July 15, 2021, will go into the history books as one of the most critical dates in the history of Australian drag racing. 

On that date, the four leading Oz Top Fuel teams, Jim Read Racing, PremiAir Racing, Rapisarda Autosport International and Lamattina Top Fuel Racing, announced they had joined forces to establish their own Australian Top Fuel Championship series.
  
The six-round series would run from January to June 2022 across three states and territories and include venues in rural Australia.

The announcement sent shockwaves through the Aussie drag community that was still in the grip of the Covid -19 pandemic that had wreaked havoc on the sport. 

The flow-on from the decision to create their own series also meant that Top Fuel would no longer be part of the 400 Thunder Pro Series, the peak body for the category since 2015. 

Instead, ATFC would negotiate with individual tracks to run events on a dry-hire basis or a hybrid cost/profit-sharing arrangement.

The team owners also signed Andy Lopez, one of Australia’s leading event management, sports promoters and television production guru Nathan Prendergast, to run the series.

Lopez is also the driving force behind the Summernationals held in the nation's capital, Canberra. The four-day event, attracts more than 100,000 attendees. It celebrates the Australian street machine culture with burnout competitions, car parades, displays and music concerts.

The inaugural ATFC season, by any metrics, has been a success. Crowds flocked to the events in numbers rarely seen since the halcyon days of the 1990s. 

The teams played their part in producing some of the closest and exciting racing in living memory. The championship went down to the wire at Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin, where PremiAir Racing owner-driver Peter Xiberras won the championship. 

In an exclusive and candid interview with Competition Plus Australia, Lopez took time to reflect on the 2022 season, also providing a behind-the-scenes look into how the series operates and laid out a blueprint of where the ATFC is heading in the future.
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COMPETITION PLUS AUSTRALIA - WERE YOU SURPRISED BY THE SUCCESS OF THE SERIES?

ANDY LOPEZ - I was surprised in a sense as to how much fun we had putting the series together. The teams really enjoyed going back to racing after being locked down for so long due to Covid-19. To get out and do what they love was important for them.

They were also taking their destiny into their own hands and wanted to be part of doing things a little different from what they did in the past.

The teams worked well together and the other categories that came to our events also had a great time. We, as the organizers, wanted to treat everyone with respect, including, all the teams that showed up with their cars or bikes and wanted to be part of the show.

We also wanted to do some things differently. 

At Mildura in country Victoria, we put on eighth-mile racing. The teams loved doing something different and the Mildura fans got to see some fantastic Top Fuel racing. A win all round.
 
Each event bought a different feeling to the series. At the Sydney round, we had Freestyle Motocross, burnouts, car displays and lots of activities for kids. We continued that at Heathcote Park with a Summernat Masters Burnout competition, car shows and fireworks, creating a festival feeling around the meeting.

The spectator numbers have been outstanding. We started the series at Sydney in the middle of Omicron with a really good crowd. From then, the numbers just kept growing. 

The final round at Darwin, on the same program as Supercars and racing in front of a packed house with the championship up for grabs, was the icing on the cake.
 
CPA - YOU TOOK A REAL RISK WHEN YOU DECIDED TO STREAM TOP FUEL LIVE ON TV. A BRAVE MOVE. DID THE GAMBLE PAY OFF?

AL - Correct. We took a real gamble. We decided not only to live stream Top Fuel but also to make it free to air and not hidden behind a paywall. Free to air is the best way to get the numbers at home and is a great way to grow the sport.

The question is, does live free broadcasting hurt the gate takings? The answer is no, but only if the live experience of being at the event is better. And with Top Fuel, nothing comes close to being there in person.

Watching it free and live on television is a great option if you can't be there. We don't plan to go down the pay-to-view path. There's no growth in that option.

We were also committed to running events on time. So, if you were a spectator at the track or watching at home, you knew precisely when Top Fuel would race. The teams really stepped up to the mark to make that happen.
Another factor that contributed to the success of the television coverage was the fabulous package Nathan and his team created. They bought fresh eyes to how drag racing has traditionally been covered. The in-car footage streamed live was amazing.

CPA - YOU’RE DEALING WITH FOUR TEAM OWNERS WHO ARE VERY SUCCESSFUL IN THEIR BUSINESS DEALINGS AND ARE USED TO CALLING THE SHOTS. HOW DID YOU KEEP THEM ON THE SAME PAGE?
 
AL - The premise is correct. They are all highly successful businessmen, very successful drag racers and committed to the sport. So, keeping them all together hasn’t been all that hard. They have a shared vision and sense of ownership of the championship. That has bought them together.

There is a strong sense of camaraderie and, at the same time, a real desire to win. I’m not going to pretend they sit around holding hands at each other’s house, but there is a common bond between them. What is undeniable is that they all love Top Fuel racing. Competition doesn't divide. It unites. 

Yes, from time to time, we do have healthy and robust discussions and that’s been a real positive.

CPA - IN 2023, THE BEND IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA WILL BECOME A VENUE FOR THE SERIES. WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FOR A TRACK TO BECOME PART OF THE ATFC SERIES?
  
AL - There aren’t that many tracks in Australia that can take Top Fuel cars. We met Sam Shahin, the owner of The Bend, earlier this year. Nathan Prendergast has a great relationship with Sam through his connection with Supercars. We visited the track while it was being built and saw what an amazing facility it was shaping up to be. Without doubt The Bend is a world-class facility and being in South Australia, where we didn't race this year, going there next season makes our series a truly national one. We will have events in all mainland states and territory.

CPA - DO YOU PREFER TO DRY HIRE TRACKS AND RUN THE SHOW ON YOUR TERMS OR ARE YOU HAPPY TO ENTER INTO PARTNERSHIPS WHERE YOU SPLIT THE COSTS AND THE PROFITS?

AL - It depends on the track. We’ve done a mixture. In a sense, it also depends on what each party brings to the table. As an individual promoter, I probably have a greater appetite for taking risks. As an organization, we prefer to make decisions ourselves and take our own risks. When you’re in a partnership and things are 50-50, when things are great, all is good. But when you’re in a partnership and one party is less willing to take a risk, that becomes problematic.

CPA - THE HEATHCOTE PARK ROUND STOOD OUT AS BEING A UNIQUE TYPE OF EVENT COMPARED TO A TRADITIONAL DRAG MEETING. IS THIS A TEMPLATE FOR FURTHER EVENTS? 

AL - We saw Heathcote Park as being a more of a festival offering. We had a car show, burnout event and a range of activities that would appeal to the broader car community and the fans that wanted to see drag racing. We are looking at growth and creating content that appeals to people. We want to add to the spectacle and make going to see Top Fuel racing a more special occasion with extra offerings for fans.

CPA - ARE TEAMS ABLE TO GO OFF AND DO THEIR OWN THING? FOR EXAMPLE CAN THEY GO MATCH RACING OUTSIDE THE TFA UMBRELLA?

AL - The teams are free to do whatever they want. The teams own their cars and have put a lot of money into their businesses. If they're going to match racing, we will help them manage it. It would be an extension of what we do for them as part of TFA.

CPA - THE COST OF RACING POST-COVID -19 IS RISING. HOW WILL THE SLUGGISH ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN AUSTRALIA IMPACT ON TOP FUEL IN THE FUTURE?

AL - It's challenging at the moment and will continue to be so in the foreseeable future. Rising fuel costs impact not just drag racing but the whole community, especially families. Everyone is hurting. We are trying to be as sensible as we can about how we spend our money and the projections we have for next season. 

What we want is a series of events and a championship that is sustainable. All people who participate or get involved in motorsport do so because of their passion and we want the spectators and fans of Top Fuel to continue supporting the category. To do that we must put on the best, a well-presented and managed show as possible, so that when people weigh up where they want to spend their money, drag racing is a priority.

Drag racing also has an advantage over many sports. If you want to see your Aussie rules team play, you can go there more than 12 times a year. The thing with Top Fuel and our events is that you’re probably only going to get the opportunity to see it once a year. Maybe twice if you’re lucky. So, we in Top Fuel hope that the unique offerings we have will put us high on the list of people’s priorities when it comes to discretionary spending.

CPA - IN 2022 THERE WAS SIX ROUNDS. NEXT SEASON THERE ARE SEVEN ROUNDS. IS THERE ROOM ON THE CALENDAR FOR MORE EVENTS?

AL - I think so. There might be the opportunity next season to add an extra round. We need to wait and see. The teams want to commit to what they can deliver at this stage. They are also mindful of the fact that many of their crew are volunteers.

CPA - DOORSLAMMER HAS JOINED THE ATFC PROGRAM FOR THE 2022-23 SEASON. IS THERE ROOM FOR OTHER PRO CATEGORIES TO JOIN YOUR SERIES?

AL - Definitely, we have taken over the management of the Australian Doorslammer championship from ANDRA. They want to race at our events because of the broadcast opportunities for them and their sponsors. Same with Top Motorcycle. Regarding Pro Stock, Top Alcohol and Pro Mod, we have extended an invitation for them to race at ATFC meetings, should they choose to. My take is that the individual championships belong to the category associations.

For example, take Pro Stock. My conversations with them have been, why don't you run your own championship? Decide if you want to run two or three events with us and if you're going to run at other meetings such as the Winternationals, then do so. Set out a calendar and make it happen. The championship doesn't belong to us or any other body or group. It belongs to the category.   

CPA - IN 2005 TWO-TIME NHRA CHAMP SCOTT KALITTA AND EX-PAT DAVE GRUBNIC RACED AT SYDNEY DRAGWAY AS PART OF THE USA VERSUS AUSTRALIA MEETING. COULD WE SEE THE RETURN OF THAT TYPE EVENT IN THE FUTURE?

AL - Absolutely. Events such as that are possibilities. That international type of meeting is something we would like to see happen. There are plenty of cars here in Australia and I don’t think it would be too hard to lure a couple of Americans to travel down under to race.