Since Shane 'Barney' Barnard was just a small lad he has been heading out to the drags with his step-father, Shane Bowden, who was a drag racer, as was his older brother Luke. So it was no shock that Barney found himself behind the wheel. 

With an eye catching spring frost, 1971 Ford Falcon, housing a 427 cubic inch Windsor dart block with CHI Cleveland heads that turn out a not-to-shabby 937hp at the tyres, Barney's best run so far has been an 8.90  @ 152mph!

'THE MACHINE'. originally belonging to his older brother Luke, who tragically passed away in 2014, continues to compete on the circuit with Barney in the cockpit, attending Powerplay, All Aussie Rivals day,  2 days of Thunder and of course, PowerCruise, his favourite event having attended every one of them with his brother Luke, up until his passing.

Barney will be at Warwick's Dragfest held in October, sharing his love of racing with his sons, Cruze, 10 and Cash, 3. He has fond memories at Warwick Dragway and it will always be a place close to his heart. 

“They treat you like family at Warwick. I've raced at Dragfest before and loved it. I loved the Chicago shootout style racing and it's just a great weekend all-round. There's a band and BBQ or pizza every Saturday night, the atmosphere is electric! I can’t wait to go back.”

Along with his right hands, Andy ‘Assassin’ McSmith, his younger brother Aza, Geoff Trapnell (tuner/engine builder) Nathan Owens Place & his sponsors PowerCruise, P&D Graders, Lifestyle Carpets, OnGrade Excavations, Trapnell Race Engines, Big Red Automotive, Always Livin‘ & Protrac Suspension, Barney has all the help he needs to run a great weekend. But there's a lot of time for fun.

“There’s not much we have to do to the car as it’s pretty consistent.”

“I would like to get the car into the 7’s one day, but I’m just happy driving it and being in there with Luke as much as possible.“

With a packed calendar of events and a tank of gas (and nitrous!), Barney has little to do except appreciate what he's got, make memories and keep smokin' tyres.