NOSTALGIA NATION

Words and photos by Jon Van Daal

Like the rest of the drag racing world reliving the glory of the past has become an ever increasing part of the modern day sport. It is certainly no different down under with the first Nostalgia Nationals being held here in 1997 and since then an increasing number of racers and former racers have built cars that mirrored those of the dim, dark past. In 2011 members of the Australian Nostalgia Fuel Association (ANFA) believed that there should also be some recognition of those drag racing heros of the past and introduced the Pioneers and Legends Awards, our man down under, JON VAN DAAL turned out to be one of the recipients of this year’s awards as he explains.

As I trawled through my emails on August 20th there was one there from the Australian Nostalgia Fuel Association to say that I had received a gong to be one of only six people in 2014 to be recognised as a Pioneer of the sport of drag racing in Australia. You could have knocked me over with a feather. Putting it into perspective, there had only been twenty Pioneers picked before me, and with ANDRA competitor numbers now reaching the high five thousands, I felt sure that there were others apart from myself just as worthy of such an award.

Fast forward to September 27th and the awards start in the afternoon with nine worthy recipients of the Legends Awards. This included Bob Campbell and Chris Mills from Western Australia, Len Leonard and Brian Hutchesson  from South Australia, Peter Wileman and Peter Clarke from Victoria, Mick Borg and Ed Stipanovich  from New South Wales plus George Wegener and John White from Queensland. This turned out to be bench racing at its best with each receiving a run down of their contribution to the sport and an award was also presented to each of the above. Receiving an Outstanding Achievement Award was Colin Russell who after a fine career tuning the best circuit cars in the country assisted Larry Ormsby to win Australian championships and then became the voice of drag racing at Calder Park Raceway in Melbourne.

At 6pm the Pioneers were honoured with yours truly up first. Fellow photographer, John Baremans and former racer and meeting director, Bill Sivertsen MC’d my spot and it turned out to be half interview, half roast and I must thank, Steve Turner, Geoff Orrell and the rest of the ANFA committee for an extraordinary presentation. Following my stint others to be honoured were Rod Marchant, Paul Rogers Snr, Ron Harrop, Ross Mellish and John Maher. It was great to catch up with all the other honourees on the day and I must admit it was fantastic to see my own plaque on the wall of the Sydney Dragway race tower. Anyway, back to the race.

Normally at the butterfly of his own Supercharged Outlaw funny car David McGaw took the wheel of the “Hoodlum” blown Topolino altered. This car was owned by the late, great Mal Gower who died earlier this year (and also received a posthumous Pioneer Award). As can be seen here he was in for one wild ride. On this pass the car started to hug the centreline and McGaw got off and on the throttle three times. The last time was near the finish-line and in the braking area the right front wheel folded and finally broke off as he ended up hitting the opposite wall at a fair old clip. All the time he seemed to be hurtling toward the back of opponent, Jason Kiely’s ’34 Ford in a shower of sparks after his chute didn’t initially open. Luckily after hitting the wall his bright red crossform finally blossomed and with the car coming to a safe stop.