Part 1: Jase's U.S. Journey

Photos by Jason Gynn

 As a self-confessed Sport Compact drag racing fanatic, for years I have dreamed of going to the US to check out the local Sport Compact scene and attend some of the awesome drag racing events in person rather than having to settle for watching highlights on Youtube.

 In July of 2011 I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel over to the USA to do some photography work and to attend the 2011 Pan American Nationals at New Jersey’s Atco Raceway. A dream trip indeed.

Flying out from Sydney International airport a few days prior to the big event I was very nervous to say the least. Yes I was extremely pumped to be going on this epic expedition however rolling solo on my first international trip was quite daunting.

 My first destination was Jersey City. During my two week stay here I was very fortunate to hook up with a couple of local contacts who made me feel quite welcome, one of whom was my photographic comrade George Rosario from Wicked Photo Racing (left in the photo below). The lads from Shift Gear Clothing were gracious enough to welcome me into their homes and be my chaperones for the first part of my trip.

Ramon Morales and Peter Diaz from Shiftgear are well known and respected in the local small car scene and being able to hang out with these guys opened up a lot of opportunities that I would have otherwise missed out on.

After getting over the jet-lag and becoming acclimatised to the crazy heat wave the area was having, I was ready to head out to Atco Raceway for my first taste of action. I cannot put into words my anticipation to see Team USA battle it out with the visiting Team Puerto Rico.

The Pan American Nationals is considered by many to be one of the premier Sport Compact drag racing event in America, if not the world and let me tell you, it certainly lived up to the hype.

We got to the track nice and early before any racers had arrived and it was really cool to be able to just wander around and check out the facility before all the hustle and bustle began. As soon as the cars started rolling in on their trailers and transporters though, I honestly began to giggle like a school girl.

Within half an hour the entire pit area was filled to the brim with old school Mazdas, Toyotas, Datsuns and the like. I was in heaven!

I pushed my way through the masses of people to get my first glimpse of the Team Puerto Rico cars as they were unloaded from their container.

These fine-tuned and immaculately-presented beasts are some of the wildest Sport Compact drag cars around and seeing them in the flesh was really something else.

The cars, the racing and the crowds were just insane! Never before have I been to an event with an atmosphere like the Pan Ams and it is something I will never forget.

While I felt it was my duty to properly represent our Aussie crews back home,

I couldn't help but give into the infectious music and hospitality provided by my new friends and joined them in waving the Puerto Rican flag.

For three days straight I was out in the blistering sun snapping pics and mingling with the racers and while the aftermath was a headache like no other and skin a bright shade of red, it was bloody well worth it.

During that time I got to see some of the coolest cars around strut their stuff on the track and put on one of the best shows I’ve ever seen!

Inspiration for my own drag car project flowed thick and fast with plenty of tough Corollas like this one getting in on the action.

One of the more unusual things that went down at the event was a show put on by a chap by the name of Benny the Bomb.

After strapping himself inside an old car casually parked on the grass beside the track, the guys from the emergency service who were standing nearby would proceed to blow the car up with poor old Benny inside...

Amazingly afterwards Benny would emerge from the flaming wreck unscathed before heading up to the spectator-filled stands to shake hands with the kids.

After taking a day to recover from the big weekend at the track it was time to get to work shooting feature cars for the magazines back home. After nervously hopping in the driver’s seat for the first time I managed to fumble my way through New York City traffic and out to Powerhouse, a newly opened workshop in the area run by well known racing identity Chris Miller.

I had previously organised with Chris to shoot his infamous eight second Honda Civic as well as Paul Major's six second Outlaw Radial Corvette. Two amazing cars to say the least.

Chris' Civic, featured in Zoom#168, is in a league of its own when it comes to the massive Honda scene in the US. The built 1.8L B18C under the hood produces over 1200hp at the wheels and has propelled the little hatch down the quarter in just 8.30@178mph. An amazing feat seeing as it is still has the appearance of a street car. Well sort of anyways.

Paul Major's 'Vette was equally as impressive and being a big fan of the Outlaw Radial scene I got a real buzz to be able to get up close and personal with this 3000hp twin turbo beast.

By this time I was fair buggered and the heat wasn't helping the matter either but the day wasn't over yet. After heading back to Jersey City and almost running out of gas in the Holland Tunnel thanks to the epic traffic, I returned to Dear Park NY at 10pm to meet the crew at Force Fed Engineering and shoot a pair of the craziest Volkswagen Golfs I have ever seen; one a 460hp street car and the other a 1000hp racer.

After a few hours of photo snapping and having a good chat with the guys about their cars that was the end of a big day and marks the end of Part 1. Keep an eye on the Performance Garage blog for Part 2; featuring Outlaw radial pioneer Big Daddy, a trip to the world famous E-Town Raceway Park and a whole bunch of crazy Outlaw 10.5 cars!