The inaugural Nitro Max East vs West Showdown at the Perth Motorplex pitted the BME Nitro Max group of the West against the Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Cars of the East. While all the teams were competing for individual glory, what really mattered was the Gold Rocket Trophy for the winning team.
After the always entertaining Aeroflow Pit Party, attention turned on track with the first round of the showdown. It was a fast start for the East with Brandon Gosbell kicking things off in King Kong with a 5.78 over Matt Abel in Nitro Thunder. Josh Leahy in the Bandit, and Morice McMillin in Nitro Express with 5.64 and 5.56 passes dispatched of James Kemp and Shannon Taylor respectively. The pressure sat now with Tim Stewart from Team Nitro Max to avoid a clean sweep of round one, however Greg Leahy behind the wheel of One Bad Kiwi had other ideas, and a 5.67 was enough to put Team Aeroflow up 4-0.
Round 2 began with McMillin in Nitro Express zooming away with a 5.504 over James Kemp who had his hands full with the wild fuel altered trying to turn itself inside out, James doing everything he could to stop it. Josh Leahy then clicked off a 5.55 to beat a Shannon Taylor in the tyre-smoking Grumpy Altered. Trying to keep the winning record intact, Brandon Gosbell was out in front of Tim Stewart in Thumper for their second-round pairing, but tyre smoke for the King Kong Trans-am gave Stewart a sniff ,however a quick pedal job was enough for a 5.57 second win over Stewart’s respectable 5.87. Final pass of the second round – with the Aeroflow team now up 7-0 – had the West team Captain Matt Abel knowing that he had to get it done for the home side against Greg Leahy. In an entertaining race both teams struggled for traction, Abel took the victory for the locals.
Round 3 was all for pride with the Aeroflow team having an unassailable lead in the East vs West showdown. James Kemp chalked up a second point for the West Aussies when Greg Leahy couldn’t front for the 7th place race off. The 5th and 6th match up was entertainment galore when Shannon Taylor red-lit against Brandon Gosbell, however a wild run saw King Kong hitting the centerline cones handing the points back over to the West Aussies. Josh Leahy reeled things back in for the East with a personal best 5.502 at 427km/h for third. The scene was set for the final with the two fastest cars from each team to duke it out for individual honours. For Matt Abel, tyre smoke at the line meant he could only watch Morice McMillin in Nitro Express streak away for Low ET of the event on an impressive 5.42 at over 420km/h.
An elated McMillin said after the final, “The individual win is great, but the team win is what matters most tonight. We have so much fun racing as the Aeroflow team with such a great group of guys and girls. We are going to leave the perpetual Nitro Max East vs West Rocket trophy here at the Perth Motorplex just to remind the guys we will be back to win it again next year.”
