There were no team orders when Brandon Gosbell upstaged his team boss Morice McMillen to take honors in the inaugural round of the 400 Thunder Aeroflow Drag Racing series at Sydney Dragway, November 4-5.

“We were reasonably confident when we went out for the final," said Gosbell. "Earlier we ran 4.89 at 328, which far exceeded our expectations. The car came back in pretty good shape. In round two, the car was strong but dropped the number six cylinder and kicked the blower belt. We got the car back, made a few changes, then went out and ran a 4.90 at 328 to take the win." 

Vying with Gosbell’s performance as the highlight of the meeting came in the guise of 70-year-old Russell Mills. 
The oldest competitor in the Pro ranks wheeled out his outrageous FE dragster for the first time and scored a fantastic victory in Top Alcohol.

“The car is basically a standard McKinney Funny Car chassis but built to my specifications," explained Mills. “It’s a Funny Car with an extra 100 inches built into it. The shape is created along the lines of the Streamliners that race at Bonneville. The driver sits in front of the rear axle. The body was designed and made here in Australia. We’ve done about seven laps in the car and winning so early is amazing. Not only for the team but also the Pro Alcohol category," 

Local racer Emilio Spinozzi, who joined the category four years ago, claimed his maiden Pro Slammer win. Category stalwart Chris Soldatos set an Oz record to take the win in Pro Stock and top qualifier Zoran Gajic blitzed his rivals in Pro Mod.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION - Australian drag racing has two Nitro series.

The Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship was established in 2021 and is supported by Rapisarda Autosport International, Jim Read Racing, Lamattina Top Fuel Racing and Premiair Racing. 
The six-round series races the traditional dragster body configuration over 1000 feet at ANDRA and IHRA Australia-sanctioned venues.

The 400 Thunder Aeroflow Drag Racing Series was established this year and utilizes the traditional Funny Car body. The cars race under the name of Top Fuel Funny Car. 

The six-round series competes at IHRA Australia-sanctioned venues and races over the traditional 1320 feet.

Burson Auto Parts and Aeroflow are significant players in companies involved in the Australian automotive industry.

TOP FUEL FUNNY CAR - TFFC attracted five entries headed by Gosbell, ex-New Zealander McMillen, Pro Alcohol standout Justin Walshe, Chris Stipanovich, son of Funny car legend Ed Stipanovich and NHRA racer Anthony Begley steering an ex-Don Schumacher Dodge Charger.

McMillen, one of the driving forces behind the series, blitzed his rivals in qualifying with a 4.93, 328 mph to grab the pole. Gosbell was second with a 5.43, 207 mph ahead of Walshe, Stipanovich and Begley.

Under the all-in format with an uneven number of entries, McMillen was handed a solo in the first round, Gosbell led all the way to defeat Walshe and Stipanovich was given the points when Begley had mechanical gremlins and didn’t make the start line.

The second round produced the best race of the meeting. McMillen with a hole shot and a 4.998, 312 mph pass, accounting for Walshe with a 4.99, 309 mph.
Gosbell, on a solo, was gifted a free pass to the final after the luckless Begley was pushed off the start line.   
Stipanovich was a no-show.

“Sometimes there are weekends when you should never turn up,” said Begley with a wry smile. “We came to the meeting well prepared, but since we drove through the gates, we've had gremlin after gremlin. We get to the start line and the cable on the reverser breaks. Earlier, the boys were bringing the body down, the accelerator cable got hooked, pulled on it, the butterfly’s opened and the car launched. Thankfully it didn’t get too far because I had my foot on the brake."

McMillen went into the final round as a red-hot favorite against his less experienced rival. McMillen looked set to take the win with a superior reaction time of .031 to Gosbell’s .120. However, Gosbell fought back, hitting the lead at the half-track, then hung on to win.
 
Despite the defeat, McMillen was all smiles. “That was an awesome final and all credit to Brandon and his crew. The downside is whoever lost gets to buy lunch for the other person for the next week.” 

 

PRO SLAMMER  - The category received a significant boost with the debut of the Fabietti Racing 2020 AC Delco Camaro Slammer in the hands of Sam Fenech.
Fenech qualified seventh, then on race day, fought on strongly to finish fourth overall.

"Any time you put a new car on the track, you've got to expect some teething issues," said Fenech. “The car is showing great potential. The numbers are there. The main difference between this and our previous car is in the aero. We've picked up so much mile per hour. We've never been able to run more than 253 mph, but already, we are seeing 261 and it's only early days."

The sole Woman in the Pro ranks, Michelle Davies, ran a pb of 5.75, 250 mph to qualify fourth. Then in round one crashed heavily just beyond half-track.

Spinoza’s passage to his maiden win began in low-key fashion, qualifying fifth and then claiming wins over Davies and local Craig Hewitt on race day.

His opponent in the final, Geoff Gradden, qualified third, took a solo in round one then was handed the win when highly fancied Craig Burns fouled out in the semifinal.

Spinozzi led Gradden off the line to win the final with a 5.75, 256 mph to Gradden’s 6.05, 243 mph.
 

PRO ALCOHOL – Pro Alcohol was arguably the most hotly contested category over the weekend. Entries included evergreen Gary Phillips, Winternationals winner Steve Read, Australian record holder John Cannuli, sporting new sponsor from Olympus loaders, rising star Jake Donnelly and the return of local Geoff Blake.

"It was great to be back racing," said Blake. “We hurt the motor in qualifying, but then we hit that sweet spot and ran back-to-back personal bests. The team is ecstatic." 

However, the first appearance of the Russell Mills mind-boggling front-engined dragster stole the show.

On race day most of the heavily fancied runners struggled. Phillips after top qualifying and seventh qualifier Blake stumbled. In round two, Cannuli had a backfire that sent the body of his Camaro into the air and Read finished third overall. 

Mills and young gun Jake Donnelly faced off in the final. Mills inherited the lead when Donnelly got loose before the 60-foot marker and cruised to the win in the smart time of 5.48 at 266 mph.

PRO STOCK - Qualifying in Pro Stock produced few surprises, with the Tremayne brothers - Tyrone and Aaron - dominating. Honors to Tyrone, who set a new Australian record of 6.88, 198 mph to top the charts from Aaron with a 6.89, 198 mph.

Their seemingly inevitable march to the final ran into a major roadblock in round two when both fell to red lights. 

Redemption for Aaron came in the runoff for third and fourth place when he defeated veteran Bruce Leake and set a new record of 6.859, 199 mph. 

That record was to be very short-lived.

The very next run, the final of Pro Stock, and Chris Soldatos drove around Brian Pursell to take the win with a 6.859, 199.58 mph. 

PRO MOD - Racing to an index of 5.85, the category attracted ten entries. 

Local Zoran Gajic came closest to the marker in qualifying with a 5.88, 257 mph. On race day, he cruised to the easiest of wins with a 5.95, 5.92, then a 5.88 in the final to defeat Collin Wilshire, who clocked 5.78 and was disqualified.