Rick Gauci and the Nitro Express ’57 Chev Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funnycar won another Rocket Trophy after a dominant performance at Springmount Raceway last night. Eleven AONFC teams rocked into Springmount to put on a show in front of another huge Far North Queensland crowd at one Australia’s newest Drag Racing facilities.
One Bad Kiwi fired the first shot in round one, with an off the trailer 5.73 second run at 256mph. Nitro Express eclipsed that with a stunning 5.58 at 264mph, just one thousandth off a second off the AONFC track record at Springmount. Other first round winners were Dark Horse, LA Hooker, The Bandit, and Insanity on a bye run.
Nitro Express opened the second round with a track record 5.56 at 260mph, and a win over King Kong. Emma Begley in Lets Boogie won the second pairing, with a giant killing run over The Bandit. One Bad Kiwi improved to a 5.68 at 253mph over Dark Horse, with Stormtrooper, Terminator, and Time Traveller also winners in round two. Nitro Express and One Bad Kiwi were tied on six points each with two wins apiece and would face each other in the final for the overall victory. With the winner to come from the final pairing, 7 other cars were still in with a chance of scoring a podium.
In the final round, LA Hooker won against King Kong, Bandit over Time Traveller, Dark Horse over Lets Boogie, and Stormtrooper won over Terminator. In the final for the win, Nitro Express rocked another 5.58 at 260mph to win overall against One Bad Kiwi, who unfortunately suffered a clutch issue, but would have to have run a PB on the night to beat Nitro Express anyway.
So it was Rick Gauci in Nitro Express taking the overall victory, and with the other fastest times in the final round deciding the podium on a tiebreak, Josh Leahy in The Bandit finished second, and Josh’s Dad Greg getting third overall in Stormtrooper.
Clear skies also allowed for a great day of racing at Springmount Raceway for the opening round of the 400 Thunder Sportsman championship for the 2019/20 season. Very healthy fields across all contested categories saw a great mix of local and travelled racers compete for the much sought after gold and silver 400 Thunder trophies. After a full day of qualifying and racing, with some hotly contested racing, the following racers collected the goods:
Junior Dragster
Winner – Jackson Perri
Runner Up – Alex Kidd
Super Street
Winner – Shaun Doeblien
Runner Up – Phil Jenner
Modified Bike
Winner – Alan Annis Jr.
Runner Up – Craig Olive
Super Sedan
Winner – Brian Shorey
Runner Up – John Piotto
Modified
Winner – Kellie Kidd
Runner Up – Dallas Everett
Top Sportsman
Winner – Jason Stares
Runner Up – Michael Saccu
