ANDRA Fastlane ANDRA_FASTLANE24 | Page 10

2015 was a big year for the Swan Hill Drag Racing Club (SWDRC), seeing the initial build to turn what was farming land into Swan Hill Dragway being undertaken by a dedicated and passionate group of volunteers. The build started five years after the site, opposite the Chisholm Reserve Motor Sports Complex, was identified as a priority for development into a drag strip in Swan Hill Rural City Council community meetings. With the Coalition Government’s investment of $2.45 million through the Regional Growth Fund, the green light was given and the Club soon got to work building what is now Australia’s newest quarter-mile track to bring drag racing to Swan Hill. As with all great journeys, it wasn’t without its ‘bumps’, with an initial opening in November of 2016 leading to N the identification of further surface work being required when it was found the concrete surface had ‘moved’ more than anticipated. Again the Swan Hill Rural City Council (SHRCC) got behind the track and backed the grinding of the surface, laying of new sections of asphalt and improvements to track drainage. Once that work was completed, the track re-opened to much excitement from the Victorian and national drag racing community in May with the Swan Hill Nostalgia Drags which hosted more than 100 racers across two great days of action. After a Winter break, the club is now