For the past 26 years Hards, 44, has let it rip on the quarter mile and one-eighth mile strip.

The partnership between car and driver attracted him to the sport when he was a fresh-faced 18-year-old.

"I remember my first meeting on the eighth-of-a-mile drag strip in Ballarat.

''It's been with me virtually all my life," Hards said.

"It's to get young lads off the streets.

"But unfortunately there is a stigma that goes with drag racing."

Despite reaching breakneck speeds in just a few seconds, Hards said not all dragsters were "street hoons".

He said it was a sport that needed skill and reflexes.

"When you say your hobby, your interest is drag racing, people immediately think of young blokes mucking about in the street.

"We all seem to get tarred with the same brush. But when you describe it to them of it being more about knowing your car and reaction, they think again."

Hards will race his newly built 1965 Chevrolet Impala at the Warrnambool and District Drag Racing Association's (WDDRA) meeting at Mailors Flat airport tomorrow .

He has raced the 565-cubic-inch big-block Chevrolet and 950 horsepower engine about 12 times. The best times he has recorded are 5.8 seconds for the eighth-of-a-mile and 9.22 seconds for the quarter mile.

While he loves tuning his engine for the dragsters, Hards distanced himself from burnout competitions.

He described burning the rubber as an abuse.

"That's just my personal opinion. To me it is abusing your car and not appreciating your car.

"(In burnouts) you put a lot of stress on your engine and your driveline and if you blow your tyre you damage your body work.

''But a lot of people are interested in it and that's fine."

Hards put his money where his mouth is, signing with WDDRA as a major sponsor for tomorrow's race meeting. "I don't know why I got into drag racing.

''I was a mechanic by trade and it was just something which was always an interest," he said.

"But for the past 21 years I've been self-employed running an earthmoving business. Hopefully we get a good crowd tomorrow."

The event has attracted more than 50 cars and 20 motorcycles.

Between 700 and 800 people are expected to converge at the airport to see the action.

The competition will include a $1000-to-win burnout contest.

A new feature this year will be a Harley Davidson class.

The bikes will be displayed at Warrnambool's Civic Green from 9am today.