For a sport based rigidly on the principle of straight lines, the NDRC Australian Top Doorslammer Championship sure does have some twists and turns.
As we head into the sixth round of the Championship for the iconic Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs with fifteen cars it’s a bookie’s nightmare. Sure, some things you can set your watch by.
Russell Taylor, defending champion and points leader, will be rapid. Eleven times Aussie champ John Zappia will be capable of anything. The Crow Cams Australia Quick Time $1000 generally gets alternated between the two of them.
But aside from that, how much can you really predict?
Certainly Russell Taylor’s sleek Royal Precision Lubricants SS Camaro is on the money almost every single time it touches concrete. By his own admission it’s only if Russell’s mind gets in the way of something spectacular happening the 2024 Australian Champ is well on his way to back-to-back national championships – as only a second year Slammer racer remember!
The Riverbend Nationals at The Bend saw the return of Steven Ham to the operation alongside Stu Rowland and the boys and Russell took the Crow Cams #1 qualifier $1000 and went to the A-Final before red lighting alongside Callaghan. As it stands Taylor is looking at building a round worth of points advantage by the time he reaches the Winternationals – a place where he dominated with a clean sweep last year!
If you need any convincing at all of the unpredictable nature of the ‘Slammer vibe’ however you need look no further than the Riverbend Nationals at Dragway at The Bend last month where Canberra’s Jeremy Callaghan pulled off a comeback bigger than Lazarus to win his first ever Doorslammer Gold Christmas Tree.
The fact that he did it just weeks after he put the Moits Camaro on its lid in the first pass of the Westernationals in Perth is remarkable to say the least. Whilst A1 Russell Taylor hung a big cherry on the tree in the A-Final alongside him Jeremy’s stout .009 light and subsequent 5.75 proved he was more than worthy of the gold he took home as redemption – does Callaghan have the Moits mojo to do that again?
Prior to The Bend you would have said a firm no. But now?
Defending Nitro Champs champion is Daniel Gregorini. The former Aussie champ saved his best for last in 2024 ending the season a high (electing not to compete at The Winters) with a win in the A-Final and wifey Lisa winning the B-Final to cap it off. It’s been a season so far littered with speed and yet speed bumps for ‘Youngblood’ as he focuses on the two-car Scratch and Match operation juggling his own aspirations and that of his emerging talent wife.
Speaking of Mrs Youngblood she comes into Sydney with a truckload of confidence and second place in the Championship having slightly opened up her advantage over John and Brodie Zappia after The Bend. Already with her first Championship victory at the Spring Nationals late last year Lisa has one of her fondest memories at the Nitro’s – an upset win over John Zappia. It’s that kind of form that she’ll need to maintain to stay ahead of the wily Perth icon. Constantly lowering her PB’s and now with growing confidence and car control she’s more than capable.
Speaking of Zappias. There’s no doubt that John will have the FUCHS Dananni Monaro on point as he tries to both run down Lisa and leader Russell Taylor whilst also trying to stay ahead of his uber-impressive rookie nephew Brodie. The terms ‘second’ and ‘third placed’ are terms that the Bibra Lake legend refuses to let roll off his tongue so he’ll be armed to the teeth this weekend. If there’s a more single-minded individual in any form of sport let us know – we’ll wait.
Nephew B-Zap has made quite the entrance. Just like 2023/2024 rookies Russell Taylor, Ronnie Palumbo and Lisa Gregorini the teenage Sandgroper has taken the Slammer world by storm and shown he has what it takes within weeks of his debut. With several wins for the season already including the mammoth Westernationals victory in Perth he’s a wild card every time he stages in the Max Plant Monaro. Brodie makes his Slammer Sydney debut at the Nitros and will be looking to continue his speed and consistency (aiming for 5.70’s at least) as he tries for his second Gold Christmas Tree in three months.
Darwin’s Matt Abel deserves redemption. And respect from his time here in Sydney. The quietly spoken pilot of the black All Coast Hire 57’ had a torrid time of it last year when a rear wheel issue saw the black beauty power drive into the left hand lane wall and send him to meet the medical team or they in return to him. Matt fortunately faired better than his beloved Chevy however and a major rebuild was on the cards as a result. Not many people are as fiercely defiant and stubborn despite frustration than the man from Marlows Lagoon. He’ll come back to the Harbour City with a vengeance for Nitro Champs.
To say that Peter Kapiris had a complex weekend at the Riverbend Nationals earlier this month would be like saying Russell Taylor likes iced coffee. Band leaders Jeff Cutajar and Jason Cunliffe elected to put the Saratoga to bed very early in the weekend with a plan to head to Maurice Fabietti’s and begin work on four link modifications ahead of this weekend to tame down the red and black beauty which reduced the normally million watt smile of Kapiris to a look of consternation for the normally chirpy market gardener all weekend.
Sydney’s fastest golf cart driver Peter Lovering. Wait, what?
Hurried repairs to the newly lightened Shoebox operation (courtesy of the much lighter body – the car) after an unexpected complication where the window in the passenger door delaminated saw Pete “Shut up and take my money” Lovering more aggravated than when his KFC chips aren’t up to scratch in drive-thru. Ingeniously they raided Jeremy Callaghan’s golf cart windscreen and ‘bush mechanic’d it into the space to get Pete back out there in the ATTCALL 55’. Engine woes forced him to retire from the weekend early but the Shoebox boys and girls are eager to impress at home this weekend.
Sydneysider Ronnie Palumbo is a ‘last-start-Sydney’ winner having scored victory in the Jamboree a few weeks back before heading to The Bend for his second round of the NDRC TD Championship.
Ronnie took the AC Delco Monaro – with Maurice and Mary Fabietti celebrating twenty years of partnership with General Motors – and won the B-Final with a Holeshot 5.71 against Lisa Gregorini’s 5.68. The team worked to overcome tyre roll out issues that made planting the front end on the ground problematic but still the team finish the weekend on a high and Fab promises ‘we won’t be having those dramas again at home’ as the team rolls out in front of the home town fans.
Watching fellow Kiwi Steve Carlsen gave Nigel Dixon the moxy he needed to get into the game at Nitros from ‘across the ditch’ and he brings the ex Brett Stevens ex Marty Dack 521 Hemi powered Falcon with a PB of 6.08 into play with his new Aussie mates and tick off some bucket list racing.
Also making his NDRC Doorslammer debut is Salim Matta as part of an ever-growing stable of cars in the A-Civil Nasser Matta fleet.
Jack Danaher brings back one of the real eye catchers in Aussie drag racing – his stunning 57’ Corvette built by Garret Livingston at Larry Jeffers Racecars with a Brad Anderson 521 Hemi shoe-horned into the hood that harvested a ton of likes when it was the “TD Facebook cover pic” a couple of days ago.
Sydneysiders Geoff Gradden and Emilio Spinozzi bring their respective A-Games to the Nitros with both having the ambition of taking down some big names and running PB’s on home ‘crete. Gradden in particular is one of the most versatile drag racers in the game running two and four wheels with equal aplomb and can easily slip through the fingers of his higher profile rivals in the Sigra Dodge Saratoga and will be a car to watch this weekend.
Spinozzi brings the stunning Terra Civil SS 69’ Chevelle with the Darren Mayer 521 Hemi into battle with a new sponsor in Minto Mall after some very encouraging signs in testing earlier this month where they consistently ran around the 5.83 mark despite no real seat time since last year. Spinozzi can run a 5.74 and would love to be in the 5.7’s if the planets line up though he knows it takes track time to run more consistently into the lower ETs.
This weekend’s Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs will add yet another curve ball to the Slammer straight line concept and we can’t wait.
Championship points be like:
