Nandi "Mr Damage" Kiss will celebrate a milestone of 200 V8 Ute Races when he hits the track for Race 1 of Round 3 of the 2011 Auto One V8 Ute Racing Series - protected by Armor All, in his Eagle Pro backed Holden, Saturday, 18th June at Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin.
The New South Welshman started off racing Daewoo's and MG's however having worked, lived and breathed Utes for many years as a tow truck driver, thought racing Utes would be the next best thing.
"I drove tow trucks in my earlier life, so if I wasn't driving a Ute to a job, towing a Ute home or preparing it I was thinking about Utes. I've been around them forever. When the opportunity came up to buy into the Series I took it," explained Kiss.
Kiss first landed in the Series in 2003 when he purchased Jim Cornish's Ford to debut at Symmons Plains Raceway in Tasmania.
Not content in a Ford, the red lion genes took over and in 2005 he moved into a Holden, purchased from Peter Boylan.
Since then, this hard charging driver has hardly missed a round until he decided to try out a V8 Supercar in 2008.
"I had to put Simon Wills in the car in Darwin in '08 when I hurt my back, and I put Charlie Kovacs Jnr in the car for Winton that same year when I had a chance to drive a V8 Supercar, but other than that I've never missed an event and I'm proud of that," said Kiss.
Kiss is only the fifth driver in the 11 year series to celebrate this achievement. Other drivers include: Veteran Charlie Handlebars Kovacs (Oran Park 2008), Jack Elsegood (Bathurst 2010) Robert Jarvis (Gold Coast 2010) and Gary Baxter (Clipsal 2011).
Celebrating this milestone means a lot to Kiss, who can't get enough of the Series.
"You never stop learning every time you get back to a track and in the ute, I love being part of the series, which gets me a few days away from my busy work schedules."
Kiss enjoys the thrill of racing and is well into his ninth year of racing in the Series. He understands what's involved to keep the Ute running year after year.
"I must be doing something right when it comes to owning and operating and managing the finances. It's not easy as anyone in this sport would know."
Preparing for his big race on Saturday, 18th June Kiss will take to the track for two practice sessions on Friday, 17th.
See below the full schedule for Round 4, of the 2011 Auto One V8 Ute Racing Series - protected by Armor All at the, Sky City Triple Crown, Darwin 17 - 19 June.
Friday, 17th June 9:05am Practice 1Friday, 17th June 12:40pm Practice 2Saturday, 18th June 8:40am QualifyingSaturday, 18th June 10:35am Race 1Saturday, 18th June 2:45pm Race 2Sunday, 19th June 10:30am Race 3Sunday, 20th June 1:30pm Race 4
The 2011 Auto One V8 Ute Racing Series - protected by Armor All features 32 Ford and Holden production based V8 racing utes - covering 8 championship rounds, and 26 races through five states of Australia. The series is televised nationally on the SEVEN Network, through Fox Sports, TV3 New Zealand, Motors TV Europe and over 40 countries worldwide.
Make-A-Wish® Australia is the official charity of Australian V8 Ute Racing who will endeavour to assist the foundation with their mission, which is to "To grant the Wishes of Children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope strength and joy."
