Season three of the National Drag Racing Championship (NDRC) is firing into life this Australia Day weekend at the Pro Alcohol Nationals and it isn’t time for the action to let up yet, with a full day of Pro Alcohol Nationals racing at Willowbank Raceway to come on Sunday 25 January.
Headlined by a fire-breathing XPRO Nitro Funny Car show, Pro Alcohol action, and a bumper field of more than 100 Aeroflow Sportsman Championship racers, the Pro Alcohol Nationals got underway Saturday January with an enthusiastic crowd of drag racing fans treated to non-stop qualifying action across day one of the two-day event.
In XPRO Nitro Funny Car, Josh Leahy was unbeatable in both qualifying sessions, making a statement from his (and the bracket’s) very first pass of the year to top Q1 with a 4.050/500.24kph run right out of the gate, before going on to lay down the first three second pass of 2026 for the NDRC in Q2 with a blistering 3.982 second effort at 513.60kph to delight the fans.
Coming in behind Leahy on the time sheets in both sessions was his Rocket Industries/Aeroflow Performance team mate and reigning NDRC XPRO Nitro Funny Car Champion, Morice McMillin, who, after an aborted start due to timing system issues, laid down a 4.468 second pass at 319.02kph in Q1 in his Boosted racing machine – a time which he would not better in Q2.
Damon Paton – the third car from the Rocket/Aeroflow stable – was third quickest after being pushed back from the line with issues in Q1, following that disappointment up with a 4.476/322.57kph effort in Q2. Adam Murrihy – making a comeback after his season-ending off-track motorbike injury 11 months ago – was fourth quickest (4.497/375.55kph), while Justin Walshe (4.500/317.16kph) rounded out the field.
“The day definitely started out great with a 4.05 for the first pass. The team are doing an excellent job pulling the car together, and it is pretty neat to be able to go out and do the performance we have with the new body with the new Rocket Industries livery on it,” Leahy said.
“It is really cool also to be able to run the first three second pass for the weekend, and I think there will be another one out there tomorrow in the racing – we will definitely see another three I think, possibly in the 320mph range – well into the 500ks.
“The track is definitely where it needs to be; it has been a great day for us, and we are really happy with it. Thank you to Rocket Industries, Aeroflow Performance, Geezers Wholesale, and the whole team at Rocket Industries and the whole race team who put this thing together.”
In the Pro Alcohol ranks, defending NDRC Pro Alcohol Champion Daniel Reed was quick from the get-go, laying down the best run of the first of three qualifying sessions to top the order early with a 5.560/424.73kph pass. Cheyne Phillips was next quickest in Q1 with a 5.595/423.49kph run – a result he would better in Q2 to leapfrog Reed (who improved to 5.516/263.62mph) to take the leading position heading into the third and final qualifier (5.484/429.87kph).
Come Q3 though, Reed was not settling for second on the totem pole – pulling out an impressive 5.440 run at 432.44kph to vault his way back to the top qualifier position ahead of Sunday’s race day. Philips was forced to settle for second on the sheets thanks to his Q2 time.
Luke Marsden was back in the seat after 18 months away and logged the third quickest time (5.539/403.52kph), sitting ahead of Darren Fry, who was making his Pro Alcohol dragster debut and ran two Personal Bests in the process, the quickest of which was his Q2 5.575/415.32kph. Stewart Prior was an impressive fifth quickest as he became the first in Australia to compete with an injected nitro Pro Alcohol dragster, with his 5.600/394.36kph effort coming in his one and only qualifier of the evening (in Q3).
“The car ran faultlessly, we just kept chasing and giving it more and more as the track cooled down and the weather got better. We gave it more and more as the night went on, and the car responded well to the conditions and the changes,” Reed explained.
“(Top Qualifying) certainly gives you more confidence heading into the racing, knowing that we have a good handle on the track in the hot conditions allows you to go into round one with a base set up you are confident will get on down there.
“We are definitely trying to defend (the title), so if we can get the win this weekend at the first round of our championship, that would be great. It would help with the confidence through the year, and it puts the pressure on the other competitors to up their game,” he concluded, while thanking ACDelco, All Star Batteries, Nulon Oils, and Belgravia Apparel, and Jack Brothers.”
Turning plenty of heads on and off the track was the striking blue machine of Ben Bray, with the legendary racer, multi-time champ, and son of Victor Bray making a surprise last-minute comeback to Pro Alcohol for this weekend which has proved very popular with the fans. Bray was seventh quickest with a 5.790 second pass at 324.45kph, putting him behind Andrew Searle (5.633/416.75kph) and ahead of Brett White (5.840/345.17kph) and Wayne Price (6.054/305.05kph).
With one final round of qualifying plus a full day of racing ahead for the Aeroflow Sportsman Championship, the following sportsman racers are currently leading the way in their respective brackets at the close of Saturday’s running: David Sheehy (Real Street), Eden Abela (Super Street), Karl Schulz (Junior Dragster), Mark Harding (Super Sedan), Marcus Macdonald (Junior Drag Bike), Daniel Carranza (Modified), Dale Marshall (Modified Bike), Simon Isherwood (Top Sportsman), Aaveen Autar (Performance Bike), Steve Sloan (Super Comp), and Peter Leahy (Supercharged Outlaws).
Outlaw Pro Mod 660 was also on track today, with John Ricca taking home the top qualifying honours ahead of racing for this non-championship bracket tomorrow.
The on-track action continues from 1pm local time on Sunday January 25, with the final round of qualifying and then racing for the Aeroflow Sportsman Championship, as well as three rounds of competition for the XPRO Nitro Funny Cars and Pro Alcohol racers as they look to find out who will hoist the first NDRC Christmas Tree trophies of 2026.
Tickets for day two of this Australia Day weekend extravaganza are still available. For more information, visit www.ndrc.tv and www.willowbankraceway.com.au/event/pro-alcohol-nationals/
To learn more about the NDRC, visit www.ndrc.tv
