IT was a podium finish for local, Scott Riley, in a recent drag meet with a twist.
The 45-year-old competed in the Street Machine Drag Challenge, at two different drag strips.
The Hamilton local finished third and said it was great to compete in such a different event.
“It is an event where you get your car to the first track, I towed mine there, then you race at that track, then you have to drive to next track (Heathcote), I ran a 10.93 (123mph) then had to drive it to Mildura which was 430 kilometres away.
“I had to race the next day at Mildura and I ran 7.03 which was the time I was chasing, I then had to drive it back to Heathcote and raced the last day at Heathcote and I was chasing a 10.93.”
Riley finished third in the Dial Your Own class, with the challenge of converting the car from a drag set-up to a street legal set-up multiple times putting drivers to the test.
The Hamilton local said he didn’t have any expectations going into the event, and was surprised at how well he did in his first drag challenge event.
“I just wanted to try and finish the event,” he said.
“I did nearly 1000kms in two days across three drag strips.
“It is the first time I have done it in my car, I had gone with a mate in his car once and I wanted to do it myself in my car and I will definitely be doing it again.”
Riley often competes at Portland and Casterton with his 1970 XY Falcon impressing at last weekend’s event.
“I probably went better than I thought I would,” Riley said.
“I’d hoped I could have been in contention, but there are a lot of other seasoned racers who do this event every year.
“It was pretty hard on man and machine, I’d built the motor myself and the car didn’t blow up which was good.”
It took about 90 mins to make the changes from the track to street and back again with Riley putting his 20 years of drag racing experience to the test.
There is another event planned for October with Riley already planning to compete and look to improve in his falcon, which runs a 395 Stroker Cleveland under the hood.
