CALENDAR

The Changing of the guard in Australian drag racing is well underway with a host of young guns coming out on top at the 2025 edition of the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway.

The only eliminations race on the calendar always delivers drama by the truckload and this time was no different, with a host of racers taking their first Winternationals wins.

PRO ALCOHOL

The final round was another instalment of the Reed V Phillips family dynasties – but this time it was the Daniel V Cheyne instead of Steve V Gary.

Phillips emerged victorious in one of the best races of the season, his 5.378 enough to beat Reed’s 5.387 by just .007s.

Phillips earned his spot in the final via victories over Andrew Searle in Round one, and Brett White in Round 2.

It wasn’t all bad news for Reed however, wrapping up the Season Championship after his round one win over Britney Olive. He followed that up with a tight race against Gary Phillips in the semis, his 5.45 enough to get by a 5.54.

“This is another chapter of the Reed V Phillips story”, Phillips said after the final round victory. “it’s so cool to race against these guys, and they have had a great season, but we just won the Winternats!”.

PRO MOD

Kiwi contenders ruled in Pro Mod with two native New Zealanders facing off in the final of Pro Mod, in the form of Barry Plumpton and Stew Walsh.

There were upsets galore throughout race day in Pro Mod, starting with #1 Qualifier Neil Murphy going down to #8 Daniel Camilleri after striking trouble early in the run.

#2 qualifier Nassa Matta also had problems in R1, the car falling silent after the burnout in his matchup with Stew Walsh.

Walsh’s run of good fortune continued in the semis when the championship leader Zoran Gajic was unable to take the start, and he would solo through to the final round - Despite car problems and not recording a representative run all day.

Plumpton accounted for Steve Smith in R1 and Camilleri in the semis, and in the final had a great race with Walsh.  At the green, Walsh held a slight advantage but the nitrous Camaro stormed home with a 6.08 to take the victory over a 6.16 from Walsh.

“It’s unbelievable to come out on top with car in its first outing on Aussie soil”, Plumpton said after the Win. “This is a top-quality field, and we just can’t believe that we won the Winters!   We had some luck go our way throughout the day, but the car was just perfect and dialled in, and we can’t wait to come back over and do it all again soon!” he beamed.

PRO STOCK

Pro Stock was a family affair with the Tremayne brothers facing off in the final round.

Aaron Tremayne had a performance advantage in every round of racing of around .03s, recording wins over Mario Polito in Rd 1 (6.888) and Rick Chilton in the semi-finals (6.893). Chilton had his hands full as his parachutes failed to deploy and locking the rear brakes as a result, sending the car into the concrete wall in the deep end.

Chilton emerged unscathed but the Dodge Avenger will need some TLC before it sees on track action again.

Tyronne Tremayne on the other hand took out Omar Sedmak in R1 (6.926) and a solo in the semis (6.923) after Rob Dekert had a mechanical issue in the burnout, leaving parts and pieces on the racetrack as a result.

Heading into the final Tyronne knew that he needed a start line advantage to have any chance at the win and took a shot at the Christmas tree – and came up short. His .151- red light handed the win to Aaron, who had problems of his own with the car shutting down early.

Tyronne’s 6.907 was wasted by the Red Light and Aaron idled to the win with an 11.85.

Aaron said after the Win “We had a pretty good weekend; my car was on song from when we rolled it out of the trailer. I was hoping to run another ’80 in the final but we had a crank trigger issue, so it wasn’t meant to be but overall, it’s been a great weekend and it’s nice to get the win”.

PRO BIKE

 Pro Bike was one of the highlights, with close racing and upsets the story of the Day. Scott White and Luke Crowley would face off in the final, with the result decided by the barest of margins.  

Crowley took out Tony Frost in R1 (7.377) and Daniel Rabnott in the semi finals (7.114), whilst White had a solo in R1 after Vanessa Rohdmann had issues in the burnout (8.57) and Paul Andrews in the semi finals (7.272).

The Final was a race for the ages, with White taking a reaction time advantage (.033 to .219) and winning the race on a holeshot, his 7.080 enough to hold of a fast charging 7.032 from Crowley.

Crowley will extend his lead in the Pro Bike Championship after Jason Lee lost in Round 1, ahead of the PDRC series Finale in October.

White was in disbelief after the win. “Far out! I have been waiting for this so long. I ran my first Pro Bike meeting here in 1991 and it’s taken all this time to win the Winternationals. It’s amazing that it was against Luke who has helped us out so much, it’s just incredible to win this after 34 years with side by side 7.0’s – we’re back!”.

Although the Pro Alcohol title is decided, Pro Bike, Pro Stock and Pro Mod will all be at the PDRC Grand Final as part of the Springnats in October at Dragway at the Bend in South Australia.

Tickets are available now at https://www.outix.co/tickets/event/SpringNATS25