This weekend Dragway at The Bend will play host to what is set to be another record-breaking nitro-throwing NDRC weekend, with the Riverbend Nationals to be held across April 5 and 6.
The event will host the latest rounds of the NDRC title chases for the 11,000hp/500kph Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Car competitors, plus Top Doorslammer, and Top Fuel Motorcycle. Also set to impress is the latest outing for the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship.
The last time Top Fuel, XPRO Nitro Funny Car and Top Doorslammer visited Dragway at The Bend, it was for October’s Aeroflow Spring Nationals. In front of packed grandstands, the championship ledgers were opened for the 2024/2025 seasons for these competitors while record-breaking performances and breakthrough victories were delivered.
In Top Fuel, Phil Read became the quickest man in Australia (3.72 seconds) as part of a perfect weekend for the Hydraulink Jim Read Racing team which also included top qualifying and winning every match-up on his way to the A-Final victory.
Read will be joined on-track this weekend by fellow Top Fuel pilots Phil Lamattina, Kyle Putland, Damien Harris, and championship leader, Wayne Newby.
“Our last visit to Dragway at The Bend was one of those rare perfect weekends, and we are really excited to be heading back there to see if we can snare another one,” Phil Read said.
“As the current holder of the record as well as the defending winner for the event, there is a bit of a target on our back for sure, but that won’t affect our preparations.
“As always, we have been working very hard between events and we are feeling confident heading to the Riverbend Nationals, so watch this space!”
In XPRO Nitro Funny Car, rookie racer Josh Leahy turned heads in his Rocket Industries entry by breaking through for his first A-Final victory which also featured a personal best ET for the third-generation competitor.
Leahy will return to the track in pursuit of another win, with his fellow competitors Justin Walshe, Morice McMillin, and newcomer Damon Paton all ready to try and stop him.
“Looking back on the Spring Nationals last year, it was certainly more than a dream come true, one that I never thought would happen in my first season!” Leahy said.
“I feel like I keep saying it but honestly it still feels surreal. It is a memory that will last a lifetime.
“Rolling into Round Two of the XPRO Nitro Funny Car Championship at Willowbank, we just wanted to repeat our consistency as a team and for myself as a driver. It was a hot weekend, but our teams absolutely thrashed and the Rocket Industries Mustang made it to the A-Final against our teammate, Morice McMillin.
“I’m probably a little biased but there is nothing cooler than seeing the Aeroflow and Rocket Mustangs side by side together, especially when you’re racing your teammate for a Gold Christmas tree! The reality of that A-Final is that my team did a perfect job, I just let us down on the start line.
“This means that heading into the Riverbend Nationals there’s extra pressure to hold up my end as a driver as well as the expectations from a win last time we were down there.
“Every Nitro Funny Car driver is tough to race, so I really need to bring my best. We have Damon Paton joining the field and I know that both he and his team are going to be tough competition!
“We know what this Rocket Industries Mustang is capable of and I’ve got the best team behind me. I just need to do my part.”
Top Doorslammer was also on-track at the NDRC’s last visit to Tailem Bend, with Lisa Gregorini and her Scratch and Match Auto Colour team blazing through for what is believed to be the first victory by an all-female drag racing team in professional drag racing history.
Top Doorslammer will feature the biggest group one entry list of the event, with 14 of these incredible racing machines lining up for the event with Lisa to race alongside Matt Abel, Ronnie Palumbo, Steve Carlsen, John Zappia, Russell Taylor, Daniel Gregorini, Brodie Zappia, Peter Kapiris, Peter Lovering, Andrew Sutton, Mick Mahoney, Scott Ferguson, and Jeremy Callaghan.
“I am looking forward to heading back to Dragway at the Bend where we secured our first event win!” Lisa said.
“The conditions are looking good for making plenty of horsepower, so hopefully we can make some fast laps and potentially drop our PB even lower.”
While Top Fuel Motorcycle wasn’t on-track with the NDRC at the October Spring Nationals, it was in action there the next month for the Drag Bike Nationals, with Damian Muscat setting a new ET and Speed record while becoming only the second racer in Australia to run a ‘five second’ pass in the nitro-burning bracket.
Muscat will face off against Damian Martini, Greg Durack, Corey Buttigieg, and Danny Rickard.
“The JTS Nitro Phoenix Team are so excited to get back to The Bend as it is not only the newest track in the country, but it is the fastest track in the country,” Muscat said.
“The last time we raced there our team recorded the quickest and fastest time ever done in Australia on a Top Fuel Motorcycle, so we are ever so keen to pick up where we left off from, if the nitro gods let us.
“Either way, we’ll do what it takes to put on a show for the crowd in the stands and watching on the NDRC TV broadcast.
“We’re pretty busy in the pits but be sure to come and watch the crew frantically getting the bike ready between races.
“We’re currently leading the Championship and there’s no doubt that we’ll throw everything at it to hold our position against our competitors. We’re all friends, but when we’re on the start line, it is Game On! See you there!”
Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship racers will also descend on the state-of-the-art SA facility, in pursuit of Gold NDRC Christmas Trees and valuable championship points.
The Riverbend Nationals at Dragway at The Bend will be held across April 5 and 6, featuring NDRC racing for Top Fuel, XPRO Nitro Funny Car, Top Doorslammer and Top Fuel Motorcycle, as well as the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship. For event information, visit www.thebend.com.au/dragway or www.ndrc.tv
For details of other upcoming NDRC events, please visit https://nationaldragracing.com.au/calendar/
To learn more about the NDRC, visit www.ndrc.tv
