- Top Fuel – Wayne Newby top qualifies, wins event, wins the Stan Sainty Cup, and takes bonus points
- XPRO Nitro Funny Car – Morice McMillin wins championship, Damon Paton top qualifies, Josh Leahy wins event and is title runner-up
- Colin Griffin confirmed as Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship Super Gas title winner over runner-up Joe Catanzariti, who won the event
- Aeroflow Allstars victors share in $25k prize purse and hoist iconic Rocket trophies – the first time these have been awarded to sportsman racers
It was billed as a one-day NDRC spectacular full of nitro mayhem and the Nitro Nationals presented by PW Brakes and Racer Industries at Sydney Dragway well and truly delivered today (Saturday, November 8).
In hot and sultry conditions, the final rounds of the 2024/2025 NDRC Top Fuel and XPRO Nitro Funny Car Championships took to the track alongside the Aeroflow Allstars as they duked it out for $25k in cash and an iconic rocket trophy, as well as the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship Super Gas competitors who were also enjoying their season finale at this event.
In Top Fuel, Wayne Newby had an absolutely blazing day to top qualify and win three from three races to clinch not only the championship (over team-mate Damien Harris), but also the event win, as well as the low ET and top speed bonus points along the way.
The intensity was high from the get-go for the Rapisarda Autosport International team in particular, with both Wayne Newby and Damien Harris in contention for the title, with Newby holding a slim margin over team-mate and defending champ, Harris.
Both needed to keep winning to keep their hopes alive, and in round one, they were each successful, with Newby taking the win over Phil Lamattina (3.999/498.07kph v 4.095/399.58kph) and Harris bettering Phil Read (5.514/230.39kph v 6.690/146.77kph).
In round two, it was make or break for Harris who did all he could to secure another race win, with a 4.182 second pass at 347.55kph over Lamattina’s 7.635 at 126.82kph effort. However, at this juncture he needed Newby to lose his round two race if he was to remain in the hunt, and Newby wasn’t having it – taking the round two victory with a 3.820 at 522.76kph pass over Steve Read’s 4.423/315.81kph pass to claim the title and book his place in the A-Final against Olive – who had so far snagged wins over Steve Read (3.906/503.02kph v 4.599/306.00kph) in round one and Phil Read (4.201/376.52kph v 4.578/294.97kph) in round two.
The A-Final was held amid a sea of colourful Hawaiian shirts bearing Wayne Newby’s face and delivered crowd-pleasing side-by-side three-eighties, with Newby taking the win (3.812/524.28kph) over Olive (3.886/445.19kph), who was on a storming run before a supercharger belt was thrown off the third RAI entry.
In the B-Final, Harris and Steve Read faced off with the Queenslander pulling off a firey win over the West Australian with a 4.383 second pass at 347.14kph with a side order of flame across the finish line, while Harris threw 4.926/235.20kph up on the time boards. Making this performance for the 72-year-old Steve Read was the fact they were fighting issues in the pits before the final and didn’t even have time to fire up before towing out to greet the starter.
In the C-Final, the win went the way of Phil Read (4.085/358.03kph with an early shut off) over Lamattina (4.903/237.12kph) who after a solid start buzzed the tyres and was forced to get off it.
“The car went down pretty well there and I am happy with that, happy for Santo, Santino, all the crew guys and girls, this is killer, it means a lot to me,” said a clearly emotional Newby in the deep end after the championship winning run.
“Thank you to everyone who has helped out on the car. The Stan Sainty Cup is what I wanted, I grew up with Stan as a kid and the Sainty family, it is so close to my heart, I am really happy, but also a bit speechless at the moment.
“I want to thank all of the spectators, it has been a hot day, and you made the event what it was.
“It all worked out for the best,” he added at the presentations.
“Everything we came here to do this weekend, we did. Santino and the crew worked unbelievably all weekend; I am just the lucky guy who gets to drive it. This is the one I wanted,” he added emotionally as he hoisted the Stan Sainty Cup above his head to great applause.
In XPRO Nitro Funny Car, Morice McMillin locked down the title early in the day, but it was his young Aeroflow Racing team-mates Josh Leahy and Damon Paton who went all the way to the A-Final, with Paton top qualifying and winning two races before running into trouble in the final (7.773138.51kph), while Leahy book-ended his season with the victory after a super clean pass (4.018/482.48kph), also claiming the runner-up honours in the title chase.
On their way to the final, Leahy had faced off against Walshe (4.376/336.62kph v 4.962/258.50kph) in round one and his boss McMillin (4.055/501.37kph v 5.095/239.00kph) in round two, while Paton – who before this event had only one race win to his name and had never been to a final – was on a charge from the get go, top qualifying before bettering McMillin in round one (4.201/487.13kph v 4.280/384.05kph) and Walshe (4.448/371.50kph v 4.535/383.78kph) in round two.
McMillin and Walshe faced off in the B-Final, with McMillin (4.441/320.82kph) taking the win while Walshe (4.677/283.21kph) had a cylinder cut out after a strong start to the run and then slapped the wall halfway down the track. While his racing machine bore witness marks to the contact, Walshe himself was unharmed.
“From today’s point of view, I am super proud of Damon and super proud of Josh, they both deserved to be in that final. Where Josh has grown from where he was at the start of the season to the way he is driving now is really great and the advances Damon has already made with his few meetings is really great too,” McMillin said.
“I am so proud for the boys to get the championship. It was not the day we wanted and it is hard when you have won four in a row to come and lose two runs in a row, it hits a bit harder, so we were disappointed with that but stoked with the championship – we will come back next year and get it done again!
“I have been super proud to run the throwback Aussie Bandit livery for Graeme and Wendy too – with what they put into the sport it is the least we can do to show what they have done, and I am super, super proud to run these colours and I know our whole team is proud to race for them.
“Thank you to everyone on our team, and also a massive thank you to Andy and the NDRC team – the crowd today showed that the sport is moving in the right place.”
After taking the event win, and the runner-up in the title, Leahy was grinning from ear to ear.
“It doesn’t get any better than that, I tell you what. It hasn’t been an easy day, but that win is icing on the cake,” Leahy said.
“We have had some struggles here and there but to get down in that run was just unreal and Damon and his boys are doing an excellent job as well. I couldn’t be more stoked with that one.
“Thanks to all the fans who stayed out to watch us tonight, you guys are what keep us coming back, so we really appreciate it.
“This is just unreal, we didn’t think we would come in to win the gold today honestly, it was A to B, and that is what we did on the last run.
“I know he (grandfather and racing legend Roly Leahy) is always with me – I have his race number on the side of the car; I love having his 605 on there and it is pretty special that the whole deal is a family sport.
“We say it time and time again but it really is true, this whole Aeroflow family is doing a great job and it is the same at Rocket Industries as well; GC, Wendy, Morice, and everyone does such a great job and supports me and I really, really appreciate it. I couldn’t do it without Kelcey as well, she knows that though,” he smiled.
“Coming runner-up to Morice, he has been a thorn in my side a little bit this championship. We tried to come out of the gate strong but it is what it is, but to be runner-up in my second season in these cars is so good and I am so grateful.”
In the Sportsman ranks the Aeroflow Allstars were doing battle for $25k in cash prizes and the iconic Rocket trophies which had never been awarded to sportsman racers before. At the same time, the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship Super Gas racers were out to decide their runner-up, with champion Colin Griffin unable to be caught in the points.
When all was said and done, it was Joe Catanzariti who won the event for Super Gas and took the title runner-up as a result, with a final win over event runner-up, Anthony Panetta.
In the other classes, the wins went to Mitchell Oxley (Super Comp, over runner-up Kit Hunter), Wally Hosta (Performance Bike, from runner-up Ken Collin), Michael Vlasakakis (Super Sedan, from runner-up Sean Maher), Tex Griffiths (Super Street, from runner-up Richard Matosevic), Sean Rickets (Modified Bike, from runner-up Mitchell Woodford), Nixon Cannuli (Junior Dragster, from runner-up Riley Eato), Cory Dyson (Modified, from runner-up Jess Turner), Neveah McDougall (Junior Drag Bike, from runner-up Antastazia Luckie), Tony Whyatt (Top Sportsman, from runner-up Paul Partridge), and Peter Leahy (Supercharged Outlaws, from runner-up Jeff Sargent).
Attentions now turn to Season Three for the National Drag Racing Champinonship, which kicks off on January 24-25, 2026, at Willowbank Raceway. For the full season calendar, please click here.
To learn more about the NDRC, visit www.ndrc.tv
