Results from calendar race #2 for Australia’s NDRC 2026 season….

The Riverbend Nationals delivered a powerhouse day of racing at South Australia’s “Dragway at The Bend” — concluding an intensive schedule showcasing standout performances from more than 180 NDRC racers.

After Saturday’s running was shortened by inclement weather, fans were rewarded with a mega Sunday of racing from the 11,000hp BLAHST Top Fuelers and XPRO Nitro Funny Cars, 14 Top Doorslammers, Top Fuel Motorcycles, Pro Alcohols, and Pro Mods as well as a full field of Aeroflow Sportsman Championship competitors from all across the country; all chasing NDRC Gold Christmas Trees and early-season momentum.

In the professional ranks, the A-Final wins went to Phil Lamattina (BLAHST Top Fuel), Josh Leahy (XPRO Nitro Funny Car), John Zappia (Top Doorslammer), Danny Rickard (Top Fuel Motorcycle), Daniel Reed (Pro Alcohol), and Zoran Gajic (Pro Mod).

In Top Fuel, the ‘Carrot King’ Phil Lamattina took out the A-Final from WA’s Kyle Putland with an ugly yet successful 4.103 second pass at 409.69kph. While Putland struck trouble and rolled down the track, he was still all smiles, claiming his first NDRC Christmas Tree trophy as the A-Final runner-up.

It was a strong comeback for Lamattina after engine troubles in the second round of racing, and he now leaves The Bend as the BLAHST Top Fuel Championship leader. In the B-Final, it was RAI team-mates Damien Harris and Wayne Newby facing off, with Newby saving his best performance of the weekend until last, turning on the win light with a mammoth 3.824 second pass at 521.65kph over Harris’ 4.831 pass at 335.11kph.

Phil Lamattina was the Top Fuel winner at NDRC’s Riverbend Nationals.

Earlier in the day, Lamattina had taken two victories from Wayne Newby with a 5.289/225.32kph pass to Newby’s 5.476/205.30kph in round one, while in round two Newby (5.216/211.29kph) looked to be on for the win after clocking the better reaction time (0.044 vs 0.049) and beating the Victorian to the 60ft mark, until the defending champ slowed at half-track and Lamattina held it steady to drive around him for the win (5.070/331.57kph).

Harris and Putland likewise had drive jobs on their hands, with Putland securing an upset win over the current quickest and fastest Top Fuel record holder with a 5.217/254.71kph pass in round one despite snapping sideways twice, while Harris (9.369/146.98kph) was up on the tyres at mid-track after a small wobble. In round two, Harris smoked the tyres off the line before dropping cylinders on his way to a 5.520/193.07kph win over Putland (5.776/162.03kph), who threw a belt and lifted the blower during the pass.

XPRO Nitro Funny Car delivered a re-match of the 2025 Riverbend Nationals A-Final, with Josh Leahy (4.144s/409.04kph) turning the tables to defeat his team boss and reigning champ, Morice McMillin (6.650/167.14kph), who had a huge drive job on his hands with his Funny Car snapping left, right, left.  The B-Final went the way of Damon Paton courtesy of a new Personal Best ET of 4.043 at 516.33kph – earning him the low ET and top speed points – over Adam Murrihy (4.226/489.85kph) in a crowd-pleasing side-by-side battle down the track. Justin Walshe meanwhile ran down the track solo in the C-Final, with a problematic 6.566/161.96kph that saw his machine violently ‘chattering’ as he tried to pull it up.

The XPRO FC final say Josh Leahy (near lane) defeat his teammate Morice McMillin.

In round one, Walshe had taken the win over Paton with a 4.587/325.38kph pass complete with a mid-track lift, after Paton shut off early on a 6.474/160.69kph; while Leahy took the win over Murrihy with a 4.133/413.47kph pass before the blower belt let go around the 900ft mark. Murrihy (5.485/210.37kph), meanwhile, looked promising early before getting off the throttle. McMillin closed out the round on a bye, taking three stabs at it before settling for a 7.953/128.715kph effort.

Round two delivered back-to-back side-by-side runs with Murrihy first running a strong 4.166/424.16kph solo with header flames ablaze, setting the scene before Leahy and Paton produced an absolute thriller with both cars lighting the candles and charging side-by-side to the finish line, separated by just .007 of a second, with Paton’s 4.078/452.99kph edging out Leahy’s 4.077/422.08kph on a hole shot. McMillin (4.532/313.08kph) and Walshe (4.601/297.13kph) then served up more of the same with another side-by-side drag race which brought the crowd to its feet for the second time in as many runs, with McMillin taking the win after Walshe cut it close to the centreline.

In Top Doorslammer, a full-engine rebuild before the A-Final helped 11-time champion John Zappia (5.792/388.70kph) seal the event win over fellow Top Doorslammer veteran Pete Lovering (5.876/391.78kph), who was looking to claim his maiden NDRC Gold Christmas Tree in 24 years of racing.

Australia drag racing legend racer John Zappia won in the tough Top Doorslammer division.

Defending champion Russell Taylor (5.789/403.27kph) took home the B-Final win after lining up alongside Ronnie Palumbo (6.165/385.34kph). Taylor had earlier taken the win lights in both rounds one and two but had to pedal his way through.

A wild C-Final saw Salim Matta lay down the second quickest ET (5.770/405.10kph) of the day to clinch the win over Frank Taylor (8.705 /174.50kph), who narrowly missed kissing the wall. In the D-Final, last year’s Riverbend Nationals winner, Jeremy Callaghan, was forced to concede to winner Emilio Spinozzi despite running the quickest ET of the day for Top Doorslammer in his final pass of the weekend – with Spinozzi’s .016 RT seeing his 5.874 /396.16kph able to beat Callaghan’s 5.760/410.21kph at the line.

In Top Fuel Motorcycle, South Australian Danny Richard run (7.681/269.11kph) to earn an emotional win in the A-Final from Damian Martini.  In the B-Final, Corey Buttigieg (7.985/198.97kph) ran a solo.

The T/F motorcycle title went to Danny Rickard

In Pro Alcohol, it was reigning champion Daniel Reed (5.688/428.98kph) and Cheyne Phillips who did battle for the NDRC Gold, with a red light by two thousandths of a second for Phillips putting paid to what would have been low ET for the bracket this weekend (5.429/439.12kph). In the B-Final, Andrew Searle took the win over Steven Carpenter (10.201/89.65kph) with an impressive 5.472/422.67kph which saw his team elated on the start line. Searle had been elevated to the B-Final after John Cannuli was unable to continue, with the upset win marking the first time all day Searle had been able to keep the blower belt on his Superman machine.

Reigning NDRC champions Daniel Reed (above) and Zoran Gajic (below) won in Pro Alcohol and Pro Mod classes respectively.

In Pro Mod, Zoran Gajic – the defending champion – added another NDRC Gold trophy to the mantle at Dragway at The Bend with the A-Final victory over Adam Tassone, which was heralded as the best Pro Mod run of the day, starting with a ‘burndown’ on the line before the pair delivered side-by-side fives to the delight of the crowd (5.5919/409.12kph to 5.953/388.83kph).

Michael Caroscio – Super Comp eliminator winner

In the Aeroflow Sportsman Championship wins went to the following 10 racers: Luca Lamattina (Aeroflow Junior Dragster, from runner-up Abigail Reed), Kobe Ashelford (Aeroflow Junior Drag Bike – from r-up Bailey Paul), Mark Rossow (Super Street, from r-up Craig Ferguson), Michael Caroscio (Super Comp, from r-up Peter Pisalidis), Matt Jones (Modified Bike, from r-up Dean Jamieson), Ken Collin (Performance Bike, from r-up Joe Khoury), Simon Madigan (Supercharged Outlaws, from r-up Bruno Matijasevic), Peter Furlanetto (Super Sedan, from Jack Moreau), Vlado Turic (Top Sportsman, from r-up Martin Mirco) and Adriana Cartledge (Modified, from r-up Daniel ‘BatDan’ Carranza) who hoisted the Gold Trees.

Adriana Cartledge – Modified Eliminator winner

With the Riverbend Nationals now over, Australia fans do not have to wait long for another nitro-filled show, thanks to the NDRC’s Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs across May 1-3 at Sydney Dragway.

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