NDRC Nitro Finals Coverage

Australian drag racing’s final round of the National Drag Racing Championship for the Nitro classes was held at Sydney Dragway last weekend. A huge crowd had arrived early on what was to be a hot, sultry day, which came with a high chance of thunderstorms. Luckily, the storms stayed away, and like the weather, the on-track action was HOT.

The event attracted six top fuel dragsters and five fuel funny cars (you must remember that the entire population of Australia is only as big as the great Los Angeles area). While the event was short on quantity, it excelled in quality. Going into the event driver, Wayne Newby held a slight lead in the Top Fuel championship over fellow Rapisarda Autosport International team mate and existing champion, Damien Harris. In Fuel Funny Car, Morice McMillan held the lead over Rocket Industries teammate, Josh Leahy. By the end of the day, both points leaders would be crowned as the 2025 champions.

Of interest, one Top Fuel competitor who was making an appearance after a decade long absence was former English racer, Steve Read. Some forty years ago, while I was on the staff of magazine, Dragster Australia, I received a letter from Read asking about racing opportunities in the land down under – well he made the move and picked up two Australian Top Alcohol ANDRA titles in the nineties and two Top Fuel championships in the naughties.

“It’s been ten years since I last ran down Sydney Dragway… and honestly, it felt like coming home”, he remarked after the race. “There’s something about this place — the sound, the smell, the people — that just takes you straight back. So many memories here… long nights, big wins, tough losses, and some of the best moments of my career. Rolling up to the start line again brought it all flooding back. The nerves, the adrenaline, the history — it reminded me exactly why I do this”, he went on to say.

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Backing up the Nitro show were 110 hand-picked sportsman racers from all over Australia. When all was said and done, victories went to Mitchell Oxley in Super Comp, over runner-up Kit Hunter. Wally Hosta won in Performance Bike, over runner-up Ken Collin. Cory Dyson took the gold in Modified from runner-up Jess Turner. Super Sedan had Michael Vlasakakis snatch victory over runner-up Sean Maher. In Super Street, Tex Griffiths turned back runner-up Richard Matosevic, while Sean Rickets rode to a win in Modified Bike over runner-up Mitchell Woodford.

Junior Drag Bike has been a part of drag racing programs in the Northern Hemisphere for several years; the bracket was only introduced to IHRA’s roster over the past year. This saw Neveah McDougall take victory over Antastazia Luckie while Nixon Cannuli took victory in Junior Dragster, over Riley Eato. Tony Whyatt drove to a win in Top Sportsman over Paul Partridge, while Joe Catanzariti took the gold in Super Gas over Anthony Panetta. Lastly, in Supercharged Outlaw,s Peter Leahy had a final round victory over Jeff Sargent.