The recent Gulf Western Oil Nitro Championships at Sydney Dragway saw one of the finest races being played out to an enormous crowd of eager Aussie fans who witnessed world-class times and speeds over three days. Headlining the meeting were the Nitro classes, with Indianapolis’ Larry Dixon being flown in to pilot Rapisarda International’s third fuel dragster.

Nearly 300 racers faced the starter over the three-day event. The track was in tip-top condition, giving a large number of competitors their personal best times and speeds. This saw the first 3.6-second run in Top Fuel, a three-second pass for Nitro Funny Car, and two 5.5-second elapsed times in Top Doorslammer. Add to that, 5.3-second alcohol funny car times and a 5.93 Top Fuel Bike elapsed times, and you have an idea of just how fast the Sydney drag strip really was.

Top Fuel saw five entries, and what it lacked in quantity it certainly made up for in quality. How is this for qualifying –Damien Harris 3.687, Phil Read 3.719, Wayne Newby 3.719, Larry Dixon 3.745. Dixon returned to the scene of his last triumph at the 2023 version of this event and was a fan favourite in the pits.

The National Drag Racing Championship (NDRC) eliminations are not the same as those in America. They run a Chicago Shootout type arrangement over three rounds with the last pairing of the third round being the final. The two finalists are chosen by the number of wins they achieved and the two lowest ETs. Round one saw Dixon, Harris and Newby victorious,  followed by wins in round two to Read, Newby and Dixon, though Read suffered an intense fire.

The two finalists were Dixon and Newby, and it turned out to be a pedal fest. This saw the American make the best of it with a 4.448 at 234.45 MPH, outrunning Newby on a 6.252 over the 1000 feet. When asked what he thought of the pedal fest, Dixon remarked, “last year I only made two passes down the track, with four the year before. This time I managed to recover first and took the win.”

Larry Dixon first came to Australia in 2012, and he told the assembled throng “that the quality of Australian performances has grown in leaps and bounds”. It is hard to believe that in the early days, when Australian racers imported engines from the USA, that many would come with freeze cracks, while others were being shipped unassembled in a 44-gallon drum. Now, we have world-class equipment being utilised with the Australian-designed Noonan Billet Hemi engine block that ran a stellar 5.591 Top Doorslammer time in qualifying.

Like the Top Fuel class, the field for Funny Car was small attracting four entries. Many forget that Australia has the population of greater Los Angeles in an area four-fifths the size of mainland America. Qualifying saw Morice McMillin in a Ford Mustang take the top spot with a 4.004 at 321.96 MPH, while Justin Walshe, in a Dodge Charger, was not far behind with a 4.267. Josh Leahy, also in a Mustang, and Damon Paton in a Toyota Camry rounded out the field.

It was no surprise when the top two both took the wins in the first frame. The second round saw Walshe turn back Paton with a 4.237, while McMillin stunned the huge crowd with low ET of the race with a 3.973 at 324.36 MPH solo fun. Leahy was having all sorts of problems on the day, but made up for it in the third round with a 4.007, turning back Paton’s 4.077.

The A final saw McMillin face Walshe, with the former Kiwi being outstanding all weekend long. This saw him peel off another big run with a 3.987 at 324.44 MPH (top speed of the meet), to an oh so close 4.032 for Walshe. “It’s good to get this Sydney hoodoo off my back. We had people from every team working on the car for the final round, and one of our guys actually had to shoot off to the hospital, so Jamie mate, this is for you,” McMillin told the crowd after the event.

Pro Stock attracted a fifteen-car field, the largest in years. Australian Pro Stockers use a 400 cubic-inch engine similar to NHRA’s C/Altered class. The Tremayne brothers qualified in the one and two spots. Tyronne ran a 6.867 at 199.67 MPH over brother Aaron back who ran a 6.904 at 198.23 MPH. Speculation was high that we might see the first 200 MPH Australian Pro Stock run during the event, but in the end it was just out of reach.

After two rounds of ultra-close racing, two drivers stood out from the rest. Tyronne Tremayne had run back-to-back winning 6.85s, while Robert Dekert squeezed out a 6.898 to give us a Camaro versus Pontiac GXP final tussle. On the green, Dekert took a .33 to .69 lead off the line against T. Tremayne, and held it all the way through the gears with his hole-shot aided 6.887 holding back a 6.876.

Fifteen cars also faced the starter in the Top Doorslammer bracket, with the top four qualifying spots being held by Western Australians. This saw reigning Australian champion, Russell Taylor’s Camaro on top with a 5.628, just edging out John Zappia’s 5.630 in his GM-Holden Monaro. All four were in the 5.60s, with all but one entry being in the five-second zone. This included New Zealander, Nigel Dixon, who ran his first five-second run, a 5.967.

The A final saw Perth’s Lisa Gregorini in a ’67 Camaro face Taylor’s similar mount in the run for the gold. The little lady had myself on her radar, as her tardy start was followed by an out of shape leave that came within a coat of paint of myself on the guard wall. Taylor was long gone by this stage, recording a winning 5.647 257.73 MPH. “It was a great weekend. I love the venue here at Sydney Dragway and the NDRC always puts on an awesome show,” Taylor commented.

The nineteen-year-old nephew of John Zappia, Brodie also in a GM-Holden Monaro. He used two holeshots to make it to the B Final against the ’57 Chevy of Darwin’s Matt Abel, and you guessed it, he won the race with another holeshot. A .032 and 5.801 beat a .155 reaction time and 5.758. Mark my words, this kid is going places.

Speaking of New Zealander’s, Wellington’s Steve Carlsen, in the world’s coolest blown Falcon Sprint, top qualified with a personal best of 5.999 in the twelve-car Pro Mod field. He took two singles to make it to the A final, where he was to face reigning Australian champion, Zoran Gajic’s turbo Mustang. Australia’s Pro Mod bracket is a bit different to our American counterparts. It runs on a 5.85 dial-in, and Gagic would have top qualified as well; however, his too fast 5.840 put him at the bottom of the field.

For Gajic a round one 5.883 out ran the gorgeous bright green C7 Corvette of Queenslander, Steven Smith, who was back on a 6.079. Round two saw the Mustang driver being handed a gift when opponent Neil Murphy broke out big time with a 5.725. Gagic’s 5.874 was good enough, however, he ended up in the sand pit with the entire front end of the car collapsing as he blew out both front tires.

Two replacements had the car back for the A final to face the Kiwi Falcon Sprint. When Carlsen had completed his burnout, I noticed oil on the track. It appears that the gearbox had cried enough. After the clean-up, Gajic was set to make a winning solo, however, he too broke, but was crowned the champ in the end. The B Final saw the Commodore of Craig Hewitt take an easy win when his opponent, Craig Burns ran it out the back door. This saw his Mustang make the third quickest run in the world by a steel bodied car with a 5.712 pass behind Americans, John Scalpi and John Mihovetz.

Pro Alcohol is a combination of alcohol dragsters, funny cars and altered. It saw nine cars make qualifying passes, with Daniel Reed top qualifying in the family Monte Carlo with a 5.378. This was just a tad behind the NHRA record of 5.352. This led the Chevy Camaro of Cheyne Phillips on a 5.436. Amazingly, their respective fathers, Steven Reed and Gary Phillips, match raced all over Australia during the previous twenty-odd years.

It was no surprise to see these two facing each other in the final, and after Cheyne’s round one 5.388 time, the final looked like it would be a barn burner. Both left on a 0.33 light, however, the Camaro smoked the tires, leaving Reed to take a 5.43 at 270.32 MPH win. Phillips pedalled it for a 6.117 runner up.

Highlights of the bike classes saw the Puma-powered Top Fuel Bike of Damian Muscat run a 5.936 solo in the first round. A 6.042 win in the second round put him in the final against the nitro Harley of Ian Ashelford. It was no surprise to see the amiable Queenslander take an easy 6.122 win over Ashelford, who was dropping cylinders as he made his way to a 7.410 in defeat.

Pro Stock Bike saw a six bike field that was reduced by one when Lachie Ireland crashed in the braking area during qualifying, he was a bit banged up but was okay. Like Muscat in Top Fuel Bike, Jason Lee totally dominated the class on Trevor Birrell’s Suzuki TLR. This saw him top qualify with a 7.283 and then run a 7.174 solo, and a 7.144 to make the final. There, he faced Luke Crowley, who had come off a 7.092 winning second round run. The final saw Crowley take a .035 to .062 lead off the line, however, Lee ended up rounding up the Suzuki TL 1000 of his opponent with a bracket like 7.179, turning back a 7.494.

In the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship, from a field of 206 racers the following winners included Zayne Condello (Junior Dragster), Lillian Hagan (Junior Drag Bike), Luke ‘Tex’ Griffiths (Super Street), Bailey McClure (Super Comp), Dale Marshall (Modified Bike), Davydd Estcourt (Supercharged Outlaws), Chevy Taylor (Super Sedan), Nathan Neilson (Performance Bike), Anthony Whyatt (Top Sportsman), Roy Romeo (Super Gas), and Brooke Rapisarda (Modified) who took home the win in their respective brackets.