For Frankie Taylor, drag racing in Australia has been a long, strange journey.

Taylor, the decorated Outlaw Drag Racer from Dickinson, Tex., races his final event with Team Racing, attempting to win this weekend's Northern Swing event this weekend at the Nitro Up North in Darwin before heading to Alice Springs Inland Dragway the following weekend for the Desert Nationals (July 21-22).

Taylor will bring along family this weekend to experience the fun, his daughter and brother/tuner Paul Taylor.

“To have Emily and Paul here for the Nitro Up North and Desert Nationals events is going to be pretty special,” Taylor said. “Paul has been by my side as a crew member throughout the entirety of my career, including here in Australia, and to have Emily join us really means a lot. Hopefully, I can put in an extra special performance for her and for TBR – one or two Pro Slammer wins would be a great thank you for TBR I think!”

For both events, Taylor will line-up alongside TBR stablemates Victor Bray and Ben Bray.

“We are very excited to be kicking off a new season, and to do so in Darwin is really great – there is a big car culture up there and there is always a big crowd for Nitro Up North,” Victor said. “It is going to be a huge team effort up North in July – first we have Nitro Up North and then the Desert Nationals and we will be looking to give Frankie a good send off as well; I can’t wait to see what we can do on this special Northern Swing.”

After finishing the 2017/2018 400 Thunder Pro Slammer championship in fourth place, Ben Bray is hoping to get his championship chase off to a strong start.

“It was great to be in amongst it last season and hopefully this season we can make sure we are up at the pointy end from the beginning with some great results in Darwin and Alice Springs,” Ben said.

“We have three rounds of testing on Friday to start with, ahead of the popular all-run format on Saturday – with 12 Pro Slammers entered it is going to be exceptionally competitive, so the Nitro Up North fans better be ready for a big weekend ahead!”

Nitro Up North will be held at the Hidden Valley Drag Strip across July 13 and 14, with the Desert Nationals following quickly after across July 21-22 at the Alice Springs Inland Dragway. For more event information, visit www.hiddenvalleydrags.com.au and www.cadra.com.au.