Rolling down an airport runway with your mates is usually something you’d expect from hip-hop videos. However, the Ardmore Showdown — Wings vs Wheels lets anyone race down the strip against their mates on a drop-flag style drag-racing system. There are no lights, no electronic systems, and it’s purely based on levels of fun.
On arrival you were faced with a selection of cars lined up for a show and shine. Darryl Curran’s FD RX-7, which was boasting a kit by Japanese tuning company Re-Amemiya, was sitting tidy next to an R33 and an Evolution.
The popularity of the Porsche 911 has grown over the years, and tuning companies, such as Rauh Welt Begriff and Magnus Walker, can be seen as inspiration figures for this increasing attraction. Troy’s 1978 911 Carrera has been designed to replicate a classic Martini race car.
Lately, a trend of throwbacks has definitely come back into the spotlight. Many people have been rocking classic wheels or wheels from a decade ago. This Evo was spotted running a set of Enkei RP05 classic wheels, usually dropped in the good old 18×7-inch or 17×7-inch sizing.
In my opinion one of the stars of the show was this pair in white. It’s almost like a classy couple chilling together in matching attire. The basic necessities being focused on when putting these together have made for a simplistic and easy-going look.
A more complicated look, yet a look that has been pulled off very well, is Vick Bhatti’s G35/GTR. With panel work done by GT Refinishers and a set of Nessen wheels, the car turned out super tough.
Line up then roll out two by two. It’s as easy as that.
Drop-flag drag racing meant that mates could race mates and, with that in mind, go as wild as they like down the old airstrip. The process is somewhat reminiscent of the original The Fast and the Furious movie’s ‘drag wars’ scene with drop-flag racing. Except in the instance above where we have a car closer to the second The Fast and the Furious movie, rather than the VW Jetta that you would have seen in the first film.
Cars weren’t the only things running down the drag strip. This set of go-karts decided to run the line — maybe not as fast as some of the full-sized cars, but still a neat sight to see.
Nico Reid had a different idea about the term drag racing. It’s not your usual means of attacking a drag strip, but smoking the rears sideways will make the crowd scream any day of the week.
Literally looking evil, Matthew Holt’s turbo S2000 was making great pace down the line and looked just as good coming back along the return road. He even walked away with the award for best stance.
it wasn’t just cars racing down the drag strip either — there were these things in the air too. They’re also known as helicopters, supplied by Helisika Helicopters.
It’s not your usual means of directing a helicopter around, but Ricky Lee managed to send out plenty of smoke signals to the nearby aircraft.
The line-up by this point was getting pretty big and there was no shortage of mates wanting to race mates.
After being recently unveiled at the V 4&Rotary Nationals, the FD RX-7 of Kerrin Brady was put to the test down the strip. It’s definitely a quick car, and great looking at the same time.
In-between drag racing was a selection of upcoming drifters making their way around the track sideways.
Ricky Lee popped out and ended up nearly blowing up the rear end of his car. A fire extinguisher and some careful driving pulled him off the track quickly.
The day was finished off with marshmallows and bonfires, also known as the Zahorodny jet car. The jet drag car set out to light up a few flames for the kids before everyone headed off for the day.
I’m intrigued to see what happens next year considering the improvements that were made this year. Maybe we can get a jetsprint boat vs a jet car vs a jet plane? Three-way jet excursion?
