"VAN" (Sports Desk - 09.06.2025) :: The fourth and final day of the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals saw another packed crowd enthralled with record-breaking and head-turning performances from the best of the best of Australian NDRC drag racing at Willowbank Raceway.
It was one of the biggest drag racing events in years with huge crowds on both Saturday and Sunday. As well as hosting the traditional competition for highly lauded Winternationals crowns, Sunday’s race-day also saw the 2024/2025 NDRC Top Fuel Motorcycle, Pro Alcohol and Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship seasons come to a close while Top Fuel, XPRO Nitro Funny Car, Top Doorslammer, Pro Stock, Pro Stock Motorcycle and FuelTech Pro Mod enjoyed the penultimate round of their championship chases.
Also heralded were a number of milestone performances, including a new Australian Top Fuel speed record (536.17kph) set by Damien Harris, a new Australian Nitro Funny Car speed record (524.15kph) set by Morice McMillin to join his Australian ET record set yesterday (3.929), and no less than 13 three second passes and seven at more than 500kph.
The first Top Fuel session kicked the day into another gear with an old-fashioned drag race between Phil Read and Phil Lamattina, running a pair of side-by-side threes (3.776/3.877), before Damien Harris reset the national speed record (536.17kph) later in the same session.
The intensity had built to a fever pitch by the time the A-Final arrived with another all Rapisarda Autosport International finale. With a championship on the line between the two, even start line issues for both Atlantic Oil sponsored racers weren’t enough to see either give an inch.
When both ran into trouble off the hit they did all they could to make it to the line, with Wayne Newby eventually being able to pedal it to the finish line to take back-to-back Winternationals victories over top qualifier Damien Harris.
Phil Lamattina meanwhile had a competitive weekend with consistent three-eighty passes, and lined up in the B-Final for a solo when Phil Read was sidelined with damage caused when the throttle stuck open in the second round of racing earlier in the day. Lamattina ran down the track to throw up 3.905 491.09kph on the timing boards while dropping a cylinder.
In the C-Final, Steve Read completed a solo pass after Kyle Putland was unable to proceed past the first round of racing today. The local racer nicknamed ‘the Pom’ had been battling issues all weekend and this continued into his final run of the day, throwing a belt early to cross the line at 7.821/122.47kph.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we got the job done and we extended our points lead again, which is the main thing with one round to go - hopefully all going well we can sew it up at the final,” Newby said.
“We are happy with how the car performed all weekend - both cars might not have made a full pass on that last lap, but we were a little bit further down the track and had a bit more momentum.
“It was an awesome crowd all weekend, the team were flawless. Thank you to all of them, to Santo and his family for giving me this opportunity, I love you all! And thank you also to our partners Atlantic Oils, Wild Ink, Santo’s Cranes, Uplift Cranes, and Titan Cranes.”
In XPRO Nitro Funny Car, Morice McMillin had a Winternationals to write home about this weekend, top qualifying, resetting the Australian records for both ET (3.929) and Speed (524.15kph), and winning the event in an incredibly close race against team-mate Josh Leahy with a margin between the two contenders at the finish line of just .0005 of a second. Earlier in the day, Leahy was the first to drop into the threes, recording a 3.931/519.01kph in his match up against Justin Walshe in round one, making it the second quickest Nitro Funny Car ET in the country behind McMillin’s earlier effort.
In the B-Final, last year’s champion Justin Walshe got to the line first with a 4.904 second run at 254.63kph to Paton’s 4.948 at 254.63kph, but was disqualified for scraping the wall before the finish line, handing the win to the newcomer.
The A-Final victory wrapped up a wonderful weekend for the Kiwi who now calls Sydney home.
“Ah that’s awesome! This thing was flying,” McMillin said.
“We banged the blower out at three-quarter track and then we were just sitting there. I saw Josh come past and I thought we lost it, but I thought we’d be on the number with the way it as tracking.
“We really wanted to get these things side by side, and Josh deserves everything he achieved this weekend.”
What started as a mega field of 16 Top Doorslammers was whittled down to eight in the first round of eliminations racing on Saturday before three more rounds of racing today.
Russell Taylor lined up against Rob Harrington in what was Harrington’s first NDRC Top Doorslammer finals appearance. Taylor had already wrapped up the Top Doorslammer championship earlier in the day and turned his sights to securing the Winternationals win, however it wasn’t to be in this David and Goliath battle: just before half-track the OGL Australia and Precision Lubricants Camaro faltered, while Harrington sailed through for the win with a 5.840/397.62kph run over Taylor’s 7.509/154.49kph effort.
It was a day of giant killing for Harrington, who had started the day with a win over a red-lighting John Zappia. The uncharacteristic mistake saw the 11-time Top Doorslammer champion knocked out of contention in the second round of racing. Harrington next sent Nigel Dixon packing (5841/396.32kph over 5877/400.92kph) in the semi finals, before lining up against Taylor.
Taylor’s first win of the day was a holeshot over Jeremy Callaghan with the “Ice Man’ running a 5.807/400.26kph compared with Callaghan’s 5.711/414.37kph, before he ran it through (5618/413.91kph) over a red-lighting Ronnie Palumbo in the semi final.
While Taylor didn’t get the Winters NDRC Gold Christmas Tree, he did have plenty to celebrate, wrapping up his second Top Doorslammer championship in a row this weekend.
“The final didn’t go our way, but it was a great weekend all in all wrapping up the championship. Congratulations to Rob and his crew on a well-earned Winters victory,” Taylor said.
“Thank you to my crew, sponsors and all of our supporters. I’m grateful for your support, none of this would be possible without you.”
Harrington was ecstatic with the win, with the Bad Influence racer almost lost for words in the deep end.
“I’m just an Aussie battler with a rag tag bunch of blokes just having a go! To run up against the Australian champion Russell Taylor, it’s been amazing. To GET Engineering, Childs Tyre Service, all my sponsors, my mum, my dad - we’ve won the Winters baby!” Harrington said after his winning run.
It was a winning weekend for Damian Muscat in Top Fuel Motorcycle, top qualifying, winning the event, and taking out the Top Fuel Motorcycle Championship in what was the bracket’s season finale - but it was also far from an easy weekend with lots of work required from the rider and crew to make it all possible. Muscat had earlier raced against Corey Buttigieg and Ian Ashelford on his way to the final, while runner-up and last year’s champion, Benny Stevens, had put championship runner-up Greg Durack and team mate Michael Beland on the trailer.
“After Friday’s broken crank and yesterday we torched a motor and basically torched every air line, every fuel line, every oil line, and every electrical component in the bike, the crew spent all night repairing it, going to bed at 3.00am this morning,” Muscat explained.
“We woke up Sunday to a beautiful day of racing and a great crowd in the stands, and we got through the rounds to take the ultimate Winternationals win, and the championship win as well.
“This JTS Transport/Transit Tyres Rocket Ship has been on fire all season, and we have won every event that we have raced at this season, so you have got to be more than happy with that!
“I want to say a big thank you to my crew for their tireless work - crew chief Brodie Pilkington, tuner Morice McMillin, and crew members Aaron Holland, Brad Luff, Jonno Warrell, Roly Parker, Paul Davies, Geoff Dell, and many other people along the way that have helped us. Plus a special thanks to my wife Tracey for putting up with me and supporting my craziness.
“Thank you also to our sponsors, JTS Transport, Transit Tyres, Aeroflow Rocket, Degoey Contractors, C and C Mining and Civil, Easy Net, Great Northern Motorcycle Adventures, BL & SG Lake Brick Cartage, Whem Equipment Hire, Applied Automotive Engineering, FUCHS Lubricants and Sammut Harvesting Hydraulics for all of their continued support, lets see what next year brings!”
Cheyne Phillips got the perfect 35th birthday present today, following in the footsteps of his highly-decorated father, drag racing legend Gary Phillips, in claiming a Pro Alcohol Gulf Western Oil Winternationals victory and being named as championship runner-up.
It was a final of drag racing dynasties, with Cheyne facing off against third-gen racer Daniel Reed, son of Steven Reed and Debbie Reed and grandson of the late ‘Gentlemen Jim’ Reed and Nelma Reed.
An incredibly impressive finale had the fans on their feet, with Cheyne ultimately taking the victory. Daniel still had plenty to cheer about though – wrapping up his maiden Pro Alcohol title this weekend at what was the bracket’s 2024/2025 season finale.
“I am very happy to have won the championship without a doubt,” Reed said.
“We took it one race at a time all season long with a view that if the championship happened, it happened. We just tried to win every race and hoped it worked out, and it worked out!
“It was definitely a Winternationals I will never forget, seeing Fiona win in the Supercharged Outlaws final before my final race - it would have been good to bring home two event Gold Christmas Trees but that wasn’t to be, but Cheyne and the whole Phillips crew deserve it, they ran well all weekend.
“I want to thank my mum and dad for all the hard work they do to see my dreams come true, I appreciate everything that they do and all the hard work. And thank you also to the crew, Jason, Steve and Matt, we can’t do it without them, and our sponsors Nulon Oils, AC Delco Batteries, Jack Brothers, and Allstar Batteries.”
To get to the final, Phillips had earlier faced off against Andrew Searle and Brett White, while Reed had taken on Britney Olive and Cheyne’s father Gary Phillips - who on Saturday set new World Pro Alcohol Altered ET and Speed records (5.470 / 416.99kph).
“This is unbelievable, you couldn’t have scripted it any better. To race against Daniel (Reed) in the final just continues the Phillips and Reed dynasty. But to win it on my birthday, that just tops it all off. It was mum’s birthday this weekend so to Top Qualify and claim low ET, top speed, win a race and win my first ever event on my 35th birthday, it’s pretty special,” a very emotional Phillips explained.
“Thank you to all the crew, it took me two months to convince dad (Gary Phillips) to run two cars at this event and to run against him yesterday and tick that off the bucket list was just awesome. So thank you to all the guys who actually made this happen and to all the sponsors - Harts Paint Supplies, Gold Coast Chilly Bins, Speedflow, JK Race Engineering - those headers are awesome.
“This is unbelievable. I can’t believe I’ve just won the Winternationals and my first Christmas Tree Trophy. I grew up in a household where I got to look at them all the time and I always dreamt that I‘d have my own, so this is pretty awesome to win on my birthday.”
It was a family feud in Pro Stock for the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals, with brothers Aaron and Tyronne Tremayne facing off in the final. With both brothers holding championship and Winters wins to their names, Aaron the top qualifier and Tyronne a recent national record setter, this was a match-up that was impossible to predict, but when Tyronne threw a red light on the tree, Aaron was free to race down the strip to the victory pressure-free.
On their way to the final, Aaron had taken on Mario Polito and Rick Chilton, with Chilton causing concern with contact with the wall, but emerging unhurt. Tyronne meanwhile had taken on Omar Sedmak and championship leader Robert Dekert in the semi-final, with Dekert racing in memory of Hayley Turns this weekend.
“We had a pretty good weekend; my car was on song from when we rolled it out of the trailer,” Aaron Tremayne said.
“I was hoping to run another ’80 in the final but we had a crank trigger issue, so it wasn’t meant to be but overall, it’s been a great weekend and it’s nice to get the win.”
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Scott White turned plenty of heads with his win over championship leader Luke Crowley this afternoon. White had earned his place in the final by taking wins from Vanessa Rohdmann in round one and Paul Andrews in round two, while top qualifier Crowley had defeated Tony Frost and Daniel Rabnott on his way to the final battle for the popular two-wheeled bracket.
“Far out! I have been waiting for this for so long. I ran my first Pro Bike meeting here in 1991 and it’s taken all this time to win the Winternationals,” White said.
“It’s amazing that it was against Luke who has helped us out so much, it’s just incredible to win this after 34 years with side by side 7.0’s – we’re back!”
Kiwi Barry Plumpton took the FuelTech Pro Mod win over Stew Walsh after successfully taking on Steve Smith in the first round and Daniel Camilleri in the semi-final, with Camilleri having pulled off a round one upset to dispatch Top Qualifier, Neil Murphy. Walsh - who had just made it into the field by lobbing it onto the bump spot in the final qualifier yesterday - meanwhile had taken on Nasser Matta in round one before a victory over Zoran Gajic in the semifinal saw him race through to the final.
“It is unbelievable to come out on top with the car in its first outing on Aussie soil,” Plumpton said.
“This is a top quality field, and we just can’t believe that we won the Winters!
“We had some luck go our way throughout the day, but the car was just perfect and dialled in, and we can’t wait to come back over and do it all again soon!” he beamed.
The final round of the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship was also contested across the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals, with more than 350 sportsman racers leaving nothing on the table as they battled for both title and Winternationals glory.
As well as the championship and event winners, also celebrated in the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship today was Zayne Condello, as the inaugural winner of the new Dennis Syrmis Award which recognises the top points scorer across the sportsman series. It was a successful weekend for Condello, who also took out the Junior Dragster championship title over Bailey Hawke.
“It is terrific and it is definitely an amazing feeling to be the inaugural winner of the Dennis Syrmis Award, and I think it just makes it ten times better that I am a Junior and I have managed to get it done,” Condello said.
“It means the world to me. It is a massive tribute and I couldn't have asked for much more; I have been working all year for this and it is terrific to finally get it.
“And then to go back to back in the championship as well, that is a dream come true, I have always dreamed of being a national champion and to go back to back in the first two years of NDRC is something amazing, I never even thought I would feel this way in drag racing, it is the most emotional I have ever been,” he concluded, while thanking his “mum, my dad, my Nono, my Nana, my entire crew and family, and everyone that has made this happen.”
Joining Condello in taking out the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship titles for their respective brackets were Dean Jamieson (Modified Bike, over Sean Ricketts), Lillian Hagan (Junior Drag Bike, over Lawrence Raschella), Luke ‘Tex’ Griffiths (Super Street, over Troy Hutton), David Foster (Top Sportsman, over Vlado Turic), Tony Miskelly (Super Sedan, over Robert Kardum), Cory Dyson (Modified, over Daniel Carranza), Ken Collin (Performance Bike, over Cheryl ‘MsVrod’ Beddoes), Mark Hunt (Supercharged Outlaws, over Kasey McClure), and Pat Firriolo (Super Comp, over Warren Allen).
Also awarded at the end-of-event presentations were the event winners and runners-up, with the following racers taking out the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals accolades: Dale Marshall (Modified Bike, over Geoffrey Marshall), Steve Warren (Real Street, over Paul Neilsen), Karl Schulz (Junior Dragster, over Shavaun Harvey), Cooper Ashelford (Junior Drag Bike, over Jayden Badcock), Lachlan Maccaskell (Super Street, over Ray Ross), Daniel Morris (Top Sportsman, over Tony Whyatt), Paul Doeblien (Super Sedan, over Chevy Taylor), Adriana Cartledge (Modified, over Chelsea Smith), Matt Walker (Extreme Bike, over Nathan Neilson), Pete Farnell (Performance Bike, over Ken Collin), Fiona Reed (Supercharged Outlaws, over Peter Byrne), and Warren Allen (SuperComp, over Craig Geddes).
Stay tuned across the coming week for further Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship reporting from the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals.
There is still more racing to come on NDRC event calendar with Top Fuel and XPRO Nitro Funny Car to do battle in an epic finale at the Nitro Nationals at Sydney Dragway (23 August) and the Top Doorslammer finale at Nitro Up North at Hidden Valley Raceway (29-30 August). The Spring Nationals at Dragway at The Bend across October 3-5 will then host the final rounds for Pro Stock, Pro Stock Motorcycle and FuelTech Pro Mod, while also hosting a race for world records for Top Fuel.
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