COMET'S TALE

CAN DRAG CHALLENGE REGULAR JOHN KERR AND HIS ’64 MERCURY COMET CRACK THE 10.5S IN HIS FIRST DRAG CHALLENGE WEEKEND?

- CARLY DALE

RESPECTED racer John Kerr has successfully finished every five-day Street Machine Drag Challenge event so far in his tough, home-built, 364ci-powered ’64 Mercury Comet Caliente. The Comet’s straightforward aspirated set-up is proof that you can score several Drag Challenge Dial Your Own Top 10 finishes and an ANDRA gold Christmas tree while sticking to a tight budget.

And it’s quick. Last year John easily ripped a 10.6-second pass on Day One of DC – a surprise for the drag racing veteran. “On my first run at Calder, a crosswind hit me before the finish line, so I backed off and then got back on it. I was a bit upset at myself, thinking that I stuffed up the run,” John says. “I got the timeslip and had run a 10.61@126mph – the quickest it’s ever been!”

Going into DC 2019, John’s plan to fix a windscreen and hood lining snowballed into a bare-metal rotisserie job, and while he was at it, he added a roll cage and a new fibreglass bonnet that allows for a three-inch carby spacer with a larger air cleaner. Next, he did a little maintenance to the 346ci-stroked Dart block. It copped new rings, bearings, valve springs, lifters and a fresh oil pump. “I gave it a hone too; the bores were shinier than my paint!” John laughs. “The lifters had done 50,000 miles, but nothing was badly worn and the valves were still good.”