Cool thrill in 8-second blast of raw power | Manawatu-Wanganui Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Manawatu-Wanganui

 It was fast, fumy and  very noisy as competitors in the Kiwispan and Wanganui Road Rodders' 24th annual Street Drags pushed their cars to the limit for the eighth-of-a-mile.

A crowd of more than 2000 lined Taupo Quay yesterday to watch the fastest cars, hot rods, imports and motorbikes in the country go head-to-head on the closed street. And fast they were.

When this reporter nervously jumped into the supercharged Chev-powered 1968 GTS Monaro of one-time Ivan Jones Memorial Trophy winner Tristan Teki for a practice run, I was thrown back in my seat by the raw power.

It was the fastest, coolest eight seconds of my life, before I choked on fumes billowing inthe windows from the metres of tyre we left on the road behind us.

And he called it his "about-town car".

Having experienced a piece of drag racing for myself, it came as no surprise when I asked Mr Teki - or any other driver for that matter - why  he worked so hard, spent so many thousands of dollars and poured so much time into  his cars.

They do it for the love of the speed and the noise.

And so do the crowds, who turned out in bigger numbers than ever before.

Wanganui Road Rodders president Grant Rivers, who showed off his custom-built Chev-powered funny car, said this year's drags were the most hotly contested to date, with up to 25 cars capable of making the 6.5-second, eighth-of-a-mile limit.

Race fields were limited this year to pre-entry only, to speed the process up, he said.

In total, 70 cars, 10 motorcycles and five competition vehicles competed.

At the end of the day, the favourite of the local clubs, the Ivan Jones Memorial Trophy, went to Daniel Southall.

Fastest Ford went to Ray Patel with 1.708 seconds, Fastest Chev went to Dean Cadman with 6.502 seconds and Fastest Bike went to Karl Brown with 7.350 seconds.

Fastest Lady was Mere Kawau with 7.606 seconds, Fastest Import was Gareth Lewis with 7.337 and the  popular V8 vs Import Challenge went to Daniel Southall with 7.523.