by John Doig, Australian Correspondent
Finally, after 23 years, Phil Lamattina has scored his first-ever win at Sydney Dragway when he defeated reigning champion Wayne Newby in the final round of Top Fuel at the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs, May 1–3.
“The monkey is finally off my back,” said an elated Lamattina. “This is amazing. My brother John has won here at Sydney in Top Fuel before me, the car is in one piece and we leave Sydney leading in the points. To share this moment with my wife Sarah, children, family and the crew who have been with me on this journey is amazing.”
The other highlight of the event was RAI star Damien Harris walking away unscathed after a spectacular crash in Round 1.
Approaching the 100-foot mark, his car got up on two wheels, became airborne, crashed back to earth, crossed lanes and narrowly missed rear-ending Steve Read in the opposite lane.
“It smoked the tires on the hit,” said Harris. “It was pointing straight and settled down, I hit it again, it spun, went sideways and I was trying to get it away from the wall. Then, maybe, because I was being rocked around, I gave it another hit and then I was back on four wheels and heading for the finish line.”
The Australian record-holding car sustained massive chassis damage to the rear bottom frame rail, ruling the team out for the rest of the event and facing an expensive repair bill.
With Harris out of action and Read sidelined with mechanical issues, Shane Olive was handed victory in the B Final on a solo run, and Kyle Putland took honors in the C Final, also on a solo due to the absence of Harris.
To the delight of the crowd, and credit to both teams, Putland and Olive raced each other in an exhibition pass.
“We thought we would run together and put on a show for the crowd,” said Olive. With bragging rights the only prize on offer, victory went to Putland.
In Nitro Funny Car, for the second time this season, reigning champion Morice McMillin and teammate Josh Leahy faced off in the A Final. This time, honors went to team owner McMillin, coming from behind with a 4.14 at 248 mph to a slowing Leahy at 8.28 and 81 mph.
“We had a really fast car starting with a 3.93 at 325 mph to top qualify,” said McMillin. “Winning today was a case of good fortune because the car didn’t run as good as it should have. In the first half of the run, we were very fast but couldn’t piece a full run together. In the final, the car was super loose and trying to do everything except go straight and I had my hands full but hey, that’s the reason you drive a Funny Car. When you stand on the pedal you’ve got no idea what’s going to happen.”
McMillin’s victory shared the spotlight with Justin Walshe’s first-ever run under the four-second barrier, a 3.96, when No. 4 qualifier Damon Paton red-lit in the B Final.
Earlier in qualifying, Walshe came up just short with a 4.04 at 300 mph.
“A 3.96 is amazing. I’ve been wanting to do this probably since I first sat in a race car about 25 years ago,” said an emotional Walshe. “We had been chasing a small gremlin all week. As soon as I got to 60 feet I knew we were in with a chance to run under four. I can quit racing now, go buy a pub and tell stories about the time I ran in the threes.”
With most categories having limited opportunities to race in 2026, the Wednesday prior to the event was allocated for teams to test.
The highlight was a personal best of 3.71 at 330 mph for Wayne Newby, the second-quickest ever in Australia and a time that would have also secured the top qualifying spot at the NHRA Southern Nationals held on the same weekend.
Reigning Doorslammer champion Russell Taylor returned to the winner’s circle after defeating top qualifier Jeremy Callaghan, chasing his first win since March 2025, in a classic Doorslammer shootout. The margin of victory was .05 seconds.
Consolation for Callaghan was a personal best of 5.607, just .006 seconds outside the Australian record held by John Zappia.
Brodie Zappia took the B Final on a solo run, and Ronnie Palumbo defeated veteran Rob Harrington in the C Final.
“We only qualified fourth which was a bit disappointing,” said Taylor. “Today we had Salim Matta in round one and it could have gone either way. Round two we had Daniel Gregorini we went a 65 which was a good run and we were able to collect a lot more data ahead of the final which worked out well. The final, against Jeremy Callaghan, was never going to be easy. They are a professional team that I have a lot of respect for. Jeremy treed me again and I was able to go around him and get the win.”
The category assembled arguably its strongest field in recent memory, led by Taylor, 11-time champion and series leader John Zappia, Jeremy Callaghan, and a group of serious contenders including Brodie Zappia, Ronnie Palumbo, and Daniel and Lisa Gregorini.
The Gregorini family had a forgettable weekend. Daniel ended up upside down in the gravel trap during qualifying and, on race day, lost to Taylor in Round 2. In the same round, Lisa fell to Callaghan.
John Zappia was handed the win in Round 1 when rival Shane Catalano red-lit, but he was a surprise loser to rookie Brody Davies in Round 2.
No. 1 qualifier Daniel Reed made it back-to-back wins in Top Alcohol this season with a decisive come-from-behind victory over Chris Hargrave in the A Final, while his main championship rival Cheyne Phillips defeated fellow Queenslander John Cannuli in the B Final.
Pro Stock honors went to reigning champion Rob Dekert when veteran Omar Sedmak broke.
New Zealander Barry Plumpton, with a 5.86 on a 5.85 index, defeated local Joe Gauci, who ran 5.97, in Pro Mod.
