Damien Harris wrapped up his third Top Fuel Championship at Nitro Up North at Hidden Valley on Saturday Night.

In dramatic scenes, Harris made the ‘A’ final with his victory over Kyle Putland in round 2, with a 4.22 enough to mathematically put the title out of reach of reigning champ Peter Xiberras and three-time Aussie Champ Phil Read.

His crew chief Santo Rapisarda Junior said after the run, “That was a driver’s win. I got a bit nervous when it shook the tyres out there, but he peddled it and got the win. That’s why he is Number One”.

“We missed it last year, but we got it this year. This is amazing”.

Harris was happy but subdued after the win “I thought I was toast then. It shook, I had to peddle it, just lucky to get the win in that round.”

“I just want to thank the Rapisarda Family and all the guys on the team back in Sydney who work so, so hard on this car and all the cars.”

I can’t wait to get back to Sydney and deliver the Stan Sainty Cup [that the winner of the Australian Top Fuel Championship receives] to Santo senior”.

“I’m glad it came down to the wire. It would be great to wrap up the Championship and hopefully the event win in the same weekend.

Earlier in the round, Peter Xiberras eliminated Phil Read from championship contention with a 4.02s run at 467km/h.

If Harris lost the round, Xiberras was still in the hunt if he won the event and set low elapsed time of the weekend.

The third and Final round of Top Fuel will be on track later tonight at Hidden Valley as part of the Darwin Triple Crown.