"VAN" (Sports Desk - 28.04.2026) :: This weekend’s Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs is set to be the biggest NDRC show Sydney Dragway has ever seen, with more than 300 racers and every championship bracket coming together for one giant nitro spectacle. It is the only Sydney round in 2026 to feature the full lineup – including all eight pro-level brackets – and is one of just three all‑brackets events on the national calendar.
Across BLAHST Top Fuel and XPRO Nitro Funny Car alone, fans will witness more than 121,000 horsepower at full flight as six Top Fuel and five Nitro Funny Car drivers unleash their 11,000hp/500+kph machines to the delight of the crowd.
Joining them will be 17 Top Doorslammers, who will not only blaze down the track but also light up the pits with the must-see all cars fire up. They’ll be joined by five Top Fuel Motorcycles, 14 Pro Stock racers – running in pink this weekend for the McGrath Foundation – eight Pro Alcohol machines, 10 Pro Stock Bikes, and 10 Pro Mods. In all, 75 pro racers and more than 225 Aeroflow Sportsman Series competitors from across the country will pack the venue.
Defending BLAHST Top Fuel Australian Champion and local hero, Wayne Newby, says everyone who is able should be getting down to Sydney Dragway this weekend as he predicts big numbers and thrilling performances.
“I am really looking forward to it,” said Newby, who lifted the runner-up trophy at last year’s running of this event.
“To get to race at your home track in front of all your family and friends is fantastic, and our car is running really great – Santino is doing an awesome job with the tune-up.
“I am telling everybody to get down to this event, as I think you are going to see some pretty quality speeds and ETs in all classes.”
Fellow local Morice McMillin – the defending XPRO Nitro Funny Car Champion and winner of this event in 2025 – echoed Newby’s comments.
“I love the Nitro Champs, it is a fantastic event, and we are really excited to have 300 cars there, including a massive field of Aeroflow Sportsman Championship racers including the Aeroflow Junior Dragsters and Aeroflow Junior Drag Bikes – these kids are the next generation of our sport and we are so pleased to be able to back them,” said McMillin, who is the CEO of Rocket Industries and Aeroflow Performance.
“We love racing in our own backyard with Rocket Industries and our race shop right down the road, and to be able to compete in front of our family and friends is always special, let alone at an event of this magnitude – and not just for us as drivers, but for every member of our team who makes this possible with their hard work and dedication.
“Our plan is obviously to make the final again and hopefully we can get another win – it has been a short turnaround for us since the Riverbend Nationals earlier this month (where McMillin was the runner-up to team-mate Josh Leahy) and we are working hard to make sure we can collect some more points and get back to winning!”
In the lead up to this event, the Australian Pro Stock Owners Association, alongside the NDRC, announced a Race in Pink initiative supporting the McGrath Foundation at this year’s Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs.
While raising vital awareness and funds, the idea to initiative is also designed to honour the much-loved and missed Hayley Turns – who sadly passed in May last year after a long and courageous battle – as well the many racers, crew members, and families of the community who are currently facing or have been affected by cancer.
“I have always seen events like the Pink Test and thought bringing something like that into drag racing would be really powerful. Hayley and I had been working on ideas to get Pro Stock teams involved in a dress up concept for another event, and after her passing, it felt right to turn that idea into something more meaningful and tie it to a cause that could genuinely help people. That is what led us to partner with the McGrath Foundation,” explains the Australian Pro Stock Owners Association’s Nick Polito, a key driver of this campaign.
“Cancer touches a lot of people, and the McGrath Foundation plays an important role in providing cancer care nurses to those going through it. This initiative is about the drag racing community coming together to support something bigger than racing.
“We hope to see lots of pink at the track across the Saturday and Sunday of the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs as we look to honour Hayley and others impacted by cancer while raising vital funds for the McGrath Foundation.”
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