Thousands turn out for Shannons Insurance Power Palooza

The fourth running of the Shannons Insurance Power Palooza once again delivered a festival of horsepower to Perth motorsport fans, showcasing drag racing, burnouts and speedway in a short and sharp show on Saturday night.

The evening commenced with a spectacular drag racing show that included Nitro Dragsters and Funny Cars, Top Doorslammers and even Jet Dragsters.

While the drag racing was only on exhibition mode, there were still plenty of highlights. Kyle Putland’s Camaro Nitro Funny Car had punters on the edge of their seats with a heart-stopping first run that saw him cross lanes, before returning for a later 5.91sec. pass.

The quickest times for the evening were recorded by Top Comp racer Russell Ladbrook, who made his championship intentions clear with consecutive runs of 5.73 and 5.72 seconds from his Funny Car.

Jet Dragster driver Pieter De Wit proved the king of speed however, blasting to the fastest speed of the night at 399kmh.

Spectators weren’t given much opportunity for relief from the adrenaline as the burnout demonstration then began, with fans on their feet as some of the stars of the WA burnout scene – including crowd favourite Jamie Weeks in the Mater tow truck, based on the character of the same name from the film Cars.

Crowds then migrated over to the speedway, where the opening round of the Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series was taking place. While those on the drag strip and the burnout pad were there just for some fun, the oval track was where things got serious as drivers began their championship season.

Callum Williamson proved to be the master of the early season, taking out the Shannons Insurance Power Palooza for the second year in a row in a 27-strong field of Sprintcars. The Williamson Motorsport team quickly found a set-up that worked well throughout the event.

“We came out with a relatively good car on practice night and then (at the Power Palooza) the car was pretty the same from hot laps to the feature race,” he said.

“We’ve now had a good start to this season so we can tinker with it again through the year and hopefully (winning) will be a continuous thing.”

Williamson would love to fight for the championship, but he will have to overcome missing the Scardifield Smash Repairs King of Wings event on November 14 as he will be getting married.

Finishing in second for the night was defending series champion Jason Kendrick, who said he was experimenting with both the motor and car balance, while Kaiden Manders wrapped up third place.

“We tried some different stuff in the engine and we didn’t get the RPM we wanted,” Kendrick said. “We had good lows but our highs weren’t good enough which cost us a couple of tenths.

“This year I am using probably 40% less steering input. It’s a lot less me manipulating the car and more the car doing what it needs to do.”

The BCG Late Models also turned out in force, with over 20 teams ready for the opening event of their season. Veteran Brad Blake turned in yet another winning performance, winning by a second and a half from Warren Oldfield and Kodee Brown.

The Pool Shop Group Speedcars saw Tom Payet run out a convincing winner, finishing a full five seconds ahead of Keenan Fleming, while other winners on the night included Frank Smart in the Solos and Brandon Coombe in the Flat Track Bikes.

Photos thanks to Phil Luyer, Peter Roebuck and Richard Hathaway

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