Some history-making Australian drag racing brought a thrilling conclusion to the inaugural National Drag Racing Championship (NDRC) championship season.

The season-ending Gulf Western Oil Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway in Queensland also included the final round and championship determining event for the Aeroflow XPRO Nitro Funny Car division.

The XPRO Nitro Funny Car A-Final saw Queenslanders Justin Walshe and Brandon Gosbell line up for the final championship race of the weekend – which confirmed Walshe as not only the inaugural NDRC champion but also delivering the Harts Paints-sponsored racer a Winternationals event win.

Using a holeshot with a 4.085-second 516.79kph, Walshe took the win-light, just holding off Gosbell’s 4.080-second 516.79kph pass.

Walshe had earlier recorded two wins against newcomer Josh Leahy with a 4.151s/ 515.07kph performance in round one and a 4.073s/518.38kph (top speed) effort in round two, to Leahy’s 4.091s/462.73kph and 4.131s/427.92kph runs.

Gosbell meanwhile had taken a win from Murrihy in round one and Begley in round two, with the second race seeing him drop it into ‘the threes’ for the first time today (3.985s/504.43kph) over Begley’s 10.860-second 131.99kph run.

In the B-Final, Morice McMillin and Adam Murrihy lined up alongside each other for the second time today, with the previous pairing seeing Murrihy shattering McMillin’s A-Final and championship hopes in the second all-run round. This time however, the decision would go to McMillin with another three second performance – an impressive 3.945-second (low ET) 511.32 kph pass over Murrihy’s 4.184-second 497.27kph run. 

In the C-Final, Begley took the win with a 4.456-second 449.15kph pass over Leahy who was left on the tree before shutting it down to record an 8.666 second ET in a disappointing run given the earlier strong performances for the newcomer today. 

“When you are the older bloke in the class and coming up against these young guys, all you can do is get there and give it everything you have got on the tree,” Walshe said.

“There are 20 guys and girls on this car and every run they are behind me and supporting me. And I am not religious, but I lost my old man a year and a half ago and he is there in the car talking to me on every run.

“This is all about the team, I have the easy job. We had five rounds of racing this year, went to five finals, had four wins and one runner-up – the Harts Paints team is just sensational, I love you guys!

“Thank you also to all the crowd coming out, every time you do a pass, every single person who is watching and who supports you is there in the car cheering you down the track and you just drive the pants off it like a mongrel!

“Thank you to every single person that has been here at Willowbank Raceway this weekend, all the Willowbank Raceway volunteers and officials, my Rocket team, and every damn person on this planet that breathes – thank you!”

XPRO Nitro Funny Car Racing Summary

WIN: Justin Walshe – 4.085 secs 516.79 KPH (Career win 4th)
R/UP: Brandon Gosbell – 4.080 secs 516.79 mph
Low ET: Morice McMillin – 3.945 secs
Top MPH: Justin Walshe – 518.39 KPH (322.11 mph)
Entries – 7 cars

Posted with files by Amanda Cobb (Jigsaw Communications) & Bruce Biegler
Photos by Bruce Biegler & Grant Stephens

To view more Funny Car racing photos from this event link to the LMLCMedia event gallery: HERE