This weekend’s Pro Stock Nationals at Queensland’s Willowbank Raceway has sharply raised the pressure at the pointy end of the NDRC Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle standings as they prepare to head into their respective penultimate rounds in the coming weeks.
In Pro Stock, the event winning NDRC Christmas Tree went the way of returning racer John Barbagallo, who held off first-time finalise Thomas Leake in an epically close A-Final (6.936/317.57kph to 6.966/315.27kph).
Reigning champion Rob Dekert had plenty to be pleased about too, leaving Willowbank with the championship lead despite a few hiccups along the way. He arrived two points adrift of Omar Sedmak and leaves with those positions reversed (now two points ahead), the pair having suffered two round losses apiece before each claimed a victory in their respective C (Dekert – 6.900/321.04kph over Darryl Stephen 7.164/319.41kph) and D (Sedmak – 6.907/318.74kph on a solo) finals. The B-Final was not run, with the Tremayne brothers unable to front.
Making the finale all the more interesting was the fact both racers were running ‘Rooster Power’ (the brand of Barbagallo’s own engine building business).
“My crew have been working flat out putting engines together, and obviously trying to get Thomas’ engine ready for the weekend as well — my son Adam and myself and Flyn have all been working hard on these engines. Then Dave took his own ute instead of coming with me in the truck and trailer so we could get Bruce’s engine down here. And because I was running after the girls with the Junior Dragsters, the crew pretty much serviced the whole car and all I did was turn up, warm it up, and drive it.
“I really want to thank Willowbank and the NDRC for giving us another Pro Stock round here, because we really enjoy this track. We had some really good races, two of them against Omar, but the race against Thomas in the final was the icing on the cake. Thank you, everyone.”
Dekert went from trailing Sedmak by two points to leaving Willowbank with a two week buffer heading into the penultimate round for Pro Stock.
“I’m really happy with that. In the first round I was a bit disappointed because I thought I could hear a noise in the engine, but to come out of the weekend with the championship lead, I am happy,” Dekert said.
“It has been a tough week away from the track – I’ve lost a few people close to me, including my best mate, who was only 53. Honestly, I haven’t really been with it. So, to get a result like this means a fair bit right now.”
Barbagallo’s run to the final began in an upset-filled round one, where he accounted for Sedmak, Stephen defeated former champ Tyronne Tremayne, and Leake beat Dekert to the line. Multi-time champ Aaron Tremayne had a solo to enjoy, thanks to his top qualifier status earned Friday evening thanks to his 6.870/321.28kph pass over next quickest, Dekert (6.881) – who ran an Australian Pro Stock record breaking 322.04kph in his final qualifying pass of the evening.
Both finalists carried that form into round two, with Leake (6.995/313.40kph) accounting for Stephen (7.106/311.74kph) and Barbagallo (6.938/317.81kph) getting the better of Sedmak (6.918/319.06kph) in a pair of thrilling runs to book their A-Final berths. Dekert (6.945/321.28kph) struck back for a win over a red-lighting Aaron Tremayne (6.885/320.14kph), while Tyronne Tremayne (6.911/319.06kph) made the most of a solo.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, championship leader Callam Godeassi looked untouchable for much of the weekend, first top qualifying on Friday (7.112/302.79kph) – holding the top spot through all three qualifiers – and then winning both the first and second rounds of racing on Saturday to claim his spot in the A-Final.
It was here though that Lachy Ireland, also unbeaten to that point with two wins from two rounds, was able to interrupt Godeassi’s run with his 7.548/301.57kph pass to good for Godeassi’s (8.238/247.30kph). While missing out on the big trophy, Godeassi was able to extend his championship leading margin from two to five points over his nearest rival (Paul Andrews), while Ireland leapfrogged Learmonth into third and trimmed his deficit to the lead from 12 points to ten.
“The day was a bit up and down, a bit hit and miss. We made a small change with a new set-up and it went well, and then the next change went the opposite way. On that last one I reckon we were in the ballpark for a good pass, but the oil cap through vibration broke off the mount and sprayed some oil onto the back tyre, so it spun the tyre on the launch and went out to the side a bit. It didn’t faze me too much though – I kept in it and ended up with the win,” Ireland said.
“I’m super pumped about it. It has been a while since the last win, but hopefully we have worked out a few of the little electrical gremlins on the bike and it should be a lot more consistent and on song for the rest of the year.”
For Godeassi, the extended championship margin took some of the sting out of the disappointment of losing out on the win.
“It was obviously a little bit disappointing to not get the win, but we are here looking for points in the end, so a bit of a bigger lead is a good result, so it is not a complete disappointment,” Godeassi said.
“We just pushed it a bit too hard in the final and went a bit too aggressive on the clutch, so we will work on that!”
It had been a problematic round one for much of the Pro Stock Motorcycle field. Learmonth broke on the line against Ireland (7.379/295.99kph), while Frost and Crowley had no winner declared in their match-up after both left the line before the tree was activated. Andrews likewise had a difficult outing, getting off the bike early and rolling across the line. Godeassi meanwhile ran 7.343/289.02kph in an untroubled solo.
In round two, Ireland won on a solo pass (7.247/304.40kph) and Godeassi (7.188/304.45kph) triumphed over Crowley (7.466/286.54kph) in an exciting race down the strip. Andrews meanwhile secured his first race win of the day (7.859/220.73kph) over the red-lighting Frost to set-up a B-Final match-up against Crowley, while Frost was relegated to a C-Final solo (as Learmonth was unable to continue) but was also unable to front.
Also taking to the track over the event’s two days was an exciting contingent of Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship competitors.
NDRC Top Qualifier medallions went to John Parisi (Super Comp), Blaze Hansen (Performance Bike), Peter Furlanetto (Super Sedan), Sammy-Jo Johnson (Super Street), Simon Isherwood (Top Sportsman), Tyler Shackleton (Supercharged Outlaws), Daniel ‘BatDan’ Carranza (Modified), Chris Collin (Modified Bike), Bailey Hawke (Aeroflow Junior Dragster), and Kobe Ashelford (Aeroflow Junior Drag Bike).
Lifting the NDRC event-winning Christmas Tree trophies after an intense day of racing were Warren Allen (Super Comp – over runner-up Mike Bailey), Samuel Fry (Performance Bike – over runner-up Ken Collin), Sean Maher (Super Sedan – over runner-up Michael Schaper), Corey Stuchbury (Super Street – over runner-up Tim Barron), Simon Isherwood (Top Sportsman, over runner-up Michael Obst), Fiona Reed (Supercharged Outlaws, over runner-up Tyler Shackleton, Adriana Cartledge (Modified – over runner-up Katelyn Galea), Brian Alvisio (Modified Bike, over runner-up Sean Ricketts), Heidi Allgood (Aeroflow Junior Dragster – over runner-up Nash Peirano), and Kobe Ashelford (Aeroflow Junior Drag Bike – over runner-up Jayden Badcock), with Ashelford and Isherwood both converting their top qualifier status into a win.
“The car has been very consistent all weekend thanks to Daniel – the driver might need a bit of a tune-up though,” Reed laughed.
“The car Daniel gives me is always safe and consistent, and that’s why we come away with the win.”
Heavily missed by the entire NDRC drag racing community at Willowbank Raceway this weekend was Super Comp racer Jai Schluter, who suddenly passed away earlier this week.
“I said in my speech at the trophy presentations that if this week has taught us anything, it is that you don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring. Life is too short,” Reed added.
“We need to take every opportunity we can to enjoy family time, and that is exactly what this is for us. We were thinking of Jai’s family all weekend. We need to enjoy every day that we have.”
The National Drag Racing Championship (NDRC) will now head to Sydney Dragway for the East Coast Nationals across September 26-27, featuring the penultimate rounds of the championship for BLAHST Top Fuel, XPRO Nitro Funny Car, Pro Stock, Pro Mod, and Top Doorslammer. For all the information on upcoming events, visit www.ndrc.tv
