Darren was introduced to drag racing when a mate from work invited him along to the '96 Nationals at Calder. After a few more trips to the drags he plucked up the courage to give it a go himself in his then street registered 1992 VP SS Commodore. At the first meeting Darren had to borrow a helmet from a friend, and at the end of the night he had netted a 15.1 sec ET and a burnt clutch. Not bad for the first time out and in a 100% stock 5lt Commodore. With the addition of a twin 2.25" HM exhaust, the ET dropped to 14.85 secs and he was then well and truly hooked on drag racing.

The need for speed and bitten and no sooner had Darren started sourcing parts, plans were under way for a new engine. A 326ci bottom end was put together and mated with a pair of COME modified cast-iron heads and a 'largish' COME hydraulic cam. With the Holden EFI manifold, Darren set a new personal best of 12.92 secs.

Darren continued to race at Calder street meets and one night missed 3rd gear on all but one pass, getting it stuck on the gate between 1st and 3rd. The next morning the box was out and the hunt for an auto was on. Once an auto was sourced and fitted, the engine was fine tuned with the computer program on COME's chassis dyno and next time out the VP SS Commodore was in 12.7 sec range.

After running at many street meets, Darren decided it was time to step up for the 2000-2001 ANDRA season. A new top end with a Harrop manifold and 1000cfm Holley T/B was added to the combo. Coupled with head modifications and a new set of headers saw ET's drop into 11.9 sec range. Darren made a trip to Adelaide and all the national open meetings at Calder, reaching the ¼ finals at a couple of meetings and go a few rounds at others. At the 2001 Nationals, a fuel surge problem put Darren out, trying to run the least amount of fuel in the big 85lt Holden tank. Winter '01 upgrades involved a boot mounted 19lt fuel cell with a Bosch Motorsport pump and filter. Another revision to the tune up saw the car pick up to 11.72 secs on a slippery Calder street meet track.

After a Victorian Drag Racers Club day at Calder in January '02, one of the little butterfly retaining screws in the 4-barrel throttle body decided it wanted to jump out and cause some damage to the motor. When the motor was pulled down it revealed no real carnage. A damaged piston with a bolt imprinted into the surface and a squashed head on the screw. Luckily the cylinder head or bore were in good shape.

So the old 326ci motor was retired to the garage floor and is sitting there awaiting call up if it is ever required. Rather than bolt it back together with a new piston it was seen as an opportunity to step up even further and a new engine was sort. Darren got in touch with Sam Blumenstien from COME racing. He offered to build the new bullet and took care of the motor while Darren went about making the rest of the car safe and ANDRA legal for 10.99 and faster. Modifications this year included the addition of mini tubs, an 8 point roll cage, new engine, rebuilt and strengthened trans, modified rear end, bigger tyres on new Cragar wheels, new maxi-spool in the diff and a hidden wiring loom in the engine bay. Infact, it only took 3 weeks of many late nights and weekend work to put the car back together from a rolling shell and unpainted roll cage.

The goal was to have the engine ready for the Holden V's Ford show at the Melbourne exhibition centre in April '02. The engine was fired in the car on the Tuesday night before the show. So far the car has run 11.006@125.4mph. The potential is there for a 10.6 - 10.7 pass once Darren can get some good start line traction. The 1/8th mile time on the 11.006 pass was 7.02 secs with a 60' time of 1.519 secs.

Darren's short term goals are to run a 10 sec pass with the full steel body, standard suspension and rear end with the hydraulic cam before stepping it up to include a solid roller cam and refit a fiberglass bonnet he has at home.

With a 10 sec pass, Darren will make the move from Super Street to Super Sedan, running mid to low 10's, and then eventually look at tearing the rear end out of the car for a 4-link, tubs and live axle setup to make another move into Super Stock.

Darren would like to thank all his sponsors for their support and assistance;

• Sam and Issy at COME Racing Melbourne 03 9571 4204
• Richard, Phillip and Andrew from Davies, Craig. Melbourne 03 9646 3051
• Colin Johns at Tradematics. Geelong 03 5248 7907
• Matt Turnbull www.injectedholdens.com 0418 313 784
• High Energy Oil Pans. Melbourne 03 9794 9044
• ARRK Silhouette (Australia) Pty. Ltd. Ph: 03 9819 4422 (Stereolithography Rapid Prototyping) www.arrk.com.au
• Philip Sodestrom, PTC (Performance Transmission Components), TCE (Torque Converter Engineering) 03 9879 7970
• Supa Trick Diffs. Dandenong. 03 9793 1915
• HPC Leongatha Victoria. 03 5662 4719
• Pacemaker Headers
• Rainbird Motorsports Solid Aluminium engine mounts.

RACE NUMBER	2362
COMPETITION CLASS	Super Street (S/ST), Super Sedan (SS/A)
BEST PERFORMANCE	11.006@125.4mph (Street Meet Calder 12-07-02)
VEHICLE	Holden Commodore VP SS / GMVPSS
ENGINE	383 ci Holden by COME Racing, COME alloy heads (VN style), Ultimate ports - 580+Hp potential, Ferrea stainless 2.05" intake and 1.60" exhaust valves, chrome moly retainers, 1.450" dual valve springs, 7/16" screw in studs, guide plates, 3 angle valve seats, chambers equalized, extruded alloy roller rockers 1.6:1, K1045 Duraflex steel 4-bolt main bearing caps, main stud kit and line honed. Block is bored and torque plate honed, decks machined square to tunnels, decks machined for and fitted 'O' ring grooves for Ridgecrest copper head gaskets. Oiling system is modified to promote increased oil pressure, block is clearance ground for our nodular billet 383ci crankshaft and 5.7" rod assembly. High Volume cast iron oil pump along with Rollmaster Competition series timing chain and gear set. Hardened pushrods and hydraulic roller CSBR-436 COME camshaft, COME 383 stroker crank, COME 'I' beam 5140 steel conrods with ARP 2000 series capscrew bolts, Keith Black pistons and moly rings. Assembly balanced with ROMAC steel harmonic balancer and driveplate. Internal balancing with mallory metal. COME dual 58mm throttle body and tunnel ram style intake manifold. Hi flow fuel injectors (24Lb).
POWER	492Hp (366Kw) @ 6000 rpm; 464Ft-Lbs (629NM) @ 5500 rpm
LUBRICATION	Hi-Energy Pro-Ultimate sump Shell Helix Plus oil
EXHAUST	Pacemaker 1.75" primaries, 3" collectors to twin 3" mandrel system
COMPUTER	Holden VS 32bit Delco tuned by COME Racing, wiring loom modifications by Matt Turnbull. www.injectedholdens.com
TRANSMISSION	Full manual Turbo 350 by Tradematics Geelong TCI and PTC Components, B&M ProStick, B&M Transmission Cooler
CONVERTER	TCE 5200rpm 8"
COOLING	Davies, Craig electric water pump and controller. 16" thermo fan and standard Holden radiator
DIFF	Holden I.R.S. 4.11:1 ROMAC maxi spool
CHASSIS	Holden VP SS with 8 point roll cage. Full steel with no lightening techniques used
SUSPENSION	Front - 90/10 wet struts with VL 6Cyl springs, rear - 30/70 custom shocks and hand made springs
BRAKES	Front - VT twin piston on Harrop hubs, rear - Std calipers with vented rotors and Ultimate pads,½" x 3" long wheel studs on 4.75" Chev PCD
WHEELS & TYRES	Front - 15x3.5" Cragar Drag Star II rims with 5.60 - 15 Nangkang conventionals, rear - 15x8" Cragar Drag Star II rims with Hoosier 29x9x15 slicks