Kevin Prendergast has resigned from his position as general manager of the Perth Motorplex after a 13-year tenure.

Australian drag racers Anthony Begley and Rod Bailey and their team are readying the Chemical Warfare Nitro Funny Car to head to the USA later this year for the final two events of the NHRA season in Las Vegas and Pomona.

After twenty plus years of consecutive competition in events all around Australia from Super Street to Group 1, O’Rourke Motorsport’s Grant and Debbie have announced that they will ‘park up’ for an unspecified time, following July’s back-to-back drag racing events in the Northern Territory.

While Queensland may have already come out on top in the current State of Origin Rugby League Series, for Top Fuel Motorcycle racers Chris Porter and Damian Muscat the battle will continue this weekend on two wheels as part of Hidden Valley Raceway’s Nitro Up North event (July 8 and 9, 2016).

A turbocharged issue of Drag News Magazine is ready to read, going behind the scenes with the top teams of Australian drag racing.

The ANDRA Championship Central Swing to open the 2016/2017 season will feature a bumper field of Top Doorslammers on back-to-back weekends in Darwin and Alice Springs.

Darwin will be the centre of Australia’s drag racing community come July 8 and 9, with a massive 124 entries received for Nitro Up North.

Australia has chalked up yet another Import or Sport Compact World Record – this one going to the GAS Racing camp.

WA drag racing looks set to resume uninterrupted from September with Perth Motorplex under government management for the time being. The calendar for 2016/17 has been released as follows:   National Opens Saturday 22 October 2016 (Drag Racing Track Championship)Saturday 19 November 2016 (Drag Racing Track Championship)Saturday 3 December 2016: Nitro SlamMonday 26 December 2016: Night of Fire (Boxing Day)Saturday 7 January 2017: Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car3-4 Saturday 2017: Goldenstates (Professional and Sportsman National Championship Drag Racing)4-5 March 2017: 46th Westernationals (Professional and Sportsman National Championship Drag Racing)25 March 2017 (Perth Motorplex Track Championship)8 April 2017: Drag Racing Grand Final   FAST Racing Series The ever-popular sportsman drag racing and speedway events begin on Saturday 8 October 2016 with the six-round season schedule. Round 1: Saturday 8 October 2016Round 2: Saturday 29 October 2016Round 3: Friday 25 November 2016Round 4: Friday 16 December 2016Round 5: Friday 17 February 2017Round 6: Saturday 22 April 2017 Drag Racing Minor Events Holden vs Ford ‘Take 2 of the 2016 event’ will kick start the quarter-mile events on Sunday 2 October 2016. Similarly on Sunday 23 October, the second shot at The 2016 Nostalgias. Both aforementioned events will commence their 2017 events later on in the season with The Nostalgias on Sunday 9 April 2017 and Holden vs Ford in its traditional Anzac Day position. Sunday 2 October: Kwinana Performance Holden vs Ford (2016)Sunday 23 October 2016: The Cruzin’ Nostalgias (2016)Sunday 9 April 2017: The Cruzin’ NostalgiasTuesday 25 April 2017: Kwinana Performance Holden vs Ford (Anzac Day)   Drag Racing Test Days Saturday 8 October 2016: 10am – 3pm (FAST Series to follow)Saturday 29 October 2016: 10am – 3pm (FAST Series to follow)Wednesday 1 February 2017: 10am – 4pmWednesday 1 March 2017: 10am – 4pm {fcomment}

Fourteen year old Darwin resident Brooke Harris is hoping the home track advantage will quieten the nerves and provide her an edge when it comes to taking on her fellow Summit Racing Equipment Junior Dragster competitors at next weekend’s Nitro Up North event. The event, to be held at Hidden Valley Raceway across July 8 and 9, includes the first round of the 2016 national Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Drag Racing Series, and will host racers from all across the country. According to the year nine Taminmin College student, the fact she would end up in racing was something of an inevitability. “My family and friends got me interested in drag racing and cars – my parents have owned a mechanic shop for 20 years in Darwin, so I think horsepower is in my blood,” Harris explained. “I love the adrenalin you get when you go down the track. My friends from school think it is cool and different, and really like that I do it. “I think there should be more girls like me in drag racing, because we are just as good as the boys. For me, the only lowlight is when I am not racing! “My biggest highlight so far has been winning the Junior Dragster bracket in 2015 and also taking out the Track Champion of Champions title the same year – which was my first year of racing.” For Harris, her ultimate goal is one which should make those who introduced her to the sport nervous. “My ultimate racing goal is to race one of my parents one day!” laughed Harris, who despite her urge to beat them on the track thanks her parents as well as her pit crew and her local sponsors for their support. As a local, the Hidden Valley Raceway is a home away from Home for the Harris. “Hidden Valley is a really good track, I have grown up around it and seen it change so much. It is run by a great bunch of people,” she said. “I am pretty excited to be racing in such a big field next weekend and against people from all around Australia. “I like to think I will have a home track advantage, because I feel that I won’t be as nervous as I would be racing away from home. “In the end, I just want to have fun and hopefully take a win.” {fcomment}