{"id":405661,"date":"2026-01-11T06:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T06:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/405661\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T06:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T06:18:12","slug":"australias-biggest-car-festival-wraps-up-in-canberra-with-record-cars-revheads-and-a-police-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/405661\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia’s biggest car festival wraps up in Canberra with record cars, revheads and a police probe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia’s largest car festival has roared to a close in Canberra, ending its 38th year with celebrations and a brawl that police had to contain.<\/p>\n

The four-day event drew about 130,000 people and a record 3,000 entrants to its show car and stunt demonstrations amid challenging heat and windy conditions.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Adam Bickerstaff was named Summernats Grand Champion after he raced his 1956 Ford F-100. (ABC News: Callum Flinn)<\/p>\n

Adam Bickerstaff was named Summernats Grand Champion for racing his 1956 Ford F-100, while Chris Orchard won the Pro Burnout Series, taking home $50,000.<\/p>\n

Mr Bickerstaff described his Grand Champion win as “unbelievable” and “surreal”.<\/p>\n

“I cannot believe that we’ve come this far. We’ve made it. To win the sword is just next level. We never thought it’d happen,” he said.\"Chris<\/p>\n

Chris Orchard won the Pro Burnout Series, taking home $50,000. (ABC News: Callum Flinn)<\/p>\n

Police contain brawl<\/p>\n

A fight in the Burnout Stand on Saturday sparked a police response at Summernats, raising ongoing concerns about antisocial behaviour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ACT Policing said an investigation was underway after officers attended the incident to support security guards.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Police warned attendees to expect an increased police presence at venues and on roads. (ABC News: Callum Flinn)<\/p>\n

Summernats managing director Andy Lopez said the altercation had begun as a disagreement between spectators.<\/p>\n

“It was contained reasonably quickly,” Mr Lopez said.<\/p>\n

“As per our protocols, there was a security and police response to diffuse the incident and a number of patrons were ejected.”<\/p>\n

Police had warned attendees ahead of the event to expect an increased police presence at venues and on roads. By the first day, police had already seized four cars<\/a> for alleged illegal driving.<\/p>\n

Expansion across the ditch<\/p>\n

Organisers declared the festival a success despite extreme weather, with temperatures in Canberra at times soaring above 35 degrees throughout the four days.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Andy Lopez says Summernats will debut in Hamilton, New Zealand in 2027. (ABC News: Adam Kennedy)<\/p>\n

Saturday night’s fireworks display was cancelled due to the ACT’s total fire ban<\/a>, the territory’s first in six years.<\/p>\n

“We made a lot of changes on the fly to deal with the weather that was coming,” Mr Lopez said.<\/p>\n

Despite the challenging conditions, Mr Lopez used the festival’s final days to announce plans to expand Summernats to New Zealand, with its first event scheduled for 2027.<\/p>\n

“We have announced Summernats’s second international event. So we’re in the USA in March, and we’re going to be in Hamilton at Mystery Creek,” Mr Lopez said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a 10-year dream that’s coming true and we’re really excited.”<\/p>\n

Mullet champion named<\/p>\n

Wild weather forced Saturday’s MulletFest heat indoors, where children and adults competed for the best mullet and a place in the national grand final in Kurri Kurri, NSW, in December.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Migelly Shaw (right) won the Grand Champion title in Summernats’s MulletFest. (ABC News: Callum Flinn)<\/p>\n

Adult Grand Champion Migelly Shaw said the competition was “always a lot of fun” and “a real great show”.<\/p>\n

Mr Shaw grew out his previously clean-shaven look three years ago, getting a mullet for his younger brother’s wedding, and has not shaved it off since.<\/p>\n

“I let it be its thing. I did get a perm recently. So it’s a bit wavy, cut some length off it, and now I just rock it.”‘Somewhere to express our hobby’Adam Povey from Cooma entered his Peel P-50, a three-wheeled micro-car recognised as one of the world’s smallest production cars.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Adam Povey has attended Summernats for 28 years. (ABC News: James Vyver)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“I was actually very nervous about bringing it. I bought it for the first time last year. It’s been loved,” Mr Povey said.<\/p>\n

“The P-50 is very different to all the cars that you see here. It’s unique, it’s cool. Grown men love it, grown women love it and the kids absolutely adore it.”<\/p>\n

The car enthusiast, who has attended Summernats for 28 years, said he kept returning for the atmosphere and to catch up with friends.<\/p>\n

“It’s somewhere for us to express our hobby and share it with everyone.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia’s largest car festival has roared to a close in Canberra, ending its 38th year with celebrations and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2666,42182,215080,215084,212501,64,63,2667,215079,215083,212502,44,215085,212498,215081,215082],"class_list":{"0":"post-405661","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-act","9":"tag-act-policing","10":"tag-adam-bickerstaff","11":"tag-adam-povey","12":"tag-andy-lopez","13":"tag-au","14":"tag-australia","15":"tag-canberra","16":"tag-chris-orchard","17":"tag-migelly-shaw","18":"tag-mulletfest","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-peel-p-50","21":"tag-summernats","22":"tag-summernats-grand-champion","23":"tag-summernats-pro-burnout-series"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}