With nine 11,000hp 500kmh+ Top Fuel Dragsters and XPRO Nitro Funny Cars set to headline a huge two-day NDRC show this Saturday and Sunday, Willowbank Raceway is the place to be this Australia Day weekend.
Leading the way for the Top Fuel ranks will be the Hydraulink Jim Read Racing team, following their dominating start to the 2024/2025 NDRC season at round one, where the championship-winning team took not only the event victory in convincing style, but also set a new Australia record (3.72 seconds at 522.62mph) while they were at it.
Now, driver Phil Read, crew chief Bruce Read, and their entire team are ready to ‘let it rip’ at Willowbank as they look to go back-to-back.
“At round one we walked away with the event-winning NDRC Christmas Tree trophy, the NDRC Top Qualifying Medallion, and a new Australian record thanks to running the quickest Top Fuel quarter-mile pass ever set in the country,” Phil Read said.
“It is safe to say that it was pretty much the perfect way to start our new season, and it has only made us hungrier for more.
“As a team we have had a lot of success at Willowbank over the years, and it is about time we brought home some more trophies from Queensland!”
This weekend will mark the first time since June of 2024 that Top Fuel and XPRO Nitro Funny Car have been on-track at Willowbank Raceway, where the racers competed on the newly resurfaced track surface.
It wasn’t a great event for the Reads, but Bruce Read says that only makes them more set on redemption this weekend.
“While the Winternats was a fantastic, banner event for Top Fuel racing and Willowbank Raceway, for us personally it was a difficult event full of problems,” Bruce Read said.
“To say that we are keen to redeem ourselves this weekend is the understatement of the year.
“We have the history here to know that we can do it, the new track surface at Willowbank is incredible, and we know we have the goods following our performances at round one.
“While round one was perfect for us, we haven’t rested on our laurels, making the most of the break since then to be as absolutely and completely prepared as possible for New Year Nitro and tackling Willowbank Raceway in the heat of the Queensland summer, which makes for a completely different scenario to The Bend in October.
“What I can tell you for sure, is that we will be swinging for the fences and are quietly confident that we have what it takes to make sure we can bring home another big trophy.”
The incredible Top Fuel and XPRO Nitro Funny Car machines, known for three second/500kmh+ passes down the quarter-mile, will be joined on track by a full complement of Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship.
