Tony Wilson and his “mates” did their research, scoured the country and choose Brainerd to introduce Powercruise to America.
Area residents can expect many flashy, fast and strange cars to also stop this weekend in Brainerd as the two Australians are bringing Powercruise or as they describe it the “Wildest cruising car show” to Brainerd International Raceway in hopes to springboard the event’s popularity in the United States.
The group of Aussies love cars and enjoy interacting with other car enthusiasts. That’s how Powercruise came about seven years ago in Australia. They also found Brainerd International Raceway, with its drag strip and road course, to be the perfect place to introduce their show to America.
The two are hoping the combination of the right size venue with the right population will equal the right kind of results for this event.
“There are a lot of people who spend hours on their cars, but don’t have a place to drive it,” said Wilson. “We give them the place to put their cars to the limits that they otherwise couldn’t do without having the cops get involved. We have a great safety record and this is a family oriented event.
“Whether you want to drive your car or just be a spectator, there are many things to do on and off the track that are tailored toward families.”
Powercruise began with a humble following seven years ago. Now the event turns cars away after it reaches its 14,000-car limit. The shows, which have previously only been in Australia and New Zealand, average about 25,000 spectators. Wilson isn’t expecting those same numbers this weekend, but he does hope BIR is a good place to launch this event.
“We have a three-year contract with the track and the owner are very forward looking people so we’re hoping to be here for the next 10 to 15 years,” Wilson said. “We did our research and decided this was the perfect-size place to begin in the states. We’re going to have another show next year in New York (Watkins Glen), but we chose Brainerd as the place to start.”
The event allows for all car lovers from domestic classics to stylish imports to interact and simply talk cars, watch cars and live cars for three full days.
Gates at BIR will open at 5 p.m. Thursday and will stay open until Sunday. Spectator only tickets are $25 on Friday and Sunday, $35 on Saturday or $60 for all three days.
Camping will be allowed for $30 all three nights and for those with a car they want to show off its $190 entry fee at the gate.
“One of the stranger entries we’ve seen in the seven years we’ve been doing this is a boat car,” said Wilson. “We got a guy coming from Duluth who turned his boat into a car. There is always a lot of novelty cars around, but that was one of the stranger ones I’ve heard of.”
Spectators and entrants can take part in passenger rides in 1,000 horsepower Aussie cars, Aussie style burnout competitions, drifting hour of power, dyno competition, show and shine, stage shows, stunt shows, powerskids, drifting and off-street racing.
There will also be an inaugural Miss Powercruise show, which Wilson said will be family oriented as are all the events that will take place over the three-day event.
The one other difference between this show and others is spectators can actually ride in the cars during the events.
“This is open to all makes, models and modifications from supercharged to stock,” said Wilson. “There will be classic muscle cars and imports there. This is the one show where you cannot only show off that car you’ve been working on for all those years, but also drive it around BIR with your friends.”
Wilson said a world record could be broken this weekend as well.
“We’ve brought two cars over from Australia,” said Wilson. “Gup (Michael Gilbert) he’s the owner of Powercruise brought over his 1,890 HP Green Holden that has the world record for the longest powerskid. The track at BIR is longer than any other track we’ve been at so we’re thinking the record might fall this weekend.”
JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5856.
