Summernats boss Andy Lopez has called out the hoons doing burnouts on Yallourn Street, Fyshwick, throwing bottles at police vehicles and lighting fireworks, saying "our entrants don't behave like that because that is not their thing".
"We discourage that behaviour all the time and as far as we understand it, these vehicles that are causing the trouble, these are not Summernats entrants, they don't have our [entrant] stickers [on their cars], they are not our people," he said.
"Our message is that if you want to have fun with your car, you do it in safe and controlled conditions."
He said if the cars involved had Summernats entrant stickers, they would be banned from entering the event.
Police were called to Fyshwick on Thursday night around 10.40pm after reports of a large crowd - in excess of 1000 people - gathered there, with cars doing burnouts, and fireworks being lit.
When police arrived, the crowd surrounded the vehicles and fireworks were directed at police cars.
Inspector Adrian Craft said it took the arrival of extra police resources before the crowd would disperse. Two people were arrested and charged with breaches of the peace.
"It's quite disappointing," Inspector Craft said.
"Summernats is a festival that has been coming to the ACT for 30-odd years and by and large, it hasn't been a great problem for us [police] and we enjoy a good working relationship with the organisers.
"This seems to be a fringe element intent on doing something other than celebrating the actual event."
Trouble also then flared in the streets outside the Exhibition Park venue. Police have their operational command post nearby and were on the scene in minutes. Three vehicles were seized.
Mr Lopez said Summernats entrants "have the guts to do their thing on skid row or on the burnout pad".
"They don't flog around on the streets," he said.
In a statement, ACT Policing said they had zero tolerance for anti-social behaviour and "hoon driving".
Any driver caught speeding excessively, doing burnouts or street racing risked losing their vehicle immediately and faced serious penalties, police said.
Police urged drivers to enjoy the Summernats weekend safely and to keep burnouts to the competition area.
