The 2024–25 Australian drag racing season didn’t simply deliver headlines — it delivered turning points. Across Top Fuel, Nitro Funny Car, Pro Alcohol, Doorslammer and beyond, the biggest storylines shaped not only championships but the direction of the sport itself.
In Part 1, veteran Australian correspondent John Doig walked us through moments 10 through 6. Now, we shift into the top tier — the five defining episodes that carried the season’s drama, broke records, tested teams, and pushed Australian drag racing into new territory.
Here are Doig’s final five — the stories that stood above everything else, and the ones that will echo long into 2025 and beyond.
5. RUSSELL TAYLOR REIGNS SUPREME IN DOORSLAMMER – In arguably the most fiercely contested Pro level category in the country, one-time Sprint Car racer Russell Taylor won the 2024–2025 NDRC Doorslammer championship with three wins and runner-up twice, including the Winternationals, and had sewn up the championship before the final round.
Taylor burst onto the Doorslammer scene in 2023, winning the coveted Australian title in his rookie season.
“Fortunately, I have some of the most talented and experienced crew in Doorslammer, led by tuning wizard ‘Stu’ Rowland and Steve Ham, who has won championships in both Top Alcohol and Doorslammer, in my corner,” said Taylor.
“They do all the hard work and I get to have all the fun. The level of competition this year has gone up a notch. You had the kids, Lisa Gregorini and Brodie Zappia, winning events as well as veteran John Zappia, Jeremy Callaghan, who crashed at the Westernats, then came out and won the next round, plus Rob Harrington, who made one appearance for the year at the Winternationals and won.”
4. NEW ZEALANDER MORICE MCMILLIN DOMINATES NITRO FUNNY CAR – Morice McMillin was the standout performer in Nitro Funny Car with four consecutive wins and a pair of thirds from six starts to claim the 2024–2025 championship.
McMillin is the CEO of Rocket Industries, a major player in the Australian performance car market, and heads the three-car Aeroflow Team on behalf of team owners Graeme and Wendy Cowin.
“At the start of the season, we had a team meeting and decided to concentrate not on winning but on developing a new combination,” said McMillin. “Our priority was to find the best way to go fast at the lowest risk. That experimenting all came together at the Winternationals, where we ran a 3.92 seconds, 317 mph and a 3.93 seconds, 325 mph to set a new Australian Funny Car record. I am so proud of the boys to get the championship. We will come back next year and hopefully get it done again.”
3. WAYNE NEWBY JOINS TOP FUEL IMMORTALS – Veteran Wayne Newby claimed his third fuel title and the coveted Stan Sainty Cup when he defeated teammate Shane Olive in the Grand Final of the NDRC season at Sydney Dragway, November 8.
Newby also posted the event’s quickest and fastest run at 3.81 seconds, 325 mph.
Victory moved Newby, also a two-time Top Alcohol champion, into equal third place on the all-time winningest Australian Top Fuel racers, alongside teammate Damien Harris and Phil Read.
His season began slowly with a pair of second places, then a fourth, before four consecutive wins to take the championship by 141 points over reigning champion Harris.
“I’m happy for Santo, Santino, all the crew guys and girls,” said Newby. “Everything we came here to do this weekend, we did. Winning the Stan Sainty Cup is what I wanted. I grew up with Stan and the Sainty family; it’s close to my heart. I also want to thank all the spectators. It has been a hot day and you made the event what it was.”
2. LISA GREGORINI BECOMES THE FIRST WOMAN TO WIN IN DOORSLAMMER – Western Australian Lisa Gregorini stepped out of the shadows of her more experienced husband, Daniel, and made history when she became the first woman to win a championship round in Doorslammer after leading her all-female team to victory against Ronnie Palumbo in the final at the opening round of the NDRC season, October 20.
Aussie Doorslammer has had less than a handful of female entrants since the category first appeared in 1996.
“To be honest, I was more nervous during the previous two rounds of racing than I was in the final,” said Gregorini. “I just had to think of it as another race and not put too much pressure on myself. As we went through the finish line side by side, I had no idea I had even won the race because my radio headset wasn’t working. It wasn’t until I got out of the car at the other end and found out Ronnie had red lit that I knew I won.”
The team would finish the season in third place behind Russell Taylor and legendary John Zappia.
1. DAMIEN HARRIS DEMOLISHES AUSSIE TOP FUEL RECORD – A routine run in round two of qualifying at the Riverbend Nationals on April 5 was transformed into the extraordinary when RAI star Damien Harris shredded the record book with a pass of 3.68 seconds, 331 mph.
The run not only smashed the 3.70 barrier but also eclipsed the previous record of 3.72 set by Phil Read in October 2024.
Harris’ performance came alongside teammate Wayne Newby, who clocked a not-too-shabby 3.73 seconds, 325 mph in what veteran track watchers believe was the best side-by-side pass in the history of Aussie Top Fuel.
The run also cemented Dragway At The Bend’s reputation as Australia’s quickest and fastest track.
“The car left hard and pulled and pulled. It had me pinned and was a wild ride all the way,” said Harris. “I had a good feeling it would run into the sixties and 330s. It felt quick, and when I climbed out of the car and asked an official, he had no clue. I said, ‘Could you please ask someone on your radio?’ I can’t thank the Rapisarda family, Santo Jr., and all my team enough. They’ve worked hard to get the car in this spot and make the most of the conditions.”
