Bob Wilson is a Canadian drag racer who knows more about Australian racing than many Australians. Through a subscription to DRAGSTER and regular Internet access he keeps a finger on the pulse just as strongly as he watches over the American and Canadian drag racing scenes.

And he was recently here to take in events from Adelaide to Willowbank and the Premier State Nationals, during which he dropped into DRAGSTER's office.

Wilson started racing a 383 '69 Dodge in 1974 that was utlimately powered by a 426 hemi, at which point it became totally unstreetable. In '83 Wilson bought his current race car, a rear engine dragster that was stretched to 270 in. by Brad Hadman in '93. "When I bought the car for $13,000, I thought it would be cheaper to run than Super Stock but boy was I wrong! It's a real low budget deal with an iron block 392 complete with iron heads and a 10-71 blower and a 3-spd. Lenco."

"The best the car ran was with a 6-71 blower, Vertex magneto and two-speed Lenco. Now it's reached the stage where it costs as much to run as a current Top Alcohol Dragster so I've had to make the hard decision to race or not. Basically it's a case of step up or step out."

Wilson landed in Sydney and flew straight to Brisbane. He was visiting Roly Leahy when Ken Lowe arrived. "Ken invited me to his workshop and I got him in the poo with his wife as it was their anniversary and they were supposed to be going out to dinner. We were talking about the similarities between North America and Australia, what he's doing, what I'd been doing and what I plan for the future. I was amazed with the quality of resources and facilities he has; his set-up is far in advance of what I've seen in the USA."

Next stop was Willowbank where John Winterburn gave him a guided tour. "There was nothing in it for him but he went out of his way. I was so impressed with Willowbank. It's well organised, the facilities are far better than any NHRA track I've been to. Two of the advantages at Willowbank are the power in the pits and fully paved pit areas, things you very rarely see at any North American track. The staging lanes and the landscaping also made Willowbank stand out."

The bracket that stood out in Wilson's mind from Willowbank was Top Comp. "I really love it. It's like a budget Top Alcohol. The diversity really works and it's a great stepping stone between Competition or Modified and Top Alcohol."

From Willowbank, Wilson drove to Adelaide and dropped into the ANDRA office for a chat with both Tony Thornton and Peter Williams. "I'd like to race here in the 98-99 season and I wanted to check out the rules interpretations. What I want to do is run my car to ANDRA rules at home before freighting it out. The impression I get is that nothing is as concrete with ANDRA as with NHRA as far as schedules and rules are concerned."

Wilson's next stop was North Terrace Tyres to check out the tyre situation. "I was surprised at how similar the prices are to Canada. We have heavy import duties that push the price up. I was concerned that I might have trouble getting fresh slicks down here but the availability is as good as we have at home."

Wilson had a sticky-beak at Adelaide Raceway before heading back to the track for a meeting on the Saturday. "I'm a dragster guy and I introduced myself to Scott Ferguson. I've watched his achievements from afar and he definitely impresses me. The sport needs more racers like him, he and his whole crew are genuinely nice people and they all have so much potential."

"One thing I have noticed is that many people don't seem to have the budget to keep throwing new bits at their cars and they really stretch the life span of the parts," he added.

And which cars really impressed him at Adelaide? "Scott Ferguson's dragster, plus Anguel Athanasov's Commodore and Lui Raschella's Impala, they were the three that stood out."

Watching Adelaide disappear in the rear view mirror, Wilson drove to Sydney via Broken Hill, arriving in the middle of peak hour and discovering our beloved Parramatta Road, which he described as, "Unbelievably rough!"

Straight away he set off in search of Sainty Speed Works. "When I drove into Hill Street, I was starting to think I was in the wrong street," laughed Wilson. "It was pure suburbia with a workshop tucked in between all the houses. Once I got inside I was amazed at the level of equipment and the products; especially the Sainty Billet Three Valve engine.

That engine is mechanically correct, there are no flaws anywhere and with a good tuner: wow! The Sainty engine works out cheaper than a KB and I spent a lot of time talking to Stan about using one in my dragster, on alcohol. The potential of running that engine in Canada is exciting but bringing it out here and running it in Australia is even more exciting."

"Whichever way I go engine-wise I'll be running to ANDRA specs in preparation for coming to Australia to race in the 98-99 season. I've discussed the plan with my crew chief Tom Mohan and we're looking at truck and trailer options now."

When we talked with Wilson he was heading to Eastern Creek for the Premier State Nationals before driving to Melbourne for the nitro Funny Car meet at Calder on October 25 prior to, "the most depressing part of the trip - flying home at 8.30 am Sunday. The people have been really friendly everywhere I've been and I can't wait to get back out here to race."

He may have gone home but we don't think we've heard the last of Bob Wilson.