Heathcote Park Raceway again played host to the 2008 Summerslam which constituted round 1 of the 2008 Sports Compact Group Championship Series.  The McKern Racing team again made the 2100km venture south from its Gold Coast base to the rural Victorian strip, eager to defend their 2007 Street 289 championship title. Photo compliements of Circlework.com.au - Kyle Sharp

Also for the first time in many years, the PAC Performance team, lead by the "PAC daddy" Rocky Reheyam and brothers George and Rodney, entered a massive 9 cars at the event including 4 Pro Turbo cars and 1 Pro Compact car.

The McKern Racing team headed into round one with a fresh new setup however were not anticipating the results that followed.  In early qualifying, the Grump struggled with the heat and traction of the Heathcote surface, however was able to manage an 8.8 second pass at 153 mph with no 5th gear.  Due to the heat (and the massive burnout that the Grump is known for!), 5th did not select for the first two passes which resulted in the high times.  However after some time in the pits and some adjustment, Damien and the green machine were sent back out for their 3rd qualifier.

Lining up in the burnout pad, Damien had agreed to take it easy during the burnout however due to problems encountered with 5th gear, and by how the gearbox works, for some reason, the Grump couldn't even turn the tyres in the burnout.  The engine was making noise however, so crew chief Arron informed Damien of the dilemma.  But due to Damien's persistance, he lined up nonetheless and reeled off a pass which was the 4th quickest of the day and the 3rd fastest...an .  The pass, which stunned everyone, is now the 4th quickest for the Grump (0.03 of PB) and the fastest MPH ever by the Grump by 2mph!!

However the joy was quickly replaced with pain as the 4th qualifier in the gearbox and now clutch giving away before launch.  But with top qualifier and 20 points in the bag, the team were statisfied with the result so far.

First round approached and although the car had no drive, the team lined up anyway, hoping for a bye in the first round (being top qualifier), but with the 8 car field, they weren't so lucky.  So, putting on a race face, the team drove through the burnout water and staged hoping for a red light from their opponent, Gary Halpin.  But quick on the tree, the green 2JZ powered Datsun shot down the track and all hopes for a "lucky" first round win were gone...until Gary broke out!!!  Now Mr Halpin, not being a silly racer, knew that Damien had bought on the two step at the line and because he had the advantage of leaving first due to the smaller dial in, Gary knew that the green RX2 would be coming past at warp speed.  So using is DYO advantage, Gary stayed in it until he saw the Grump come by...but he didn't!!!  Sometimes you get lucky in drag racing and sometimes you don't!!!  This day, the McKern Racing team got lucky!

So, with 60 points as well for making the semi final, the team limped away from Heathcote with 80 points in the bag, which is a great start to the season.  The next round of the Sports Compact Group series will be held at Mini Jam, however due to comittments at the Powercruise 12 in Sydney on the same weekend, the McKern Racing team will not be attending the Mini Jam.  The next time the team will see the track will be at the Summernationals at WSID on the 15th and 16th of February 2008.  Come along and support the quickest accounting firm in Sports Compact, McKern and Associates Chartered Accountants Racing.