Australian Jamie Noonan has secured his first NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Top Alcohol Dragster world championship, clinching the title at the final West Region/Pacific Division event in Las Vegas for the Samsel’s Racing team.
Noonan wasn’t competing at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The championship was decided when his closest rival, two-time defending champion Shawn Cowie, fell in the semifinals to Melanie Johnson. Cowie needed to win the Las Vegas event and the season-ending In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals to claim a third straight title.
The championship caps a standout season for the transplanted Australian, who now operates his highly regarded Noonan Ultimate Race Engineering company in the United States.
Noonan opened the season with a victory at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, then strengthened his points lead with another win at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals.
At the Mopar NHRA Las Vegas Nationals event, a week prior to last week’s divisional event, Noonan came within a whisker of wrapping up the title falling just one round win short of the title, but Noonan’s title was confirmed on Nov. 7, still without needing to fire another shot at the NHRA Finals in Pomona which is set to close out the season.
The feat mirrors Steve Harker’s achievement in 2014 when he won the NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car Championship where he became the first international driver to win a NHRA World Title.
