Fresh off his previous historic round win at the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals Sydneysider Emilio Spinozzi doubled down and won the Haltech East Coast Nationals at his home track Sydney Dragway last weekend. Spinozzi sped the Terra Civil Chevelle to back-to-back round wins in hot and humid conditions and in front of a big crowd along the way earning the Top Doorslammer Championship points lead in the process.
As the Championship heads to the finale next month (SPRY Spring Nationals October 22-25) new leader Spinozzi clings to a slender two-point lead over John Zappia in second and outgoing champion Russell Taylor still in third. Two time and defending champ Taylor made the shock announcement on Friday that he and his team will no longer compete in the Top Doorslammer Championship effective immediately, throwing the door wide open for eleven times champ John Zappia to possibly score his twelfth or Emilio Spinozzi to potentially win his first.
“After three unforgettable years, the time has come for Taylor Motorsports to announce that we will be concluding our Top Doorslammer campaign, effective immediately. Whether you cheered us on from the grandstands, followed every pass on social media, sent messages of encouragement or proudly wore our merchandise, your support has meant more than words can express. You’ve been with us every step of the way, and we will never take that for granted. While our time in Top Doorslammer has come to an end, this certainly isn’t the end of Taylor Motorsports. For now, to everyone who has been part of this incredible journey over the past three years—thank you,” Taylor’s statement read online.
Spinozzi took the A-Final Haltech East Coast Nationals win on a solo in the end after Daniel Gregorini was given the shut off signal due to a fluid leak from the Scratch and Match Camaro after the burnout. It had been a speedy but hectic day for Gregorini who earned the Crow Cams Australia #1 qualifier $1000 cheque after his 5.73 effort in Round One to kick off the day even though he popped the number plug lead off in the process around the five second mark.
The West Aussie got his consistency back with the 5.73, then a 5.71 (to beat Brody Davies) but hurt the motor in the process in Round Two forcing a rushed repair job to join Spinozzi at the line for the final.
Spinozzi ripped to a new speed track record with 407.84kph (taking the record off Jeremy Callaghan) and a rapid 5.69 in the solo pass to leave Gregorini pondering what might have been.
Spinozzi’s day consisted of a 5.77 in Round One to narrowly defeat Nasser Matta’s sturdy 5.78 and 5.70 in Round Two to take down Peter Lovering’s 7.28 in the problematic Shoebox Motorsport’s 55’.
John Zappia had quite an extraordinary day, for many different reasons.
With an odd numbered field he had a solo pass in Round One but nearly clobbered the left hand lane wall in the Fuchs Monaro shortly after take off. When Round Two opponent Ronnie Palumbo encountered an engine shut off before staging Zappia again had a solo and again shot off in a left-hand direction to narrowly avoid crossing the centre line and again failing to register an ET of any real significance.
The iconic West Aussie went from what would usually have been a certain A-Final situation to a B-Final where he would later face Nasser Matta and get the win light with a 5.87 but there were sparks and issues out the right hand side of the Monaro at the finish meaning the whole day was one of frustration and concern.
Nasser Matta was the super sub for son Salim in the Shelby and had a stout day running a 5.78 in Round One (losing to Spinozzi) and then a PB 5.72 on a solo in Round Two. Had he beat Spinozzi, Matta would have certainly been an A-Final contestant in his season debut. He had to lift in the B-Final when the Shelby threatened to cross the centre line or drill the wall in his right hand lane however.
Jeremy Callaghan had a mixed day in the rebuilt and stunning Luci Civil 70.5 Camaro after the team pulled off a major miracle to get the always pristine piece back in tip top shape after a chute complication at the Winternationals in June that saw the Canberran upside down and on fire.
After a nervous start in Round One where trans brake issues saw Callaghan roll the beams he returned to form in Round Two running a 5.72 and a strong 253mph (407kph) to get his confidence back.
He elected not run the C-Final alongside Lisa Gregorini opting to focus on preparations for the final round at Dragway at the Bend next month.
Lisa Gregorini appeared to be back closer to her best with a feisty 5.87 (ironically against Callaghan) in Round One before narrowly going down to Brodie Zappia’s 5.71 with her 5.81 but her best performance was perhaps the C-Final where she ran it right through the tricky conditions to a 5.82 despite being out of the groove for much of the end of the run.
Brodie Zappia had a turbulent day in the AC Delco GM Parts Fabietti Monaro with a tyre shake/smoke the tyres and drop the chutes early combination in the first Round followed by a more typically rapid BZap 5.71 in Round Two to get the win over Lisa Gregorini. The 21 year old saved his best for last in the D-Final to run just outside his PB with a sizzling 5.67 to register ET of the round and put a smile on Mary and Maurice Fabietti’s faces despite the blustery conditions.
Frank Taylor was supposed to run the D-Final alongside Zappia but the A1 Drainage Chevelle wouldn’t play the game after the burnout and couldn’t accept the light. Taylor had earlier run a 6.07 in Round One but struggled in Round Two with a similar mechanical inconsistency that saw him unable to stage.
Craig Burns ran a 6.66 in the John Ricca RPM Camaro in Round One after low brake pressure upset the staging process a bit for the veteran Sydneysider (he left with a pedestrian .203 light and then the motor ran lean late in the run to kick the burst panel and coast through the line behind Ronnie Palumbo’s win light. His day would get more complex however when a more impressive 5.76 quickly turned sour when the beach loomed large in the windscreen and Burns ran out of real estate and slide sideways into the runoff all but rolling the car with the chutes out. The day might not have delivered what the weekend prior’s testing had teased but Tuner Paul Mouhayet vowed that Burns and the Ricca rocket would be back with all guns blazing come October 22-25 at the Spring Nationals however.
Palumbo’s shining light in the A-Civil 37’ Coupe was the first round win over Burns but it was slim pickings from there with two consecutive mystery shutoffs before he could stage the car ending prematurely what was a critical championship weekend for the Sydneysider.
West Aussie Shane Catalano took the bright pink Charger to a 6.32 win over Brodie Zappia win in Round One but he lost to Jeremy Callaghan’s 5.72 with his 6.43 ending the weekend for the dedicated Sandgropers.
Pete Lovering heads to the final round of the Championship at Dragway at The Bend safe in the knowledge that he made it to the A-Final at the Riverbend Nationals there earlier in the year which will hopefully make up for a weekend of frustration for the Shoebox team in which they never really found their mojo.
The shortened weekend (which saw qualifying day deleted to ensure race day would be completed) due to impending thunderstorms caught many teams off guard.
Brody Davies had an electro motion issue in Round One which saw him miss valuable points in the wild looking Pennywise entry and even though he lost in Round Two to Daniel Gregorini (5.71) he cut a strong 0.058 light to register a speedy 5.88 and show the potential many believe he has.
As Dragway at The Bend looms there’s only two points separating the lead duo of Spinozzi and John Zappia for Championship glory.
The final round of the 2026 Australian Top Doorslammer Championship is slated for October 22-25 at the SPRY Spring Nationals at Dragway at The Bend.
