One of Australia’s largest and marquee annual event attractions sizzles to the top again….

The Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs was billed as Sydney’s biggest nitro show in years, and it well and truly delivered across May 1-3 at Sydney Dragway as part of the National Drag Racing Championship (NDRC).

On-track were an incredible 75 Group One racers across all eight elite level brackets, giving fans the chance to experience 11,000hp/500kph+ BLAHST Top Fuel and XPRO Nitro Funny Cars, Top Doorslammers, Top Fuel Motorcycles, Pro Alcohol, Pro Stock, Pro Mod, and Pro Stock Motorcycle competition all at the one event.

Joining them were 232 Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship and 1677 crew members, all working together to provide a fantastic drag racing experience. Overall attendance for the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs was 23,276, including spectators, racers, crews, sponsors and guests (Friday 3,357, Saturday 11,326, and Sunday 8,593).

When it came to the NDRC Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs racing, the quality of the on-track performances well and truly matched the quality of the above numbers.

In BLAHST Top Fuel, Top Qualifier Wayne Newby might have been the man to beat on Saturday, but Sunday was Phil Lamattina’s day, with the ‘Carrot King’ taking out his first ever Sydney Dragway event victory after more than 20 years trying, snatching the win at the line thanks to his 3.815/515.19kph pass to Newby’s 3.844 at 419.33kph.

Lamattina’s emotional victory followed two earlier wins – first in a round one match-up against RAI’s Shane Olive (3.798/519.88kph to 4.162/373.35kph) which he described as a “David versus Goliath” win, before he faced off against Kyle Putland (4.108/428.68kph) in the second round, with his 3.818 pass at 518kph well and truly earning him his spot in the A-Final.

Phil Lamattina was a winner at Sydney Dragway — for the first time in his storied career.

“Thank you, thank you! I finally got the monkey off my back!” said the enthused Lamattina, the championship leader who also took the win at the preceding Riverbend Nationals event.

The B-Final went to Olive, while the C-Final win went the way of Putland.

Before making it to the B-Final, Olive had celebrated a new PB of 3.782 at 527.57kph in the second round in what was only his sixth run in the RAI car.

For defending XPRO Nitro Funny Car Champ Morice McMillin, it was a wild ride to back-to-back Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs victories, with the CEO of Rocket Industries having to fight his machine all the way to taking the win over his team-mate, and last year’s runner-up, Josh Leahy, with a 4.143 second pass at 400.61kph. Leahy meanwhile was off the throttle early after going up in tyre smoke.

Top Qualifier McMillin had started his day with an ugly 10.742 second round one win over Damon Paton who tripped the tree .04 early before going on to wiggle down the track, while Leahy also was successful in round one with a 3.956/515.56kph pass following a motor swap.

Morice McMillin worked his way to a hard fought victory for XPRO Nitro Funny Car class racing.

In round two, McMillin turned another tough drive into a 4.378 win, this time over Walshe who went up in smoke and shut off at the start line. Leahy (3.999/498.41kph) and Paton meanwhile were on for a drag race early before Paton got crossed up at mid-track (4.373/350.01kph).

While he didn’t get to go to the A-Final, Walshe and his crew were elated at breaking through for their first ever three second pass (3.964 at 525.78kph). The new personal best came as part of their B-Final win over another tough red light for Paton.

In Top Doorslammer, it was an action-packed weekend from start to finish with a large field delivering plenty of close racing action.

All the way to the A-Final, Jeremy Callaghan was on a charge – Top Qualifying on Saturday with a PB before going on for a solo 5.624/417.96kph pass in round one before victory in round two with his latest PB – a 4.607/417.07kph which was whisper close to the national record for both ET and speed – over Lisa Gregorini (6.332).

When it came to the A-Final though, the two-time and defending champ Russell Taylor (5.603/413.50kph) saved his best to last to take the win over the Canberran (5.653/416.35kph) in an epic drag race between the two which had the fans on the edge of their seats.

2X and defending NDRC champion Russell Taylor won over a tough gathering for Australia’s Top Doorslammer category.

Taylor had earlier wins over Salim Matta (5.657/413.50kph v 5.735/409.44kph) and Daniel Gregorini (5.627/411.94kph v 9.109/143.05kph).

The B-Final victory went to Brodie Zappia (5.744/401.28kph) on a solo after Emilio Spinozzi was unable to front, while Rob Harrington (5.814/399.06kph) took out the C-Final over Ronnie Palumbo (9.501). John Zappia and Salim Matta faced off in the D-Final, with the veteran Zappia finally getting a win for his day with a 5.692/402.70kph run to Matta’s 5.716/408.83kph effort.

In Top Fuel Motorcycle, it was a tough day all round for the pilots of these nitro-throwing bikes, with Leonard Azzopardi ultimately taking out the A-Final win over Corey Buttigieg, while Danny Rickard was awarded the B-Final win over Ian Ashelford.

Top Fuel Motorcycle winner — Leonard Azzopardi

In Pro Stock, racing in pink this weekend for the McGrath Foundation, it was Rob Dekert who lifted the NDRC Gold Christmas Tree at the end of a hotly contested day of racing.

For Dekert and his pink-themed Unique Racing Pro Stocker (in tribute to the late Hayley Turns, a much-missed member of the Pro Stock and wider drag racing community) it was a very emotional win when he took the A-Final win over Omar Sedmak with a 6.925 second pass as Sedmak fouled at the line, after having earlier taken wins over Tony Polito (6.948 v 12.748) in round one and with a solo in round two (6.920).

In the B-Final, it was Clint George who would take a tight 7.059 v 7.061 win over Rick Chilton, for who the weekend marked his final event before his retirement from racing, while the C-Final went the way of Darryl Stephen (7.210) from Nino Cavallo (8.515). Ray Oxley meanwhile completed a solo in the D-Final, running a 7.154.

In Pro Mod Barry Plumpton was rewarded for making the trip across the Tasman from his home in New Zealand to compete at the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs – taking out the A-Final over local hero Joe Gauci in a thrilling 5.869 v 5.974 drag race.

New Zealand’s Barry Plumpton was a winner in the NDRC’s 5.85 secs indexed Pro Mod category – with his nitrous-injected program.

It had been a strong day for the Kiwi in the class that runs to a 5.85 index, who had earlier taken two wins from Joseph Murina – who red lit in the first round and ran too fast in the second while Plumpton laid down 5.888 and 5.833 times. Gauci meanwhile had tasted success in round one over Rob Campisi (5.897 v 5.955) and Craig Hewitt in round two (5.862 v 6.102).

Adam Tassone took the B-Final win on a solo 5.910 when Jeremy Martin was unable to take the start, while Zack Knezevic (5.85) and Zoran Gajic both had a wild ride in the B-Final, with Knezevic taking the win. In the D-Final, it was Hewitt v Campisi, with the win going to Hewitt (6.061) when Campisi broke-out (5.748).

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Callam Godeassi – making his comeback to the sport – pointed towards consistency as the key factor in his successful day, which concluded with a 7.178 A-Final victory over Tony Frost’s 7.312 after a 7.130 round one win over Scott White’s 9.449 and a round two 7.146 solo. Frost had secured his place in the A-Final with wins over Ryan Learmonth and Paul Andrews.

Callam Godeassi won in Pro Stock Motorcycle during what is his comeback season.

In Pro Alcohol, Daniel Reed has another NDRC Gold Christmas Tree trophy to add to the mantle, with the reigning champ taking the win over Chris Hargrave in an exciting A-Final that saw the pair thunder down the drag strip at 5.425/435.55kph and 5.564/417.80kph respectively.

Daniel Reed – the defending NDRC Pro Alcohol Champ — added another Gold Christmas Tree to his collection.

Reed had earlier defeated Andrew Searle in round one (5.466 v 5.590) before a solo 5.476/432.35kph in the second round, while Hargrave had beaten John Cannuli in round one (5.585 to 5.648) before also benefiting from a round two solo (5.574/418.84kph). The B-Final went to Cheyne Phillips (5.461), while Cannuli took the C-Final win.

Also on-track this weekend were 232 Aeroflow Sportsman Championship racers, with the following racers taking out the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs wins for their respective brackets: Karl Schulz (Aeroflow Junior Dragster, from runner-up Zayne Condello), Aliza Harris (Aeroflow Junior Drag Bike – from r-up Lincon Bonwick), David Matosevic (Super Street, from r-up Corey Stutchbury), Craig Geddes (Super Comp, from r-up Warren Allen), Dean Jamieson (Modified Bike, from r-up Mathew Jones), Vanessa Rohdmann (Performance Bike, from r-up Ken Collin), Josh Fletcher (Supercharged Outlaws, from r-up Tim Gruber), Jack Moreau (Super Sedan, from Sean Maher), Matthew Barron (Top Sportsman, from r-up Vlado Turic) and Harrison Fletcher (Modified, from r-up Cory Dyson).

Craig Geddes – Super Comp winner

Harrison Fletcher – Modified eliminator winner.

Next up for the NDRC is the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals (coming soon to fabled Willowbank Raceway in Queensland) which will again host all eight pro level brackets plus the Aeroflow Sportsman Championship – the second of only three occasions in 2026 where all of the brackets will race together.

Posted by Amanda Salmon (Jigsaw Communications)
Photos Courtesy of Grant Stephens (Cackling Pipes)