Wednesday, 6 March 2024

Smaller numbers not a drag at ‘successful’ racing event

    1. Southland
    2. The Ensign

    Paul Richardson has been racing in the Cobra Rodders Standing 1/8 Mile Street Drags for longer than he can remember.

    On Sunday, he again competed in the event.

    He raced his "nostalgic dragster" in the modified dragster section.

    "I’ve been doing this for years. I couldn’t tell you how many though," he said.

    Paul Richardson, of Gore, sits in his nostalgic dragster as he prepares to drag in the Cobra...
    Paul Richardson, of Gore, sits in his nostalgic dragster as he prepares to drag in the Cobra Rodders Standing 1/8 Mile Street Drag. PHOTOS: BEN ANDREWS
    Despite his many outings to the street drags, this was the first time he had taken this dragster to the event.

    "It’s a demonstration class today because there’s no real classes for these at the moment down here.

    Richardson is a member of the Delta Rod & Custom Car Club in Balclutha.

    Cobra Rod & Custom Car Club committee member Tony Richardson, of Gore, said numbers for the event were down on the previous year, but it was still a great day out.

    "It was a successful day apart from the glitch we had with the timing system. But that’s a brand new system and we persevered and got through the day," Tony Richardson said.

    Fraser Agnew, of Invercargill, does a burnout in his muscle car before his drag.
    Fraser Agnew, of Invercargill, does a burnout in his muscle car before his drag.
    "It was probably one of the easier ones we’ve run for a long time. It was great."

    There were 11 winners on the day, he said.

    "The entries were down a bit as unfortunately we clashed with a couple of other events."

    He planned to look at potential ways to get around future clashes.

    ben.andrews@theensign.co.nz