Street Machine: Stan Sainty Australian Top Fuel Legend

With the passing of Stan Sainty, Australian drag racing has lost a creative giant.

MAKING a new race car run the way you want is never easy, and new engines and experimentation only add to the complexity.

Add to that the traumatic sudden loss of your race team’s inspirational leader, and the hurdles seem even higher. So it came as little surprise that the debut of the Sainty team’s new Top Fuel car at Sydney Dragway in early November was fraught with difficulties, with the crew still deeply emotional from their chief’s funeral the previous day.

In life, Stan Sainty seemed unconquerable. He was big and strong, with the hands of a man who made his living by hard work. He was quiet, generous, uncomplicated; a humble figure who was just doing what he loved. Over the years he had pushed, cajoled, dragged, finessed and bullied his Top Fuel race engine from a seemingly crazy concept – that you could design and build a world-beating mill from scratch in a suburban workshop – to a reality that, in the eyes of the NHRA’s technical team, needed to be banned almost as soon as it showed promise. This thing looked too good to be out of the control of their best race teams. 

Read the full feature article commemorating Stan's life and achievements at Street Machine Magazine: FEATURE Stan Sainty Australian Top Fuel Legend