Australia drag racing resets season high as fans jam Sydney’s reputed Nitro Champs event….
More than 23,000 drag racing fans flocked to what has been Sydney’s biggest drag racing show in years at the weekend for the National Drag Racing Championship’s Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs.
On-track were an incredible 75 Group One racers across all eight elite level brackets, giving fans the chance to experience 11,000hp/500kph+ Top Fuel and XPRO Nitro Funny Cars, Top Doorslammers, Top Fuel Motorcycles, Pro Alcohol, Pro Stock, FuelTech Pro Mod, and Pro Stock Motorcycle competition all at the one event.
Joining them on-track were 200+ Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship competitors across 11 brackets all working together to provide an immense drag racing experience.
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.
Visiting US star Larry Dixon and flying Kiwi Morice McMillin lead the way by taking out the wins in Top Fuel and XPRO Nitro Funny Car respectively, with Top Fuel heralding its fifth different winner from five events while McMillin celebrated a hat-trick. They defeated Top Fuel championship winner Wayne Newby and defending XPRO Nitro Funny Car champion Justin Walshe in their respective A-Finals.
The A-Final for Dixon and Newby – both racing for Rapisarda Autosport International – wasn’t the fastest run of the weekend (4.448 to Newby’s 6.252), but it was truly spectacular with a pedal fest from both experienced drivers drawing gasps from the packed crowd.
USA’s Larry Dixon (left) defeated Wayne Newby to win the Top Fuel title for the NDRC’s Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs.
“Yeah, that was fun! I hate racing teammates and all that. But it was funny, Wayne came by in the last round and said, ‘take care of things for me,’ and in this round, Damien did the same thing. So, I’m trying, and we got the job done,” grinned Dixon, alluding to the championship aspirations of team-mates and title rivals, Newby and Damien Harris.
When it came to who was quickest and fastest, that honour remained with Newby’s teammate and defending champion, Damien Harris, thanks to his track record breaking 3.687 second/533.14kph run set in Saturday’s qualifying.
Harris claimed the 3rd spot in Sunday’s all-run racing format – which featured six three-second passes and five at more than 500kph – winning the B-Final on a solo when Phil Read was unable to return to the start line following his burnout. Phil Lamattina was the C-Final winner on a bye run, with ‘the Carrot King’ standing up on the tyres for an early finish to his last run of the event.
It was also a tense A-Final for the XPRO Nitro Funny Cars with McMillin keen to get the hat-trick and Walshe looking for his first victory since last year’s Winternationals, but it was ultimately McMillin (3.987/522.14kph – his second three second pass of the day) who took the win over Walshe (4.032kph/492.99kph) following a crowd pleasing side-by-side run with the candles lit all the way.
New Zealand native Morice McMillin won his 3rd XPRO Nitro Funny Car title of 2025.
The B-Final was taken out by Josh Leahy (4.007/511.56kph) in his first time past the box after two separate fuel leaks across race day, taking the win over rookie Damon Paton (4.077/504.90kph), who set a new PB on his run despite shutting off around the 1000ft marker.
In Top Doorslammer, defending champ Russell Taylor went all the way from top qualifying on Saturday to the A-Final win over Lisa Gregorini. Gregorini (7.622/201.73kph) was uncharacteristically slow at the light in the final run, giving Taylor the early advantage. He then ran it down the track (5.647/414.78kph) for a clear win on Sunday afternoon.
#1 Qualifier Russell Taylor prevailed over a tough Top Doorslammer field.
Brodie Zappia and Matt Abel ran side-by-side in the B-Final with 19-year-old Zappia getting his third straight holeshot win of the weekend (5.801/397.54kph) over Abel (5.758/390.81kph), while Brodie’s uncle and 11-time champ John Zappia took the C-Final win (5.843/398.71kph) with a nice run down the left lane on a solo after Ronnie Palumbo was unable to front due to earlier problems for his Monaro. Nigel Dixon (6.052/396.03kph) also enjoyed a solo in the D-Final when Peter Kapiris was a no-show after damage sustained in the previous run.
Top Fuel Motorcycle’s ‘5-second man’, also known as Damian Muscat, again put on another impressive show for the packed crowd at Sydney Dragway to take the A-Final against Ian Ashelford (6.122/358.80kph over 7.410/253.95kph). While he didn’t make it back into the fives on Sunday, it was still an impressive weekend for the Queenslander who dipped into the fives (5.936s/368.36kph) during the first round of racing on Saturday night.
Damian Muscat was the quickest and fastest again while winning in Top Fuel Motorcycle.
Pro Alcohol, Pro Stock, Pro Stock Motorcycle and FuelTech Pro Mod were also chasing championship glory at the NDRC’s Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs this weekend, with these brackets delivering plenty of heart-stopping runs for race fans.
Taking the win in their respective brackets were Daniel Reed (Pro Alcohol), Rob Dekert (Pro Stock), Zoran Gajic (FuelTech Pro Mod) and Jason Lee (Pro Stock Motorcycle), over runners-up Chyene Phillips (Pro Alcohol), Tyronne Tremayne (Pro Stock), and Luke Crowley (Pro Stock Motorcycle). Gajic ran a solo in the Pro Mod A-Final when Steve Carlsen was unable to front.
Pro Stock class winner — Rob Dekert
Pro Alcohol winner Daniel Read.
In the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship, from a field of 206 racers it was 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.
Tony Whyatt collected in Top Sportsman with this very early model turbocharged Corvette.
As well as incredible racing action, there was some exciting breaking news during the event – the announcement of a brand-new NDRC Nitro Nationals Grand Final event to be held at Sydney Dragway on August 23.
This ultimate showdown will deliver two huge grand finals in one massive day as the flame-throwing Top Fuelers and XPRO Nitro Funny Cars will battle it out in edge of your seat –championship deciding chaos.
Posted by Amanda Cobb (Jigsaw Communications)
Photos by Grant Stephens (Cackling Pipes)
