Drew's first port of call wasn't the Motorplex but the Westdale Rock Sand Drags where he raced a machine almost as crazy, a turbocharged Harley Davidson V-Rod with motocross-style tyres and 160 horsepower at the rear wheel.

"It's not quite as exciting as a nitro bike but we tested it before the turbo and it was still fishtailing the whole way up the track," he said.

Sand drags takes place on a shorter track and is as much about staying on your motorcycle as it is about a fast time.

"We wanted to put a paddle tyre on it (for better traction) but it didn't clear the swing arm by only a few millimetres," Drew said. "We've got some higher handlebars on it so you're not quite leaning forward as much as well."

Drew's season in the Top Bike category hasn't been kind to him so far with various problems at the first round in Sydney.

"It smoked the tyre on the first run and the second run had a fuel leak," he said. "For the third run we had backed off the clutch but it still smoked the tyre. We've since found a configuration issue with the data logger and adjusted the clutch more so it is running well."

Despite being one of the quickest motorcycles in the country after a 6.66sec. run in May, Drew says he is still very much on the learning curve with the savageness of nitro.

"They're very temperamental these things," he said. "And the further they get down the track the harder they pull. It tries to pull your arms off."

Nitro Harleys are among the world's most scary racing vehicles. They carry the front wheel until almost the end of the track at speeds approaching 350kmh. As the rear tyre expands in size the front wheel can be up to two feet in the air.

"When it (the front wheel) comes down the frame tends to buck and it can scrape on the track," Drew said. "You just have to hold on and then try and get on the brakes at the end."

Drew plans to race at the opening event at the Motorplex as he targets the Australian championship round coming up in Perth on November 30 and December 1.