CALENDAR

Long-time Sydney racer Nasser Matta and his family have taken the leap into blown doorslammer racing with their sleek 37 Chev. After a stint in Top Doorslammer, the A-Civil team has made the strategic switch, transitioning to PDRC Pro Mod where the team will continue to hone their skills and develop performance.

For years Matta was well known in the Pro Street scene primarily with his MRCUBE Torana, the family-first team now have delved into championship drag racing on a professional level.

“My father (Nasser Matta) has been in the racing scene for over 25 years. He has owned multiple cars but is famously renowned for his White Ford Capri and his LH Torana ‘MRCUBE’, which he has now passed onto me, and we are currently racing it in the Top Sportsman bracket running consistent 7.8s,” said team spokesman George Matta.

“From this, Nasser had brought me and my brothers (Salim and Elias) up within the racing scene, and we have come to really love and enjoy the sport giving us the bug. Family is everything to us and we strive on the values we bring within our strong team.”

While rookies in the scene and admittedly still learning the craft, switching to PDRC Pro Mod better suited the team. 

“We are still learning a lot about running a car like the 37 Chev and the team is gelling together quite well,” said Matta. “Both classes are great, but a major factor of racing Pro Mod was the season calendar - it was much easier and convenient for our team. But within Pro Mod we want to show these turbo cars how it’s really done!”

Nasser opened their NDRC/PDRC Pro Mod National Championship campaign with a B-Final result at round one of the series in Sydney. A harrowing -.001s red light from Nasser in the final may have been tough, but the team’s fortitude shone through to even make the B-Final.

“We were happy to be in our first B-final. We have been testing this new combo for only a short period of time and being new in the field, it has been challenging to say the least,” said Matta.

“The first pass was good for us. We had run a 5.96 at 234mph. We had beat Greg ‘Mauler’ Tsakiridis in the first round giving us the advantage coming into round two. It felt good to win against ‘Mauler’ within the first round of Pro Mod. We know he has a seriously fast car, and it is consistent, so to come out with little data and knowledge on our new combo and win that race, was an achievement for the driver and team. All respect to Greg on a good race.

“Round two was against Danny Makdessi and unfortunately Danny had thrown the blower belt off in the burnout, giving us the solo run in the 37 Chev. Unfortunately for us, we aborted the pass due to the car getting out of shape. When we had arrived back at the pits and conducting our normal procedures, we had noticed that the engine had broken a lifter, and we weren’t sure if we’d continue into the B-Final. Upon a team discussion, we rushed back to our shop where we weren’t sure if we had a spare and fortunately, we did, so we brought it to the track, tore down the engine, replaced it and was ready to go in the B-Final against Craig Burns with 20 minutes to spare.

“We felt a little nervous, seeming we had a slight damage to the engine the pass before but all in all, once Nasser was strapped in the car, the crew and driver were game face on and ready to go!  We weren’t sure how the car would run as the track and temperature shifted from the morning and we had only had one run of data for the day. We loaded up the same tune up from pass one with hopes the car would react and make for a smooth run. Unfortunately, Nasser had cut a -.001 red light and had lost the race from the start.

The team are pumped to be heading to Dragway At The Bend for the first time on February 8/9 for the next round of the championship and the further develop their race program.

“We are looking forward to racing at The Bend. This will be our first appearance here and we can’t wait to see what this track can provide, as we hear it is a cracking track. We hope to break a PB on the weekend and showcase our skill as a team to win not only the event, but the series,” said Matta.

“We are still obtaining data on this new combo and are learning more and more about this blown monster only being new within the field. We have not even hit the sides of the engine’s capabilities, so step by step we will eventually get to where we want to be at. As stated before, we are still getting our heads around the new combo and we want to ensure we are doing the right thing so nothing goes wrong as 5 short seconds could change your life forever.”

As for further into the future the team were coy on their plans.

“We will keep this secret for now, but we have a massive surprise coming this year that will rattle our opponents. Till then, see you at the finish line and ‘snap ya like a carrot’,” Matta boasted cryptically.

“Massive thanks to all the crew members of our team. They really put in the hours and hard work to get this car turned around and running every pass. Without them, it’s not possible. We can’t thank them enough. Melissa - Nassers wife - as she sticks by him through all the madness.

“A thank you to Shane Olive, for guiding not only the crew, but George, Salim and Elias Matta in learning and running such a serious car like this. His hard efforts and work never go unnoticed. We thank you ‘Sholive’.”

The team is proudly sponsored and supported by A-Civil Aust Pty Ltd, DrillTech Solutions Pty Ltd, Bespoke Financial Advisory, Al’s Race Glides and Get The Look Graphics and Signs.

The PDRC are not just bringing Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle to Dragway At The Bend but also see for the first time ever see Pro Alcohol, Pro Mod and Pro Import – Feb 8/9 2025.

General Admission tickets are available NOW at https://www.outix.co/tickets/event/summit2425-tcs4 – and remember KIDS UNDER 15 FREE!