some quick naturally aspirated tin tops as well, with the 694 cubed big block Ford of the Trick and Mansweto team holding the SS/A record at 7.359 with the speed going to Greg Pope’s big block Ford powered Probe at 188.12 mph.

With this in mind, in October last year a groundswell of interest led to the formation of the Top Sportsman Association. I spoke to Ann Fowler, a very passionate advocate for the new bracket.

”I guess it started when some of the quicker racers were looking for a way to run all their cars in the one bracket. I remember at the time that someone said why not run the nitrous and turbo cars in with the Supercharged Outlaws and I thought there has to be a better way,” she recalled.

“Obviously the tracks have enough brackets already and don’t want any more but with a growing number of very quick cars there had to be a better solution. It was decided to try and self fund the bracket so that it wouldn’t be an added burden on the local track (Sydney Dragway). Once we identified how racers wanted to be a part of this, that we could pay for trophies and prize money we sat down and talked with officials at the track and they said that it would work.”

“We had missed the first bracket attack meeting of the new season and had another rained out, so there were only four meetings last season that we ran Top Sportsman bracket. At all those events each entrant added fifty dollars each to their entry fee so that we could have the high dollar race. Of course Steve (her son) won all four of the Top Sportsman brackets at those previous events and then went out early when the big money was there to be won,” she added with a pinch of humour in her voice. 

When all the money that was collected from the Top Sportsman entrants at the earlier rounds, a cash pot of $7000 was put together for the big buck race. This saw $5000 for the winner, $1000 for the runner-up and $500 each to the two semi finalists – a nice little earner.

There were some twenty cars on the entry list trying to win the big bucks, but by the time qualifying finished only thirteen cars faced the starter. Johnny Wilson was the quickest, dialing in with a 7.48 in his BB Chev powered Torana and he won $500 for bowing out in the semi finals. He was beaten by Peter Papas’s similar mount, who then went on to beat Andrew Constantinou’s Mustang in the final for the pot of gold. Here are some photos from the event.

Eventual big buck winner Peter Papas opens the door for some air during some downtime in the staging lanes.