Another day at the office for reigning World Burnouts Champ Gary Myers

NEVER in all my years of buggerising around with cars have I ever had so much fun at one show as I did at the recent EASTERNATS at Sandown International Raceway, Victoria.
   So what made EASTERNATS so different from your run-of-mill spit-and-polish showcase? One word: driving!
   Aside from the opportunity to hoon around Sandown International Raceway at whatever speed you wanted - reason enough to participate, we reckon - entrants were actively encouraged to stop and do burnouts for the crowd. You could rip off a couple of helis, get your car sideways and have as much fun as possible while pushing your beloved streeter to the very limit.
It was free game, all weekend.
   Organisers managed to cram a lot into the two days of the Easter break. The list of events included a show and shine, horsepower heroes, slalom, goto-whoa,
time trials, a very popular burnout competition and some exciting quarter-mile drag racing.
   Despite rain and threatening clouds, the

crowds rocked in and entrant numbers were up by more than 100 over last year.
One early downpour on Saturday morning left the track soaked, but entrants lapped it up with heaps of sideways action during the designated two-hour cruising session. Yeehar!
   Saturday was qualifying day in all events, so entrants and spectators were on the go the whole time. Amazingly, 140 of the 350-odd cars entered in the event lined up for a shot at making the burnout finals cut.
   By the time Sunday came around, all entrants really had the gist of circuit cruising and it was incredible to see hundreds of cars lapping the motorsport tarmac without incident.
   The occasional over-enthusiastic spinner is all part of the fun, of course. Naturally, there was the odd engine that gave up the ghost and I'd like a dollar for every diff and gearbox that was destroyed over the weekend.
   With sand traps and runoff areas everywhere, the driving events were an absolute scream. The general attitude became a little more serious, however, once the street drags started at midday on Sunday.

The majority of entered cars were from Victoria, but I spied a few Sydney racers, including Chris Simpson in his tough 1956 big block-powered Chevy. I even saw a Torrie that had made the long haul from Tassie.
   The action was nailbiting and as close to street racing as it gets considering the surface was not much better (in terms of traction) than what you would find on a normal road.
   With straight heads-up racing there was no room for error. It came as no surprise to see David Mizzi in his tough 302ci-powered RX4 in the final against New South Welshman Louie Ilioski and his SVO-injected 1972 Capri. Ilioski came up trumps - just

reward for his long haul down from Wollongong - but the crowd was right behind the popular Mizzi, who never lifted the bonnet on his car all day.
   In terms of times, Mizzi dominated the trials with an 11-second pass, with Jamie Leah rocking in second with a 13.00 and Clint Allsop third in his Group III Gemini which managed a 13.48.
   Chris Sparrow turned a few heads in the slalom after slamming his M3 BMW into equal first place with Allsop's Gemini Coupe. 
   Just 0.38 seconds behind was John Marinaccio in a 1990 Nissan 300ZX which appeared to make more mumbo than any six-banger I've ever seen. The Nissan really struggled for traction the entire weekend.

   The Miss EASTERNATS contest certainly raised a few eyebrows… and a few tops. All good fun, we reckon.
   Event promoter Jon Davison must be commended on what was a first-rate event. $15,000 in cash and trophies certainly helped, but he was up against it with the unexpected demise of principal sponsor Performance Street Car magazine, and had to deal with a late challenge from arch rival Calder Park, who organised a similar event for the same weekend.
   With no alcohol on sale at the track, the vibe was friendly and free of aggro. 
   If you couldn't make it this year, make sure you put it on your calendar for next year. We already have.

Life at the top

AFTER the disappointment that occurred at Summernats 12 Horsepower Heroes (see Street Machine, April 2000), Todd Wilkes bought: his twin-turbo VS Commodore ute down from Queensland with a mission - to
rewrite the history books at EASTERNATS 2000. When the smoke cleared, the ore recorded a brainnumbing 800.3hp at the bags on the Dynopack 'axle' dyno. Converted in flywheel ponies, this is estimated to equate to about 900 neddies!
Unable to contain myself in the face ofso much stomp, I wound Todd up to take me for a blast in what must be one of the flagship muscle cars of the new millennium.
Never look a gift horse - or horsepower - in the mouth. An opportunity for a lap of the famous Sandown circuit in a streeter with as much power as a Formula I racing car was something not to be missed.
After climbing into the leather-bound interior and finally clearing the million souls away from the front of the car, the JUDGE purred out onto the racetrack. The engine was very quiet and after getting onto the track Todd gave it a quick stab of the throttle for the crowd. The rear bags arched up with pathetic ease and Todd grabbed another gear as we speared towards turn one. The big Porsche brakes all-round provided a welcome boost to my otherwise apprehensive nature - having had some embarrassing moments with Commodore brakes in the past.
The amount of power on hand was just ludicrous. Todd could punch the throttle in any gear and light the tyres up. 
The highlight of the trip was certainly the jaunt down the front straight. After settling the car out of the corner. Todd wound the twin turbos up and the VS took off like a scalded cat. The speedo needle shot through the roof to 240 km/h - or so Todd said. I was too busy looking at the track - and Todd had his hands full getting the power to the track as the boost skyrocketed in fifth gear.
Words cannot do justice to the sense of excitement this car creates. You couldn't take the smile off my face with anything less than a baseball bat.
Or a big-block Valiant, of course.

Burnouts, burnouts and
more burnouts

ASIDE from the official burnout competition, I don 't think I've ever seen so much burnt licorice and grey smoke over two days in my life. The entire show could have been named Rubberfest 2000. It was awesome and the track was painted black with rubber on every straight and every corner as far as the eye could see!
As for the judged burnout event, all the big hitters were there; Gary Myers in his 'Stang, Debbie and
Peter Gray in their big-block Camaro. Shannon Peterson in his blown VK all the way from Sydney and a couple of real surprise local packages to boot.
With $2000 up for grabs as first prize, you could be assured they were going to be good.
Having attended the event for the last few years, I reckon the quality of burnouts often surpasses that of the Summernats.
Only five of the 50 finalists didn't blow their tyres, which indicated the high standard. And this was
only because 15 minutes of rain made things a tad difficult in the middle of the contest It was really
a pity that there were only three trophies because every finalist deserved to be rewarded At the end of the day, Stephen Bellman in his 308-powered Gemini panel van and Garry Myers in his blown 1966 Mustang burnt the house down for equal first place, with promoter Davison doing the right thing by awarding both $2000.
Shannon Peterson backed up with second and Debbie Gray in her Camaro finished third. 
Only two points (out of 80) separated the top eight positions!