by John Doig, Australian Correspondent
Series leader Wayne Newby scored his first win of the season with a stirring victory in the A-Final up against teammate Damien Harris in Round Four of the 2024-2025 Top Fuel Championship held at Dragway at the Bend in South Australia, April 5-6.
The win was Rapisarda Autosport International’s second 1-2 finish in three meetings.
Victory in the B-Final went to Phil Lamattina when his rival Kyle Putland was a non-starter.
Qualifying was highlighted by an electrifying performance from Harris, who rewrote the record book with a stunning 3.68/331 mph.
The previous record of 3.72 held by Phil Read was set at the venue in October 2024.
Harris’ record-shattering performance came in Q2 when paired with teammate Newby, who ran a stellar 3.73/325 mph in what many claim was the best side-by-side pass in the history of Aussie Top Fuel.
The run also cemented The Bend’s reputation as Australia’s quickest and fastest venue.
“It’s something we’ve been chasing for a while, so it’s awesome,” Harris said. “I can’t thank the Rapisarda family, Santo Jr., and all my team enough. They’ve worked hard between Perth and here to get the car in this spot and make the most of the conditions at The Bend.
“The car left hard and pulled and pulled. It had me pinned and was a wild ride all the way. I had a good feeling it would run into the sixties and 330s. It felt really 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 two-way?’ and yeah, it was awesome.”
“I’m over the moon. I’m also happy for Wayne, who won the event. We had two Rapisarda cars running side-by-side in the final, which was just the dream. This has been a special weekend for Santo and the Rapisarda family.”
Aeroflow Team head honcho Morice McMillin claimed the honors in Nitro Funny Car over rising star Josh Leahy in their A-Final duel. American import Tommy Johnson Jr. went home with the B-Final trophy after accounting for debutant Todd Paton.
In Doorslammer, little-known Sydneysider Jeremy Callaghan upset points leader Russell Taylor, who cut a red light in the A-Final, while Ronnie Palumbo’s first appearance this season paid dividends with a holeshot win over Lisa Gregorini in the B-Final.
TOP FUEL QUALIFYING – With RAI securing the top two places, a strong performance locked in third place for Phil Read ahead of privateer Kyle Putland followed by Phil Lamattina on the comeback trail in fifth place.
ROUND ONE – Newby drew first blood with a superb pass of 3.75/325 mph to down Lamattina, who had to settle for a 3.91/306 mph after dropping the #8 cylinder around the 300-foot mark. Putland thrilled the crowd with a massive mid-track drive job after dropping the #1 cylinder 2.2 seconds into the run to down the luckless Read, who broke a belt near half-track. Harris, on a solo, continued his brilliant form, clocking a majestic 3.72 /331 mph pass.
ROUND TWO – Lamattina, on a solo, overpowered the track and popped the ‘chutes early. The Newby and Putland match-up was a thriller. Despite backing off early, Newby took the win with a 3.80/324 mph, while Putland tossed a belt early and posted a PB of 3.89/303mph.
Harris smoked the tires just after 330 feet but was able to book his place in the A-Final with the easiest victory over Read, who broke the throttle cable on the hit. “That’s never happened before in 20 years of racing,” lamented Read.
FINAL ROUND – What was shaping up as the season’s match-up between Newby and Harris turned out to be an anti-climax. Harris’ dream weekend was over instantly when a burst panel failed and the safety shut-off was activated. Newby crossing the finish line with a 4.73/277mph.
“The car got loose, rattled a bit and then straightened up,” said Newby. “That’s our first win this year. It was a killer effort by the team, even though we didn’t get to run in the 60s we came away with the win. I can’t thank the team enough. I’m so happy for Santo and the family. We’ve extended our points lead and hopefully, from here, we can go on and win the championship.”
Lamattina took out the B-Final and, in the process, broke the diff on what was solo after the Putland crew discovered a leak in the injector line and shut down on the start line.
NITRO FUNNY CAR – There was drama in the lead-up to the event when reigning champ Justin Walshe was a late scratching due to illness. The team was quickly on the phone to Tommy Johnson Jr., who made the trip from home in Indianapolis to the rural outpost in South Australia for the meeting.
No stranger to Aussie fans, TJ has raced 12 times in Australia and steered an RAI fuel car in the NHRA series.
“I got a text message asking if I was available to come and race at The Bend,” said Johnson. “I said sure, let me know and then I realized it meant this weekend. I then got a phone call to confirm the details, found a flight, made the booking and was on a plane at 2 o’clock the next day. With the transfers and delays, it took around 58 hours to get to Australia and here I am.”
QUALIFYING – In only his third appearance since stepping up to the elite category, rising star Josh Leahy snared the top spot with a 3.99/317 mph. “That’s a PB,” said Leahy. “I was hoping for a three and it was. Everything lined up and felt good.”
There was no jet lag for the affable TJ, who cruised to second place ahead of debutant Todd Paton, impressed with a 4.08/304 mph, followed by McMillin.
ROUND ONE – Despite breaking four Teflon bolts on the burst panel, Johnson was handed the win after Paton two-stepped on the hit. Leahy continued his day one form with a 3.98/318 mph to take the win while team boss McMillin popped the ‘chutes near quarter-track.
ROUND TWO – Leahy put a hole out at half track but hung on to defeat Paton, whose baptism of fire continued when he was forced to back off after drifting perilously close to the wall around 700 feet. “That was our best run of the year,” said McMillin after posting a 3.96/319 mph to account for Johnson, whose Aussie campaign ended after rattling the tires around 330 feet.
FINAL ROUND – McMillin trailed his younger opponent Leahy off the line by a minuscule .007 sec but hit the front by the 60-foot marker and was untroubled to go on and take the win with his second 3.96 pass of the day. “It was so good to race Josh in the final and claim our second win of the year,” said McMillin. “We were both having a go. After a shocking start to the weekend things picked up and finished on a high note.”
Johnson, who was celebrating his 57th birthday, led all the way to claim the B-Final against Paton with a 4.04/322 mph.
DOORSLAMMER – There was no surprise when runaway points leader and defending champ Taylor nailed a 5.60/258 mph to claim the top spot in the 14-car field. Second was the all-girl team of Lisa Gregorini, followed by 11-time champ John Zappia ahead of Callaghan, who was returning to the track for the first time since a high-speed crash at the Perth Motorplex. Ronnie Palumbo, the standout of last season, was fifth.
A quirk in the all-run format saw Taylor advance to the A-Final courtesy of solo runs in Rounds one and two, while Callaghan’s passage to his maiden ’slammer final included wins over veteran Peter Kapiris and a second-round solo.
Gregorini and Palumbo opened their accounts with round one solos followed by easy wins over South Australian Mick Mahoney and New Zealander Steve Carlson, respectively.
John Zappia’s weekend was over after a shock first-round loss to the little-known Mahoney.
FINAL ROUND – Callaghan cut a superb .009 light to take the win over Taylor, who red-lit for the first time in his career and was gracious in defeat. “If I was going to lose to anyone, I would want it to be Jeremy; he is a great person and deserves to win,” said Taylor
“I didn’t see Russell’s red light,” said Callaghan. “This is a fairy tale come true because we were on our roof at the last meeting in Perth. We’ve had a good car despite a few hiccups along the way. This is our second season in Doorslammer, and to win a gold Christmas tree is amazing. I also want to thank John Salemi from Buffalo in New York for all the help he has been providing to get us to this stage.”
TOP FUEL MOTORCYCLE – Queenslander Damian Muscat scored his third win of the season with a 6.24/ 204 mph pass against Western Australian Greg Durack’s 8.60/162 mph. Muscat, the top qualifier, was forced to change the engine overnight.
“The crew really thrashed it out last night and in the early hours of this morning to get back out here and put on a big show for these fans,” Muscat said. “We’d love to go faster; we didn’t get there today. Keep an eye on us and we’ll keep chipping away.”
PIT NOTES –
SPOTTED IN THE CROWD – Three-time fuel champ Darren Morgan made the rounds of the teams in the pits.
Morgan’s titles came from 2011-2013, when oversubscribed fields were the norm.
RAI TO RUN A THIRD CAR – RAI is set to run three cars at the Sydney Dragway Nitro champ meeting in May. Stay tuned for an announcement on who has landed the ride.
LUCKY ESCAPE OF THE WEEKEND – Veteran Doorslammer racer Andrew Sutton walked away unscathed after a high-speed crash in Q1 after his ‘chutes failed to deploy. His car skidded through the gravel trap and ended up entangled in the catch nets.
LIKE FATHER LIKE SON – Nixon Cannuli, son of two-time Alky champ John Canulli, qualified second and finished runner-up in Junior Dragster.
Luca Lamattina, son of Phil, qualified fifth and lost in the first round.
