The close-knit Australian drag racing community is mourning the passing of Marie Bray, the matriarch of Team Bray Racing, who passed away after a long illness at age 65.

Marie was the wife of Victor Bray, a pioneer and legendary figure in the Top Doorslammer ranks who was inducted into the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2023.

Round two of the 2023-2024 NDRC Top Fuel championship scheduled for December 2 at Sydney Dragway has been rescheduled due to the forecast of rain on the day.

Morice McMillin has bounced back from finishing fifth of six starters at the previous round of the NDRC championship to score the easiest of wins when series leader Justin Walshe was pushed off the startline in the A-Final of the Goldenstates from Perth Motorplex, November 25.

Teammate Brandon Gosbell claimed the win in the B-Final against local star Anthony Begley. Adam Murrihy, on a solo, scrapped the wall and ended in the gravel trap in the C-Final.  

With only five entries, the Top qualifying spot came with the bonus of a bye in round one.

Shane Olive, sidelined when Lamattina Top Fuel Racing cut back to a single entry for the 2023-2024 season, has been thrown a lifeline when team owner Santo Rapisarda decided to enter a third car at the Christmas Showdown meeting, at Sydney Dragway, December 2.

Rapisarda’s gesture will ensure there will be six entries in Top Fuel.

Round Two of the NDRC Top Fuel series scheduled to be held at Willowbank Raceway on December 1-2 has been canceled.

The event will be transferred to Sydney Dragway and run as a single-day event on December 2.

Tommy Johnson Jnr’s plan to become the first ever to win in Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Car in both America and Australia came unstuck at the hands of Aussie Justin Walshe in the A-FINAL of the Sydney Nationals on October 27-28.

Walshe, is best known as the world record holder for Altered raced an ex-DSR Dodge Charger previously driven by Ron Capps. 

The last time there was an all-RAI final was on January 6, 2020, at Willowbank Raceway when Wayne Newby defeated Damien Harris.

1387 days later, the tables were turned when Harris outpaced Newby to take the win at the inaugural round of the 2023-24 NDRC championship at The Bend Raceway in South Australia.

“Anytime you can get a win is a great result, especially when it’s in front of our team owner Santo and his family," said Harris. “This was a tough weekend for Santo Junior and his crew. The weather was a real challenge. To get both Rapisarda cars into the final was the plan going into the weekend. That worked out a treat. “

 
Australia’s newest drag venue, Dragway at The Bend in rural South Australia, will host the first round of the 2023-2024 National Drag Racing Championship, October 21-22.

The $35 million facility situated an hour from Adelaide, the Capital of South Australia, was expected to open in 2022, but supply shortages and construction delays pushed the date out by 12 months.

The meeting, the first to be conducted under the recently formed NDRC umbrella, has attracted six Top Fuel entries, including two cars from the Rapisarda Autosport International stable.