Clive Polidano looks pretty pumped about preparations for this month’s Street Machine Drag Challenge.
Photo by
JORDAN TOWNROW
There aren’t many cars which look quite as at home on the streets of Echuca as Clive Polidano’s blue HZ Holden.
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With a 6/71 blower poking through the bonnet and the sort of old-school stance which turns heads wherever it goes, the 1977 sedan is hard to miss.
But for Clive, the HZ has become much more than a local cruiser.
It’s the car which has taken him all over the country for Drag Challenge since 2017, clocking up hundreds of passes, plenty of highway kilometres and even a top-10 finish in Dial Your Own along the way.
Now he’s bringing it back for another crack – only this time, he’s upping his game.
After years of chasing a number in Dial Your Own, Clive will line up in the 10.50 class and see how the old-school Holden goes against the clock.
“I just loved the vibe around Drag Challenge, the people around it,” Clive says.
“It was just an incredible event. Just loved it from the first day we did it.”
Clive has been around cars since he was 16, starting out as a mechanic before working in dealerships and eventually running his own business.
These days, since selling that, he devotes his time to restoring cars and heading to the drag strip whenever he gets the chance.
He started racing at Heathcote Park, his home track, before Drag Challenge came along and gave him a reason to take his HZ show on the road.
The car itself is unmistakably old school, with a blown small-block Chev, 6/71 blower, Turbo 400 and nine-inch rear end, along with a full retro GTS interior.
And despite the punishment it’s copped over the years, Clive reckons the HZ has been remarkably reliable.
“We haven't touched the diff or trans in it the whole time we've done it,” he says.
“The car's probably done 700 or 800 passes. It's all hanging in there still.”
That reliability has allowed Clive to concentrate on the part of Drag Challenge he enjoys most – having a crack and a laugh along the way.
He’s had some strong results in Dial Your Own during the years, including a top-10 finish, but says the outright win has always remained unfinished business.
“I would have really liked to give it a fair old nudge to turn around and win it one year,” he says.
This year, though, he’s decided to try something different.
Rather than chasing a Dial Your Own number, Clive will aim to run consistent 10.50-second passes and see where the HZ lands in the class.
The catch is that he hasn’t done much racing recently.
“I probably haven't had a race for nearly two years,” he says.
The HZ has only been out a handful of times since its last Drag Challenge, with Clive’s time increasingly taken up by work, family and life away from the track.
There’s also plenty happening at home in Echuca, with Clive juggling house renovations and other commitments before heading off for Drag Challenge.
So this year is as much about getting back into the swing of things as it is chasing a result.
“I should be able to drive it pretty well,” Clive says. “I think I could drive it pretty consistently and go close to my number.”
And after so many years of Drag Challenge, Clive knows that simply getting to the finish is an achievement.
Clive Polidano burns some serious rubber as his blue machine lets rip on the track.
The event throws everything at the cars and crews, from heat and long highway drives to repeated passes and the constant need to keep an eye on things before doing it all again the next day.
“You learn a lot about your car,” Clive says.
“You learn just where your car's at. If it's not put together properly you're going to have problems.”
Clive has brought it back year after year, proving the old-school combination can handle the punishment.
But for him, Drag Challenge has never just been about the numbers.
It’s the camaraderie which also keeps Clive going back every year.
“You meet out there and you make friends,” he says.
“Some of those friends last and last and stay connected, some are just momentarily I suppose. But yeah, it's just such a good bunch of guys there.
“Come and breathe in the tyre smoke, the fuel fumes, the adrenaline, just watching it all happen,” he says.
For a car which has already survived hundreds of passes, another five days should be right up its alley.
Street Machine Drag Challenge, presented by VPW, runs from Tuesday 27 October to Saturday 31 October 2026, starting and finishing at Victorian Motorsports Park.
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