Rapisarda Autosport International star Wayne Newby will celebrate his 10th season in Top Fuel at the opening round of the 2024-2025 season.

Newby debuted with RAI at the 2014 Australian Nationals at Sydney Dragway, qualifying fifth and losing to current racer Peter Xiberras in round two.

“Ten years is hard to believe,” said Newby. “It seems like a lifetime ago. It’s been an awesome adventure, and as I’ve said on many occasions, I can’t thank Santo and the Rapisarda family enough for the opportunity to represent the family both in Australia and also on the NHRA. Over the journey, there have been some incredible highs and, being drag racing, some disappointments. I’ve had some fantastic teammates, including Larry Dixon, Cory McClenathan, Tommy Johnson Jnr, Dom Lagana and especially current teammate Damien Harris.  

Before signing with RAI, Newby had carved out a championship-winning career with three Aussie titles as owner-driver in Top Alcohol.   Newby and long-term tuner Santino Rapisarda have claimed two Aussie Top Fuel championships.  

“Last season, we scored two wins, the Australian Day Nationals at our home track in Sydney and the Winternationals, finishing runner-up in the championship to Damien and Santo Jr. That was a strong way to finish the season and also becomes a great way to begin our 2024-2025 campaign.”

The opening round of Top Fuel has attracted only four entries headed by Rapisarda Autosport International duo of reigning champ Damien Harris and runner-up Wayne Newby. RAI has been the benchmark in the category over the last decade and will likely remain so in the 2024-25 season. The final two entries are three-time champ Phil Read and part-timer Kyle Putland. 

Missing in action are ‘Carrot King’ Phil Lamattina, who has elected to sit out the opening two rounds of the season, and fellow owner-driver Peter Xiberras, who has been concentrating his efforts on his V8 Supercar team and the biggest event on the domestic motorsport calendar, the Bathurst 1000.

There is always a certain amount of excitement around the opening round of any season,” added Damien Harris. “Racing at the Bend is still a relatively new experience because we’ve only raced there twice.”

“In the opening round of last season, we were fortunate enough to take the win in the A-final over Wayne. On the second occasion, we finished runner-up to Phil Lamattina.”

“A win this weekend would be the perfect way to get our title defense off to a flying start!”