BOYNE ISLAND RACER LOOKING FOR BIG BENARABY PERFORMANCE
7 July 2011
Young Boyne Island drag racing sensation, Aaron Neucom is hoping a big hometown crowd will turn out to watch him in the Queensland Street Car Magazine One-Eighth Mile Series event to be held at Benaraby Raceway on July 9.
26-year-old Neucom currently sits second in the RD William Excavator Parts Modified Points standings and is aiming for some local track knowledge and enthusiasm to push him to the head.
"We’re down a few points currently, but we’re looking to step that up at Benaraby," Aaron said.
Aaron's 383 cubic inch small block Ford powered 'Modified' machine covers one-eighth of a mile (200 metres) in 5.24 seconds at a speed of 212 kilometres an hour (132mph).
"Racing near home is a big thing for us - most of the time you have to travel to events," he admitted. "The weekend after Benaraby, we’ll be back down to Willowbank Raceway for the Castrol EDGE Winternationals, which was rained off in June.
"The travel’s great, you get to see a bit of the countryside and have some fun whilst you’re at it."
At 26, Neucom is young in his racing career and the NDT Technician has his eyes set on the big time.
"Like any drag racer, your aim is to get into Group One competition in the ANDRA Pro Series. My goal is to get into a Top Alchohol Funny Car, but for the time being it’s Modified.
"It’s a great buzz. To accelerate that quickly down the 'strip is a cool feeling," he continued. "It’s hard to explain to people, but drag racing is a sport even as a spectator you experience with every single one of your senses."
Neucom has picked up support from Michael Titmarsh at The Automatic Shop at Rockhampton and Powerglide – who provide him with the horsepower to get down the racetrack.
The Queensland Street Car One-Eighth Mile Drag Racing Series is in its second year and with strong entry numbers at every round so far, Series Organiser, John Winterburn is ecstatic at how it just continues to grow.
"It has really been embraced by the racers, they appreciate the opportunity to race in a professionally organised series that visits a mixture of racetracks," he said. "Not only that, it takes professionally presented drag racing to centres that don’t get to see the 'big show' come to town all that often.
"The series is very family friendly, we like to promote a relaxed atmosphere for both spectators and racers and above all, it’s a lot of fun, which is what it's all about."
The penultimate round of the Series will be held at Benaraby Dragway on the 9th of July, before the Grand Finale gets underway at Ironbark Raceway on the 24th of September. Benaraby Dragway is located on the Pacific Hwy just outside Gladstone in Queensland.
Currently leading the championship points are Kiah Curling (Diamond T Products Junior Dragster), Richie Paterson (QLD Nameplate Group Modified Bike), Laurie Bonato (John William Auto Sales Super Street), Darren Doeblien (JP Racing Super Sedan), Athol Jacobsen (RD William Excavator Parts Modified) and Loughlin Boyde (F G Loy & Sons Earthmoving Classic).
The Queensland Street Car Magazine Eighth Mile Series includes rounds of racing plus a Grand Finale, hosted by each track on a rotational basis year by year.
Special winner and runner-up trophies will be available for each bracket at each round, with the Grand Finale to see a special winner trophy plus $750 prize money awarded to the highest point score of each bracket, and a special runner-up trophy and $250 prize money to go to the second highest point scorer of each bracket.
For more information on the 2011 Queensland Street Car Magazine Eighth Mile Drag Racing Series, including details on how to enter and race rules, visit www.willowbankraceway.com.au