The Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs was billed as Sydney’s biggest nitro show in years, and it well and truly delivered across May 1-3 at Sydney Dragway as part of the National Drag Racing Championship (NDRC).
On-track were an incredible 75 Group One racers across all eight elite level brackets, giving fans the chance to experience 11,000hp/500kph+ BLAHST Top Fuel and XPRO Nitro Funny Cars, Top Doorslammers, Top Fuel Motorcycles, Pro Alcohol, Pro Stock, Pro Mod, and Pro Stock Motorcycle competition all at the one event.
Joining them were 232 Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship and 1677 crew members, all working together to provide a fantastic drag racing experience. Overall attendance for the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs was 23,276, including spectators, racers, crews, sponsors and guests (Friday 3,357, Saturday 11,326, and Sunday 8,593).
When it came to the NDRC Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs racing, the quality of the on-track performances well and truly matched the quality of the above numbers.
In BLAHST Top Fuel, Top Qualifier Wayne Newby might have been the man to beat on Saturday, but Sunday was Phil Lamattina’s day, with the ‘Carrot King’ taking out his first ever Sydney Dragway event victory after more than 20 years trying, snatching the win at the line thanks to his 3.815/515.19kph pass to Newby’s 3.844 at 419.33kph.
Lamattina’s emotional victory followed two earlier wins – first in a round one match-up against RAI’s Shane Olive (3.798/519.88kph to 4.162/373.35kph) which he described as a “David versus Goliath” win, before he faced off against Kyle Putland (4.108/428.68kph) in the second round, with his 3.818 pass at 518kph well and truly earning him his spot in the A-Final.
Newby meanwhile was in similarly good form during the rounds, turning the win light on twice – first with a 3.757 at 531.96kph from Putland (4.381 with a dropped cylinder) in round one, followed by a 3.802 525.29kph solo pass.
Newby was left to run on his own in the second round as his team-mate Damien Harris was left with chassis damage after a dramatic round one against Steve Read. In this pass, the entire audience at Sydney Dragway and watching on 7plus were left holding their breath as Harris’ RAI dragster pitched and snapped back and forward across the lanes, at one point remarkably being on only three wheels.
The B-Final went to Olive, while the C-Final win went the way of Putland – with the pair teaming up to put on a paired run for the crowd when Read (engine issues after round two) was forced to join Harris on the sidelines. Before making it to the B-Final, Olive had celebrated a new PB of 3.782 at 527.57kph in the second round in what was only his sixth run in the RAI car, something he was particularly thankful for after struggling with computer and mechanical issues in the first-round match-up with Lamattina. Putland meanwhile had a difficult day, with issues with reverse in the second round, a dropped cylinder, and then a thrown belt in the final.
“Thank you, thank you! I finally got the monkey off my back!” enthused Lamattina, the championship leader who also took the win at the Riverbend Nationals.
“Oh man, I don’t know who to thank first; obviously, my wife Sarah. Man, we’ve been doing this a long time. My brother John actually got a win here in Sydney before me, and (son) Luca too. Thank you also to FUCHS, they have been supporting me for more than 20 years, and Dean and the boys.
“The Rapisardas are obviously pushing us to the limit, and we responded. But to Sarah and the whole family who sacrifice so much for us to be able to do what we do: thank you, thank you, thank you. The car is running so good – it is a bracket car.
“We’re looking forward to the rest of the season; we’ve got our heads down and bottoms up this year to do all the hard work back at the shop. And this is the reward, obviously, for all the crew – every man, woman, and child – that helps out.”
For defending XPRO Nitro Funny Car Champ Morice McMillin, it was a wild ride to back-to-back Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs victories, with the CEO of Rocket Industries having to fight his 11,000hp machine all the way to taking the win over his team-mate, and last year’s runner-up, Josh Leahy, with a 4.143 second pass at 400.61kph. Leahy meanwhile was off the throttle early after going up in tyre smoke.
Top Qualifier McMillin had started his day with an ugly 10.742 second round one win over Paton who tripped the tree .04 early before going on to wiggle down the track, while Leahy also was successful in round one with a 3.956/515.56kph pass following a motor swap, over Walshe’s 4.019/506.18kph effort. In round two, McMillin turned another tough drive into a 4.378 win, this time over Walshe who up in smoke and shut off at the start line. Leahy (3.999/498.41kph) and Paton meanwhile were on for a drag race early before Paton got crossed up at mid-track (4.373/350.01kph).
“That thing was wild; it was all over the place. I was steering the ‘you-know-what’ out of it that I can’t say here!” laughed McMillin after the A-Final.
“We’ve been working on this combo for a while, and this weekend we showed potential. At half-track, this thing is a bullet; it is so fast,” he said with a grin.
“But, Justin Walshe, man. He’s been trying so long to run these numbers. I don’t think anyone outside of America is running funny cars like this, so I’m just so proud of everyone here. It is just awesome.
“Every car here ran really awesome this weekend. We’ll work hard on Damo’s (Damon Paton) over the next few weeks. Watch out for the Winters!”
While he didn’t get to go to the A-Final, you would have been forgiven for assuming otherwise when witnessing the emotional celebrations from a fist-pumping Walshe and his crew at the end of the event, such was their elation at breaking through for their first ever three second pass (3.964 at 525.78kph). The new personal best came as part of their B-Final win over another tough red light for Paton – seeing them finally able to don the commemorative three-second merch the team had had at the ready.
“Man, that is for the crew. Driving these cars, it is like pulling a freight train. It was hauling down the track and I’m thinking, ‘Yea, this is going! This is going!’” he said with an exhale as the moment began to sink in.
“I just gotta thank everyone. All the crew, all the fans, the NDRC, IHRA, Sydney Dragway, Rocket Industries, Harts Paint Supplies, Aeroflow, my business, my staff. I just ran a three-second pass. There’s less than 40 people in the world licensed to drive nitro funny cars. There’s probably fewer than 20 people who have run a three-second pass and I’ve just become the 21st. All I can say is: TRUCK YEAH!”
Also impressing in XPRO Nitro Funny Car was Luke Shepherd, who completed a number of exhibition passes across the weekend as he works towards completing his licensing – including a personal best 4.255 that saw the team ecstatic with the progress made so far.
In Top Doorslammer, it was an action-packed weekend from start to finish with a large field delivering plenty of close racing action.
All the way to the A-Final, Jeremy Callaghan was on a charge – Top Qualifying on Saturday with a PB before going on for a solo 5.624/417.96kph pass in round one before victory in round two with his latest PB – a 4.607/417.07kph which was whisper close to the national record for both ET and speed – over Lisa Gregorini (6.332).
When it came to the A-Final though, the two-time and defending champ Russell Taylor (5.603/413.50kph) saved his best to last to take the win over the Canberran (5.653/416.35kph) in an epic drag race between the two which had the fans on the edge of their seats. The result saw Taylor add a third and final victory for the day to his earlier wins over Salim Matta (5.657/413.50kph v 5.735/409.44kph) and Daniel Gregorini (5.627/411.94kph v 9.109/143.05kph) – who with his team had pulled off an incredible feat to even be on-track Sunday after his roll-over in the sand trap during Saturday’s qualifying.
The B-Final victory went to Brodie Zappia (5.744/401.28kph) on a solo after Emilio Spinozzi was unable to front, while Rob Harrington (5.814/399.06kph) took out the C-Final over Ronnie Palumbo (9.501). John Zappia and Salim Matta faced off in the D-Final, with the veteran Zappia finally getting a win for his day with a 5.692/402.70kph run to Matta’s 5.716/408.83kph effort.
Also turning heads this weekend in Top Doorslammer was debutant Brody Davies, who pulled off an underdog win over John Zappia in round two while running a personal best of 5.957.
“This is a good one and credit to Jeremy and his crew; they’re tough competitors. And to all my crew, I couldn’t ask more anymore,” Taylor said.
“The NDRC puts on an unreal event and always has. Without all the competitors in the group, we don’t have a class, so thank you.”
In Top Fuel Motorcycle, it was a tough day all round for the pilots of these nitro-throwing bikes, with Leonard Azzopardi ultimately taking out the A-Final win over Corey Buttigieg, while Danny Rickard was awarded the B-Final win over Ian Ashelford.
In Pro Stock, racing in pink this weekend for the McGrath Foundation, it was Rob Dekert who lifted the NDRC Gold Christmas Tree at the end of a hotly contested day of racing. Dekert and his pink-themed Unique Racing Pro Stocker took the A-Final win over Omar Sedmak with a 6.925 second pass as Sedmak fouled at the line, after having earlier taken wins over Tony Polito (6.948 v 12.748) in round one and with a solo in round two (6.920). Sedmak had earned his place in the final stand with wins over Thomas Leake (6.982 v 7.035) and Polito (6.945 v 7.128).
In the B-Final, it was Clint George who would take a tight 7.059 v 7.061 win over Rick Chilton, for who the weekend marked his final event before his retirement from racing, while the C-Final went the way of Darryl Stephen (7.210) from Nino Cavallo (8.515). Ray Oxley meanwhile completed a solo in the D-Final, running a 7.154.
As someone very close to the late Hayley Turns, a much-missed member of the Pro Stock and wider drag racing community, it was a very emotional win for Dekert.
“We’ve been struggling all weekend, and we finally got a win out of this. This is dedicated to Hayley; she passed away last year from cancer. It’s all for her,” Dekert said.
In Pro Mod, Barry Plumpton was rewarded for making the trip across the Tasman from his home in New Zealand to compete at the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs – taking out the A-Final over local hero Joe Gauci in a thrilling 5.869 v 5.974 drag race.
It had been a strong day for the Kiwi in the class that runs to a 5.85 index, who had earlier taken two wins from Joseph Murina – who red lit in the first round and ran too fast in the second while Plumpton laid down 5.888 and 5.833 times. Gauci meanwhile had tasted success in round one over Rob Campisi (5.897 v 5.955) and Craig Hewitt in round two (5.862 v 6.102).
Adam Tassone took the B-Final win on a solo 5.910 when Jeremy Martin was unable to take the start, while Zack Knezevic (5.85) and Zoran Gajic both had a wild ride in the B-Final, with Knezevic taking the win. In the D-Final, it was Hewitt v Campisi, with the win going to Hewitt (6.061) when Campisi broke-out (5.748).
“This is awesome, thank you very much. It is good to come over here; we love racing here. We love the track, and Joe (Gauci) is an awesome competitor. It is always worth the trip over from New Zealand,” Plumpton said post-race.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Callam Godeassi – making his comeback to the sport – pointed towards consistency as the key factor in his successful day, which concluded with a 7.178 A-Final victory over Tony Frost’s 7.312 after a 7.130 round one win over Scott White’s 9.449 and a round two 7.146 solo. Frost had secured his place in the A-Final with wins over Ryan Learmonth and Paul Andrews.
“I’d like to thank the team, they are who made this happen,” Godeassi said with a smile.
“They’ve been great all weekend, they haven’t missed a beat. The bike has been really consistent, so thanks to Riley Gilbert, Dale Gilbert, dad, and Trevor Gilbert for building us a rock-solid engine.”
In Pro Alcohol, Daniel Reed has another NDRC Gold Christmas Tree trophy to add to the mantle, with the reigning champ taking the win over Chris Hargrave in an exciting A-Final that saw the pair thunder down the drag strip at 5.425/435.55kph and 5.564/417.80kph respectively.
Reed had earlier defeated Andrew Searle in round one (5.466 v 5.590) before a solo 5.476/432.35kph in the second round, while Hargrave had beaten John Cannuli in round one (5.585 to 5.648) before also benefiting from a round two solo (5.574/418.84kph). The B-Final went to Cheyne Phillips (5.461), while Cannuli took the C-Final win.
Also on-track this weekend were 232 Aeroflow Sportsman Championship racers, with the following racers taking out the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs wins for their respective brackets: Karl Schulz (Aeroflow Junior Dragster, from runner-up Zayne Condello), Aliza Harris (Aeroflow Junior Drag Bike – from r-up Lincon Bonwick), David Matosevic (Super Street, from r-up Corey Stutchbury), Craig Geddes (Super Comp, from r-up Warren Allen), Dean Jamieson (Modified Bike, from r-up Mathew Jones), Vanessa Rohdmann (Performance Bike, from r-up Ken Collin), Josh Fletcher (Supercharged Outlaws, from r-up Tim Gruber), Jack Moreau (Super Sedan, from Sean Maher), Matthew Barron (Top Sportsman, from r-up Vlado Turic) and Harrison Fletcher (Modified, from r-up Cory Dyson).
Next up for the NDRC is the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals, which will again host all eight pro level brackets plus the Aeroflow Sportsman Championship – the second of only three occasions in 2026 where all of the brackets will race together.
This massive event will hit Willowbank Raceway across June 4-7, with tickets on sale now. For event info and to purchase tickets, go to https://nationaldragracing.com.au/event/winternationals/
