Outlaw Nitro Funny Car Track Length

Let's Boogie

Graeme Cowin is a legend of Australian drag racing, having competed for many years in Australia and the USA in Top Fuel dragsters and Nitro Funny Cars and this Saturday he brings his latest show to Perth Motorplex.

While he has been very capable of performing at the highest levels of the sport, Cowin wanted to put together a new show for Australian drag racing, inspired by the nostalgia nitro funny car scene in the USA and shows outside drag racing such as Monster Jam.

He started to collect his own funny cars, importing the best from the USA with famous 70s and 80s match racing names like LA Hooker. Among the early cars too was Nitro Express, with its distinctive 57 Chev body. Soon Cowin had four reliable nitro funny cars he begun to put down the track around the country.

But it was in 2013 that things really began to take off, when Cowin ran the Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car Extravaganza at Sydney Dragway. He flew in US drag racing superstar Ron Capps to drive and ensured there was 13 Outlaw Nitro Funny Cars on the premises ready to entertain. The racing was second to none as nearly every car went down the track three times with some brilliant side by side racing.

Since then that has been one of the major philosophies of the series – Cowin instructs his drivers to get down the track no matter what. A completely aborted pass in the Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car series is a rare thing to see. Which means the runs can sometimes be pretty wild!

As part of the evolution of the series, the rules have been tweaked not necessarily to make cars quicker but to make them a better show. Bigger fuel pumps were allowed so more nitro could be run through the veins of the machines and produce bigger nitro flames.

What spectators will see on Saturday at Perth Motorplex is the latest step in the evolution as the series expands off the east coast for the first time. It's going to be awesome!

Many of the drivers are very experienced in the Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car series and together with their talented pit crews have made themselves forces to be reckoned with on the drag strip.

Rick Gauci is currently the quickest Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car driver with a time of 5.58. He drives Nitro Express, which is series owner Graeme Cowin's pet. Gauci has previously driven Top Alcohol Funny Cars and also gets to steer some of Cowin's other crazy creations, such as a nitro fuelled altered. Gauci is a regular winner of events.

Shane Olive works for Rocket Industries by day but by night he gets the job benefit of driving the Red Devil. The latest Funny Car in the group, the Red Devil is a 57 Chev like Nitro Express except with a bright red paint scheme.

Paul Messineo has made the Dark Horse Ford Mustang his own, racing the car since Cowin first brought it into the country. Before he went nitro, Messineo raced in Supercharged Outlaws.

Anthony Begley is WA's own nitro superstar who competes in Top Fuel and in big Show Nitro Funny Cars. The LA Hooker will be his car to drive at this event and Begley will be chasing down his first win in the series.

Justin Walshe takes the wheel of Let's Boogie, bringing his considerable experience in supercharged altereds.

New Zealand Morice McMillin is in control of One Bad Kiwi, lending an international aspect to the show. He has raced funny cars before in the land of the long white cloud.

Aaron Hambridge takes a break from Top Fuel tuning to return to the driver's seat in The Bandit.

Daniel Schultz has the General Lee-inspired 'The General' ready for its first shot at WA. As one of the independent teams, Schultz and father Greg have been creeping up on making their combination fast and reliable.

Then there are the local outfits who will be keen to upset the more fancied interstaters. Andrew Katavatis in Beach Bomb, Matt Abel in Nitro Thunder and Michael Brooks in Nitro Madness are all set to play spoiler to their colourful rivals.

Be at Perth Motorplex from 5pm for the 'Salute to the Crowd', where all of the cars will fire up at once along the drag strip. You'll have some time to go and check out the cars up close in the pits then before racing kicks off at 6pm!

For more information about the event click here.