Event | Chopped 2019: The Asphalt Era
Words & Photography Chris Cooper
Chopped needs no introduction. It has been a staple on the Australian event calendar since its humble beginnings at the Castlemaine football oval in 2008. My first experience, however, was in 2010, the first year at the hallowed Newstead racecourse and the first year of the now infamous Dirt Drags.
Aside from the very early Fuel Magazine launch parties at Rancho Deluxe in Collingwood during 2009, Chopped was a life-changing event for this once young whippersnapper. It wasn’t just the spectacle of the unhinged goat track dirt drags or being exposed to even more traditionally styled hot rods, customs and motorbikes, albeit these did play a huge part. The addiction took hold from observing the camaraderie amongst spectators and entrants. It wasn’t an oval of egos. It was punk rock. It was fast and loose, relaxed and carefree. Campsites were buzzing, you could feel the stokage in the air.
As we left Newstead on that fateful Saturday afternoon in 2010, listening to Funky Town on repeat for 3 hours, the car was alive with excitement for the year to follow. For us, this was the beginning of ‘Chopped or Bust’.
Fast Forward nine years including a two-year hiatus, leading up to the three-day asphalt era weekender there was more speculation than the Moon landing. And I’ll be honest, I was guilty of being sceptical too. What will the new venue be like? What will the crowd be like? Who’s going? What’s going? Our journey through life is uncertain, cruise along with an open mind, and the good times will follow. Said good times were only a matter of hours away…
Watching social media go into meltdown on the Friday with endless updates of gasser’s slaying the blacktop on a closed-off public road, it felt like I was watching behind the scenes clips from ‘Two Lane Black Top’ or ‘Running On Empty’. I was sitting at work gritting my teeth thinking you have royally messed this one up for leaving it to the last minute, Coops.
Saturday morning broke to the sound of coffee gurgling on the stove. The sun was out, the car was packed and that long over-due deep-seated excitement was turning the stomach inside out. Memories of years past were clouding my concentration, but not my judgement. We were going back to Chopped, baby!
The new venue at the Carisbrook Trotting Track kept things anxiously exciting and fresh, yet it all felt so familiar. From being greeted at the gate with smiling faces, faces that I was gratefully introduced to years prior, to catching up with friends in and around our campsite, that I hadn’t seen in months, even years resulting in missing five hours of asphalt drag racing, a true testament to what Chopped means to me. Friendship.
The atmosphere was exactly what I remembered and fantasised over for the past two years. Tall tales around the campfire travelled on the late-night breeze. It wasn’t just me feeling euphoric about being back to where it all started.
Chopped has been a huge part of my life for the past nine years. It has undeniably been a huge part of the Australian hot rod, custom, and motorbike community for the past eleven. A once a year event that changed many peoples lives created long-lasting friendships and family circles that, without Chopped, would never have happened. And that’s what it all boils down to, this is it. Friendships formed and good times had. Chopped 2020 is coming in hot!
Follow Chris: @crcooperphoto.
