ANDRA Fastlane 20 | Page 9

e cake “It must have helped my confidence too, because since then, I have broken through for a second win, this time at one of our local meetings,” grinned Radcliffe. “It’s best run was a 11.4 second pass at 118 miles per hour and then on its last meeting I put nitrous on it and ran a 10.2 second pass at 130 miles per hour! While he may have had to wait until 2017 for his first win, Radcliffe’s love of drag racing has been a long-burning flame. “That was the end of sedan racing for me – I purchased my rear-engine dragster soon after in 2010. “I first got into drag racing as a young fella, probably only around 17 years old,” the 42 year old explained. “It was a roller body and I rebuilt it with my trusty 350 Chev and on its licensing pass, ran 9.3 seconds. I was pretty stoked with that! “As an apprentice mechanic, I used to help Grant’s mate race and then at 18, I had my first go at drag racing in a HG Holden Premier – it was my road car at the time. “The new combo I have now, a 406 Chev Powerglide, has run 8.41s at 159mph.” “After a few years circuit racing with HQ Holdens from 2000, I got back into drag racing in 2002 with a SLR5000 Torana replica, powered by a 350 Chev. For Radcliffe, the love of drag racing is likely to always spring eternal. “I love drag racing, especially in Modified at Nitro Up North event which is something I don’t get to do at our local meetings as we don’t have enough cars for our own class,” he explained. “Instead, we race in a bracket called Super Modified, which combines Super Sedan and Modified. It is the biggest class of the meeting and is very competitive and a lot of fun! “I also really enjoy getting to race against my cousin at meetings like Nitro Up North, as he runs Top Sportsman at the local events. We get lots of cool photos of it too, as another cousin of mine – Craig Radcliffe – is a motorsport photographer with his business Action Sport Photography!” Image by Craig Radcliffe, Action Sport Photography