The NDRC Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs at Sydney Dragway marked Round 2 of the 2026 Australian Top Doorslammer Championship and one of the biggest weekends on the national drag racing calendar.
After a disappointing — by his own standards — opening round of the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship at Dragway at The Bend in March, reigning back-to-back national champion Russell Taylor steadied the ship by claiming victory at the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs at Sydney Dragway yesterday.
The Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs was billed as Sydney’s biggest nitro show in years, and it well and truly delivered across May 1-3 at Sydney Dragway as part of the National Drag Racing Championship (NDRC).
This weekend’s Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs is set to be the biggest NDRC show Sydney Dragway has ever seen, with more than 300 racers and every championship bracket coming together for one giant nitro spectacle. It is the only Sydney round in 2026 to feature the full lineup – including all eight pro-level brackets – and is one of just three all‑brackets events on the national calendar.
John Zappia lost fifth gear on his very first pass of the 2026 NDRC Top Doorslammer season – He never got it back. He won the race anyway.
John Zappia took out the first round of the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship over the weekend in wild and dramatic conditions at the 2026 NDRC Riverbend Nationals at Dragway at the Bend.
Season 3 of NDRC Top Doorslammer has arrived, and the category continues to surge from strength to strength. Fourteen cars are locked and loaded for an all-out doorslammer war at the Riverbend Nationals, the Dragway At The Bend season opener this weekend—and the big question remains: can anyone stop Russell Taylor?
This weekend’s Riverbend Nationals at Dragway at The Bend will deliver a stacked nitro show, headlined by the first BLAHST Top Fuel and XPRO Nitro Funny Car double header of the year.
Ronnie Palumbo will contest the entire 2026 National Drag Racing Championship Top Doorslammer Championship, taking the wheel of the ACivil ’37 Chev beginning in a couple of weeks at the Riverbend Nationals at Dragway At The Bend.
Six of the fastest blown sedans in the Australia will take to Sydney Dragway on Saturday January 24, as ANDRA makes it return to the premier NSW drag racing venue with the ANDRA Drag Racing Masters.
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