Tremaniac Racing have spoken honestly in their latest press release about issues with the recent Southern Nationals event at Calder Park.

With the disco lights and pumping music Santo’s Super 3 Extreme Drag Race is the most colourful event on the drag racing calendar. Here is a epic gallery covering all that colour plus the action from Willowbank’s Easter weekend extravaganza.

Popular Modified racer Leanne Braggs suffered a heavy top end crash at Mildura on Saturday night in her seriously quick altered. Leanne was knocked unconscious for a lengthy period and continued to drift in and out of consciousness during a long extraction period from the wreck.

  Allan Dobson reached his second A Final in as many nights to secure the Louie Rapisarda Top Fuel Trophy for Rapisarda Autosport International while Gary Phillips set a new national record for Top Alcohol Funny Car on his way to another ANDRA Drag Racing Series win.

Rapisarda Autosport dominated the opening night of the Santo’s Super 3 Extreme Drag Race presented by Uplift Cranes & Titan Cranes on Good Friday at Willowbank Raceway.

Welcome to our live coverage and new blog from the Santo’s Super 3 Extreme Drag Race at Willowbank Raceway. The event features ANDRA championship rounds five and six for Top Fuel and rounds two and three for Top Alcohol.

The Mildura CBD has been rocked by the sounds of nitro after the Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car teams served up an appetiser of the huge show they have planned for Saturday at the newly resurfaced Sunset Strip.

Confusion over similar sounding names is something we have all had to deal with. But imagine you had the same name as one of your competitors. This has been the unique bug bear of two racers who will line up this Good Friday and Easter Saturday for the Santo’s Super 3 Extreme Drag Race presented by Uplift Cranes and Titan Cranes at Willowbank Raceway. For decades, Steve Reed and Steve Read have dealt with confusion and cases of mistaken identity. Only a single letter distinguishes the differences between their names, causing one to rely on a nickname based on his European heritage to allow him to stand apart. “Obviously with both of us racing in Top Alcohol at the same time it was pretty confusing at times for spectators and for commentators, so ‘the Pom’ nickname came about to differentiate us and it has just stuck,” said Read. Causing more confusion was the fact that both ‘Steves’ successfully raced in the Top Alcohol bracket for years, even taking back to back national championships. Today, the ‘Pom’ races in Top Fuel and clean-swept the 2013 running of the Easter event which the pair are currently preparing for. “We had some great times back then – we were direct competitors, he won some and I won some, there was some confusion with our names from time to time, but the Pom name stuck and it all worked out,” said Steve Reed. “Now that he is in Top Fuel there isn’t as much confusion or competition, I think we both have a pretty good chance of success this weekend – we are similar kinds of racers, both focusing on consistency.” Both racers will be on track this Good Friday and Easter Saturday for the Santo’s Super 3 Extreme Drag Race, presented by Uplift Cranes and Titan Cranes. Unlike the traditional drag racing format, this weekend’s action will include two nights of championship competition with separate finals for both.  “At Willowbank Raceway we wanted to give the fans exactly what they want – they have been asking for a short and sharp show and we tried it last year and are going to build on it this year, Willowbank Raceway is really leading the way in entertainment for Australian drag racing,” said Steve Reed, a board member of Willowbank Raceway. “If you are thinking about coming out this weekend, just do it – there is going to be theatrics, there is going to be tight racing, every category is going to be heads up pro start racing, it is going to be a great two days out!” ‘The Pom’ was quick to echo his counterpart’s comments. “It is, the ultimate feeling in the world, these cars are the fastest on the planet, it is an absolute privilege to race them,” said Steve ‘The Pom’ Read. “Just come out here and experience it, it’s a short and sharp program, the best race cars in drag racing, why wouldn’t you want to be out here?”  The Santo’s Super 3 Extreme Drag Race, presented by Uplift Cranes and Titan Cranes, will come to Willowbank Raceway for Good Friday (April 18) and Easter Saturday (April 19) in 2014. The second running of the event will again feature two rounds of ANDRA championship racing each for the brackets of Top Fuel and Titan Cranes Top Alcohol in the emerging ‘three-round’ format, with the Top Fuel pilots also set to once again fight it out for the added honour of the Louie Rapisarda Top Fuel Trophy. Each night from 5.00pm to 9.30pm (approximately) these national show-stoppers will be supported by a fast-paced and action-packed program of entertainment including Top Fuel Motorcycles, Top Doorslammers, Pro Street and three closely-matched categories amid a flurry of on-track light and audio-visual theatrics. For information on the race formats, please see the ‘event information’ further in this release or click here. Spectator tickets for the Santo’s Super 3 Extreme Drag Race presented by Uplift Cranes and Titan Cranes are now available at www.willowbankraceway.com.au with tickets starting at just $35.00 for adults and $30.00 for students/concession card holders with ID, while children aged 13 and under gain free admission. A special pre-purchase only two-day admission pass is also on offer until 16 April 2014. For more information, click here. Willowbank Raceway is Queensland’s premier drag racing facility, located 45 minutes from Brisbane or just a short drive from Ipswich, offering a year-round program of events for the entire family. For more information including a full event calendar, please visitwww.willowbankraceway.com.au {fcomment}

The PremiAir Hire top fuel team look set to be a dark horse at this weekend’s Super 3 Extreme Drag Race after solid testing numbers today for new driver Peter Xiberras.

Santo Rapisarda is naturally excited about his namesake event at Willowbank Raceway this Easter weekend.

At the 43rd Westernationals, Phil Lamattina did something you won’t see very often. Pushing hard for another ANDRA Drag Racing Series victory, he left some low hanging fruit on the tree… and he wasn’t happy.

Veteran Steven Ham will be a cautious participant at the Santo’s Super 3 Extreme Drag Race presented by Uplift Cranes and Titan Cranes this Easter weekend even though he knows being cautious could punt his team from the running.

With a huge field of 10 Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Cars set to take to Mildura’s Sunset Strip Saturday April 19, the new racing surface is being prepared to the highest possible standard, which means the teams will be able to use the full 4000hp being produced by their supercharged nitro engines.

  A combined 56,000 nitro horsepower will come to bear on Queensland’s Willowbank Raceway this Friday and Saturday with the running of Santo’s Super 3 Extreme presented by Uplift Cranes and Titan Cranes. Seven of Australia’s quickest Top Fuel dragsters and their pilots are set to do battle in two separate ANDRA championship rounds over two nights. Not only will racers vie for championship points but also for the Louie Rapisarda Top Fuel Trophy. It will be the third event for 32 year old John Lamattina, the youngest brother of the Lamattina Top Fuel Racing team. Like many younger brothers, Lamattina gets the hand me downs. At least that is the joke going around his race team after older brother Phil took the wheel of the dragster John piloted last season, with Phil’s rail passed to John. “Phil calls it the hand me down and I didn’t at first but now I am starting to,” John laughed. “But we tested it at Sydney Dragway a few weeks ago with a new front end like what is on the other car and it is ready to go.” John, who enjoys hunting around the family’s carrot farm when the family isn’t away racing, said he wasn’t the type to set goals or targets and that Top Fuel racing was just something he likes to do when the team has the opportunity to field two cars. “If I was racing full time I’d say I want to win a championship, but not doing all the rounds means the championship is out of reach,” he said. “But I’d like to perform well side by side against Phil – he’s the measuring stick. “I don’t single any one racer out as someone I’d like to beat, you need to respect everybody.” The brothers have been sharing tips on how to tackle Willowbank Raceway though, unique in respect to its downhill braking area. “I asked Phil about Brisbane because there has always been different opinions on what it is like there,” he said. “The timing boards are not actually on the finish line and you can’t see the run off (braking area) from the track. He gave me an insight on that so that it is not a surprise when it happens.” Lamattina will take on the strongest field yet this season that includes not just older brother and points leader Phil, but last year’s event winner Steve Read, three times former Australian champion Phil Read, Damien Harris, Allan Dobson and newcomer Peter Xiberras. It will be full throttle nitro competition not to be missed. Racing runs from 5.00pm to 9.30pm each night and will be supported by championship Top Alcohol racing and a program of entertainment including Top Fuel Motorcycles, Top Doorslammers and Pro Street amid a flurry of on-track light and audio-visual theatrics. Tickets are available at www.willowbankraceway.com.au or at the gate.

The Southern Nationals presented by Fiat Professional & Essendon Chrysler Jeep Dodge was the first time three Group 1 brackets were at Calder Park for quite some time, generating lots of interest amongst the Victorian racers, as well as sparking off some great memories for many racers, including Darwin’s Scott White. “I remember coming to Calder Park in the nineties and racing in oversubscribed Pro Stock Motorcycle fields. Back then drag racing attracted huge crowds of over 40,000 so it was easy to get excited about coming back again,” said White. “We were here last October for a Pro Stock Motorcycle round so were hoping to go one step further this time around. Being the first round of the 2014 ANDRA Championship I was looking to grab as many points as possible. On Friday White prepared for his first qualifier but a broken throttle didn’t allow for a full power run. Making matters worse was that he was in the right lane. “Lane two was extremely bumpy,” said White. Our bike jumped up off the ground at an incredible height which also threw the body off as well as a few other bits. Unfortunately the second qualifier was cancelled because the dew and cold had made the track unsafe.” The following day Group 1 had their final qualifier and White was pumped to run a solid number over the quarter-mile. “The sun was out I was in lane one which was obviously the better lane. Calder is definitely a one-lane track, no doubt about it. Who ever top qualified or had the quicker ET would pick lane one on the left hand side for eliminations.” “Anyway the bike made good horsepower but spun up at the hit. Probably rotated three or four times and then moved me towards the wall. By the time I pulled it back I’d already lost a bit of time. The 8.3 ET was our quickest run of the weekend and it put me in fourth spot,” said White. Eliminations saw six bikes front for the first round and White would face number three qualifier Phil Howard. “Round one, well that’s another interesting story. I was in the middle of adjusting the clutch when the TV crew came and did an interview and they wanted to do it right then and there. In hindsight I should have said no, go away,” said White with a grin. “Anyway I did the interview and waved to the other guys on the crew that I’d finished with the clutch and to put the cover back on. It wasn’t until I was on the line, ready to go that I realised those bolts are still in the clutch. So had to think real quickly about what we were going to do and what damage could be done.” “In the end it seemed to do a burnout so I said lets stage and see how it goes. But on the hit it just spun the clutch and bucked like a bull.” “On both of the two qualifying runs we had no data which wasn’t helpful because we didn’t know what was going on. For the first round we at least got data but we already knew what was going on with the clutch. That will never happen again.” “Overall the conditions made for a very trying event but there were a lot of people who were more unfortunate than us. It was a shame to see the Buell go down and also how the meeting ended early on Saturday night, but on a positive note the engine is fine and in one piece and I have some points on the board.” “It was a difficult weekend for all concerned and I’m sure I’m not alone in saying how I’m looking forward to Sydney for the X-Champs in May. Bring it on!”