Justin Walshe took his second win of the season in Nitro Funny Car, with a hole shot win (slower elapsed time but quicker reaction time) over championship leader Morice McMillin.
Walshe left the starting line with an almost psychic .002s reaction time, admitting after the race that he knew it would be necessary to beat McMillin.
“On Paper, Morice probably had a quicker car, so I knew I was going to have to cut the tree down to have a shot at the win,” he said.
McMillin was philosophical after the loss, saying “we are fighting for a championship but ultimately it is about the people sitting up there in the stands and putting on a show for them.”
Earlier in the day, Top Qualifier Brandon Gosbell dropped jaws around the world when a 4.58 appeared on the scoreboards in his round two race with Morice McMillin.
The run would have been the quickest quarter mile funny car run in history worldwide, but it quickly became apparent that the incremental times did not match the 4.58 and the time was ruled invalid.
Because of the “no time recorded” run, Gosbell missed out on his place in the Final round, having to settle for a solo in the B Final – capping a miserable day for Gosbell after not being able to reverse from the burnout in Round 1.
Anthony Begley had a wild run-in Round 2 when the throttle stuck wide open, compounded but a parachute malfunction.
The car appeared to push out a head gasket early in the run, which would usually be enough for a driver to shut the car off however the throttle did not close until it appeared to lift the supercharger well past the finish line.
With only one chute fully blossomed, the gravel trap safely arrested the car and Begley emerged unharmed, although the team did not front for the third round.
The Northern Territory’s Adam Murrihy also had a weekend to forget, with the body of the car suffering significant damage after hitting foam timing blocks at over 500km/h on his final qualifying pass.
Without a spare body, the team was forced to sit out the remainder of the event.
In Top Doorslammer the final would come down to the rookie Russell Taylor and the veteran John Zappia.
At the green, Zappia strapped a hole shot on Taylor and was never headed, taking a win with a slower 5.76 against a 5.74 for Taylor.
Zappia was visibly emotional after the win, however the emotion was quickly forgotten when race officials disqualified Zappia after a crew member touched the car whist in stage; a rule that is in place for safety reasons.
After extensive protests and investigations, the disqualification was upheld and Taylor deemed to be the winner of the event.
The B Final was between husband and wife, Daniel and Lisa Gregorini with Lisa taking a close win, 5.92 to a 5.97.
Championship leader Ronnie Palumbo had a weekend to forget with a loss to Russell Taylor in round one and he was shut off in round two after gearbox issues and got some redemption with a win in Round 3.
Top Fuel Motorcycle was the domain of Benny Stevens, winning back-to-back races at the Dragway at The Bend.
Stevens bested a resurgent Greg Durack in the final, with Stevens taking the win when Durack had issues just before half track.
The NDRC series now moves on to Sydney Dragway in two weeks’ time, with Top Fuel headlining the Australia Day Nationals.
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