Steve Hamm is no stranger to winning rounds. The guy has been a killer in the Australian alcohol funny car ranks and he scooped up a national championship down there in 2014. He’s now an Aussie Pro Slammer class competitor and last weekend at Willowbank he picked up his first round win in the class that most resembles what we call pro mods here in the USA. Hamm managed to get that round in on a run that could have been the most violent of his career, unless he has wrecked a funny car at huge speed. The biggest thing is that he didn’t actually hit anything and while he came close, he did not cross the center line.
Hamm was lined up opposite the 1937 Chevrolet of Pino Priolo and both guys had issues off the starting line. That’s when Ham started pedaling his car which went into a little wheelie and then basically launched itself off the ground coming down hard on the front corner and that’s when he got close to the center line. Priolo was sitting back watching the show and Hamm was apparently waiting for him to show up. Why? Our hero kept working the throttle and wheel to get the thing down the track and while his elapsed time was not impressive, his tenacity sure as hell was!
This is what makes eliminations day way more fun than qualifying. If this had been a qualifying pass, Hamm would have thrown in the tower early and coasted. Under these conditions, he was fighting for his life!
A win is a win !!!
That was at Sydney Dragway not Willowbank.