Monday 6th February (Waitangi Day) will see Fram Autolite Dragway come alive to the sound of Supercharged V8′s, turbocharged imports and door to door racing.

The first event of its kind, Drag Combat sees competing vehicles catagorised by tyre size rather than traditional race class. This will see Top Doorslammers head to head with Top Alcohop Funny Cars, sedans verus rails and turbos versus nitrous oxide.

Another New Zealand first is the Champion Oils wheelstand competition, which will see the wheels in the air for as long as possible as drivers push to win the $2000 cash prize.

Make sure you’re at Fram Autolite Dragway this Monday to catch the action.

The annual NAC Insurance Drag Combat event is on this coming Sunday at Fram Autolite Dragway in Meremere, and sounds like it will be an event not to be missed. Besides the feild of V8 and import drag and street cars going head to head, there’s the first ever local wheelstand competition also. Roumer has it both Dave (pictured) and brother Sam Levien are keen to give it a shot. We’re sure the sibling rivalry will see both cars aiming high. Make sure you’re there to check it out.

Subscribe or renew a subscription to NZV8 magazine this month and you’ll receive a free double pass to NAC Insurance Drag Combat valued at $40.

NAC Insurance Drag Combat is on Sunday December 4 at Fram Autolite Dragway in Meremere. New Zealand’s fastest import and V8 drag cars battle it down the quarter mile for supremacy, plus New Zealand’s first wheel stand competition.

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After extensive discussions, the organising team behind the upcoming NAC Drag Combat event to be held at Fram Autolite Dragway on December 4 are proud to announce the classes, which will add a new dimension to local drag racing.

With the theory being to break the field up into groups running on similar size and compound tyres, three distinct catagories will be run, each with their own size orientated sub-classes.

The classes include:

Street Tyres (All treaded wof standard tyres including circuit race style semi slicks)

• Tyres up to and including 235 width
• 245 – 295
• 305 plus

DOT Approved Slick (drag racing specific tyres such as Mickey Thompson ET Street and Hoosier Quick Time Pro)

• Up to and including 10.5-inch
• 11-inch – 14.5 inch
• 15-inch plus

Full Slick (Full slick drag racing tyres, including Goodyear Slicks etc)

• Up to and including 10.5-inch
• 11-inch – 14.5 inch
• 15-inch plus

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Last year’s inaugural Drag Combat event was a huge hit with racers and spectators alike, and this year’s NAC Insurance sponsored event it’s set to be even better!

Unlike last year where the racing was in bracket format, this years classes will be decided by vehicle tyre size, which will see imports verses V8’s, door cars versus rails, turbos versus nirous and plenty of heads up action.

As well as the racing, there will be the first ever wheelstand competition held in New Zealand. The Champion Oils Wheelstand Challenge will see the crowds on their feet and the cars pointing for the sky in a challenge to see who can go the highest for the longest. With $2000 cash up for grabs there’s already been plenty of interest and a bunch of drivers already having confirmed their entries. (more…)

New Zealand performance vehicle insurer NAC Insurance is showing its support for local motorsport through sponsorship and by giving its customers free tickets to two upcoming events in 2011.

NAC is sponsoring the 2011 NZPC vs. NZV8 Drag Combat event at Fram Autolite Dragway, Meremere on 4 December. There will be a new format for the 2011 event; by classifying vehicles by tyre size the racing will be more interesting and competitive. Fans of burnout competitions will be able to see plenty of smoke at Drag Combat, too.

NAC is offering all its policy holders a free double pass to the Drag Combat. North Island NAC customers will be mailed their free passes, while South Island customers who would like to attend the event are asked to contact NAC who will send a free double pass on request.

The other free event for NAC policy holders is the Drift Nationals for 2011 which will take place on Sunday October 2 at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato.

This event features the best of New Zealand drifting, plus Super Lap time trials and, new for 2011, Gymkhana. Gymkhana sees drivers battle a tight course on the purpose-built skid pad.

NAC is offering all its policy holders a free double pass to the Drift Nationals. 8,000 people attended last year’s event, so with the addition of the popular gymkhana discipline, it’s anticipated the crowds will be even larger.

As with Drag Combat, North Island policy holders will be mailed passes, while South Island customers are asked to contact NAC who will send a free double pass on request.

The combined value of the tickets to both events is $80.

“It’s a significant investment to make, but supporting this kind of motorsport is what NAC was built on. We want to help build the sport’s profile within New Zealand while rewarding our loyal customers,” said NAC Manager, Kate Smith.

While in the business of insuring high-performance road and race cars, NAC maintains a strong stance on safety. ”The road is not a race track, and we want our customers to be able to experience and enjoy high speed motorsport action on the race track where it belongs,” Kate Smith said

Click here to visit the NAC Insurance website.

On this week’s show we head out to the Thunder in the Park event at Pukekohe where we take a good look at some of the muscular metal taking part. We check out Colin Meadow’s C4 Corvette, Graham Barnes’ GT2 V8 Ford Capri and plenty of others. We go onboard in Kayne Scott’s V8 race car, which is now the fastest circuit racing saloon car in New Zealand, and have a scorching hot lap around Pukekohe. From circuit racing to the strip, where we go to Fram Autolite Dragway and catch the action from the NAC Drag Combat. We watch as the best cars from the V8 scene battle against the fastest imports. We take a special look at Wayne Yearbury’s awesome 6-second doorslammer (pictured).

It’s set to be an epic show and not to be missed so don’t forget to tune in this Sunday.

NZV8 TV is on at 2:30 pm, this Sunday on TV1.

Click here to view profiles of this season’s presenters.

If you missed the first six episodes of this season’s NZV8 TV, no worries, click here to view them online.

To view Episode 7, click on the video boxes below.

Part 1.

Part 2.

Sunday was a huge day at Fram Autolite Dragway! NZPC vs NZV8 Drag Combat was everything we could have hoped for (apart from a few cars breaking down causing delays), with heaps of street and drag cars smashing out runs on the strip, sweltering heat and a massive crowd. The V8s pushed hard and showed the import fans that their really is ‘no replacement for displacement’.

Look out for full coverage of this event in the next issue of NZV8, but for now, check out the gallery below. (more…)

The very first Drag Combat event is on this Sunday (Dec 5) and will see NZV8 go head to head with NZ Performance Car in what’s set to be an epic battle of eight-cylinder versus import. It’s a true grudge match and there can be only one winner on the day. Us V8 fans need all hands on deck so why not join the battle, assemble your crew and take your car to the strip to help defeat these import drivers and their toy cars. Anyone can take part and vehicles of all abilities are welcome. If drag racing isn’t your thing, there’s also a hardcore burnout comp for those who absolutely hate rear tyres. If you’re ride is too precious or you’re just scared, that’s cool, come along anyway, there will be plenty of racing to watch throughout the day.

The racing is simple and Drag Combat will enable drag racers to compete at their E.T brackets. The Drag combat E.T Bracket classes are 7sec, 8sec, 9sec, 10sec, 11sec, 12sec and 13seconds.

To compete all you need to do is bring your car to the event, have 2-3 qualifying runs and from the best E.T that you have managed to run, you will then be placed in that Drag Combat E.T Class. From there you simply are running heads up with whoever rolls up next to you. The track will be fully prepared as well.

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The very first Drag Combat event is on next month (Dec 5) and will see NZV8 go head to head with NZ Performance Car in what’s set to be an epic battle of eight-cylinder versus import. It’s a true grudge match and although it isn’t going down for another few weeks those import lovers are already talking like they’ve won it! We can’t let this happen so why not join the battle, assemble your crew and take your car to the strip to help defeat these performance car fans and their toy cars. Anyone can take part and vehicles of all abilities are welcome. If drag racing isn’t your thing, there’s also a hardcore burnout comp for those who absolutely hate rear tyres.

The racing is simple and Drag Combat will enable drag racers to compete at their E.T brackets. The Drag combat E.T Bracket classes are 7sec, 8sec, 9sec, 10sec, 11sec, 12sec and 13seconds.

All you need to do is bring your car to the event, have 2-3 qualifying runs and from the best E.T that you have managed to run, you will then be placed in that Drag Combat E.T Class. From there you simply are running heads up with whoever rolls up next to you. The track will be fully prepared as well.

Some of the serious firepower taking part on the day includes doorslammers driven by: Mike Witteveen, Wayne Hussey, Wayne Yearbury, Mark Bardsley, Graeme Bates and Reece Fish

So what do I need to kick some import ass?

Just the usual stuff required for any drag racing event, refer to the handy bullet points below:

• Street cars on require current wof and rego to race
• You require a current valid driver’s license, or if not you must have an NZDRA license, and you must produce this.
• All vehicles will undergo a basic safety check
• Approved crash helmet required.
• Roll cages/half cages must be homologated by NZDRA cages or LTSA

How much is it going to cost?

Spectators $20
Drag Racing $50
Burnouts $50
Children under 12 free when accompanied by an adult.

I’m in! So when and where do I join the fight against the imports?

Where: It’s on at Fram Autolite Dragway, Meremere, Mercer
When: Sunday 5th December 2010
Time: Competitors 7am, General public 9am, Gates close 5pm

To find out more about entering Drag Combat and being part of this drag racing spectacle, click here.