West Australian second year Top Fuel Drag Racer Kyle Putland sports a smile as bright as the yellow crew shirts his team wear on the start line and that cheeky grin will be back big time on Saturday and Sunday October 21 and 22.
His infectious raw enthusiasm and energy have certainly made an impact in the 11,000hp nitro high-wire show that is Top Fuel Australia in a very short time.
Putland and his team are making the trek across the Nullarbor from Maida Vale WA to Tailem Bend SA where the brand new $40 million dollar “Dragway at the Bend” plays host to the first ever Top Fuel Australia round of the brand new NDRC – National Drag Racing Championship.
It coincides with the first round of the Top Fuel Australia Championship for 2023/2024.
He’s armed to the teeth with a new to the team race-car as well.
“We’ve been busy in the off-season,” smiles Putland, “We have a new car for our second season that we bought from Bill Miller in the USA. Bill has been a huge asset to our program already and we can’t thank him enough for stepping up even further this year. As far as actual competition we’ve learned a lot in our first year and we know we have so much more to learn yet. Our best ET was a 4.07 at Sydney Dragway in May and we feel confident that we’re on target to be in the three’s soon.
“The teams we’re racing against have collective decades of experience behind the wheel and behind the blower so we’re just happy to be part of this amazing community. We are very aware that this is a steep learning curve.”
Putland has timed his foray into the sport perfectly.
After his maiden season in 2022/2023 with selected runs in the Burson Top Fuel Australia Championship Putland was buoyed by the team’s performance and encouraged by their progress.
“It’s not hard to see why this sport is so addictive,” he says, “Once you hit that throttle all you want to do is go faster and faster. The Top Fuel Australia events are nearly always sold out and the atmosphere is electric. This series is headed into an even bigger era. We’ve gone away at the end of last season in June and made a sizeable investment in our inventory and a huge change in our mindset.”
The Bill Miller car arrived here in Australia in July and in addition to new blowers and injector hats for the current motor program the Putland family will be sporting some new seriously big smiles at the unveil of the Dragway at the Bend in South Australia next weekend.
“This car ran 3.76 (ET) in Las Vegas at its last run so we know it can run stout numbers,” Kyle grins, “It’s just up to us to convert that performance in the USA to consistency here in Australia.”
The team tested the new car in Western Australia last weekend at The Perth Motorplex where it ran a strong 3.23s to half track.
“We’ve got a fantastic team of sponsors on board for 2023/2024,” Putland smiles, “And we’re grateful for the support of Worx Exquipment, Hydraulic Technical Solutions, Oil and Energy, Mactrack and Wildink. We can’t wait to get to the Bend and get this year started! Our test session last weekend was a perfect build up to the first round next week. We can’t wait to get it on.”
Worx Equipment
www.worxequipment.com.au
Oil & Energy Pty Ltd
www.oilandenergy.com.au
MacTrack – GPS Tracking Made Easy
www.mactrack.com.au
Hydraulic Technical Solutions
www.hydraulictechnicalsolutions.com.au
Wild Ink by Activated Industry
www.activatedindustry.com.au
Harness-Tech
www.harnesstech.com.au
