Summer Slam Series Opener
Aeroflow Nitro Hot Rods can be a Spooky Ride
The Aeroflow Nitro Hot Rods are coming to Perth Motorplex for the first time with Spooky, Berzerk, Chucky’s Toy and Psycho set to entertain drag racing fans with wild 3000 horsepower nitro antics on Saturday, March 24.
Morice McMillin is the driver of Spooky, and the ex-pat New Zealander knows just how wild the Aeroflow Nitro Hot Rods can be.
“The chassis might look similar to a Funny Car at first glance but these cars are much shorter with a wheelbase of 114 inches (compared to 125 inches for a Funny Car),” he said.
“Nitro Hot Rods are wild and really on the edge of what a race car can do. We call them shopping trolleys on wheels.”
The powerplants of the Aeroflow Nitro Hot Rods are virtually identical to the Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Cars, using nitromethane fuel and supercharged V8 Hemis to accelerate to almost 400kmh in under six seconds.
“They make a little bit less power but because of the short wheelbase and lack of a body for downforce that means from a driving point of view she gets wild and she gets wild fast,” McMillin said.
And he should know. Racing at the World Fuel Altered Challenge in New Zealand, McMillin had one of the biggest ‘moments’ of his drag racing career when Spooky crashed into the guardrail at about 250kmh.
“The thing spun the tyres 100 metres from the start line and I tried to pedal it, but I drove it like a Funny Car and in hindsight you just can’t do that. So it was purely driver error, I just tried too hard with everything on the line. But it’s lucky we have a team owner like Graeme Cowin who has been there and understands mistakes happen.”
The Aeroflow Nitro Hot Rods have been clocking regular five second times at recent events. The quickest of the quartet is Chucky’s Toy, with a best time of 5.86. Spooky follows with a 5.96, while Berzerk has been 5.98. Psycho III is the crowd favourite for its nostalgic look and with a best of 6.00 the Aeroflow team would love to put that car into the ‘fives’ at Perth Motorplex as well.
“That is the big goal for our team, for that thing to run a five would be a real achievement because it was never designed as a race car, it was meant to be a show car,” McMillin said.
“But all the cars are really evenly matched. It’s a challenge to get them down the track but they will make for some great racing which is what we are all about.”
The Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Hot Rods will be joined by the penultimate round of the WA Drag Racing Championships, where over 150 race teams will be vying for valuable series points.
For more details on the event, stay tuned to www.motorplex.com.au and www.facebook.com/motorplex.
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