Changes made to NDRC Sportsman season

The calendar for the 2023/24 National Drag Racing Championship Sportsman season has been tweaked ahead of the new year.

With roughly half of both the Eastern and Western Conferences respectively, the run home to the Sportsman Grand Final at The Bend has received some slight modifications.

The changes include an additional sportsman’s only event in QLD, points boosts for Eastern Conference motorcycle competitors, a Melbourne double header at Calder Park and a new date for the Sportsman National Grand Final.

The 2024 Sportsman finale will now take place at The Dragway at The Bend in October 2024 to double up with major categories Top Fuel and Group 1.

The Willowbank round for February 16-17 in the Eastern Conference was sharing the spotlight with Group 1 but now it is a dedicated Aeroflow Sportsman Championship round and one day event on the Saturday 17 with test and tune sessions on offer the day before.

In addition to driving on a freshly upgraded track, but NDRC will reward bike competitors with 50% bonus points given the lack of racing opportunities in Sydney.

To make up for the lost Heathcote round, the Calder Park round in February 24-25 will now be an Aeroflow Sportsman Championship Double Header.

An additional round will also take place at Willowbank on April 13 after the December round did not take place at the same venue.

This round will also have the likes of Nitro Funny Cars and other Group 1 categories with bikes getting the opportunity to earn a 50% bonus.

To enable the changes to take place, changes have been made to the dates and locations of the Conference finals.

The River Bend Nationals at The Bend in April 2024 (ANDRA sanction) will now be the Final of the Western Conference which was previously Mildura, while the Winternationals (IHRA sanction) in June 2024 will now be the Final of the Eastern Conference (previously Calder) before a three-month to the Bend finale.

The NDRC said the changes have been made due to the on and off nature of the season so far. 

“The NDRC feels keenly the challenges sportsman racers have faced in the first five months of the championship, with several lost rounds across both Conferences including the Desert Nationals, The Spring Nationals, Sportsman at Heathcote, the December round at Willowbank, and the Xmas Showdown in Sydney,” read the NDRC statement.

“Eastern Conference Bike racers have perhaps suffered the most due to the inability to host motorcycle racing at IHRA tracks, most notably Sydney Dragway. This is a situation the NDRC and all lovers of drag racing want to see resolved as soon as possible.

“All in all, we’ve lost a truly significant amount of sportsman racing. Our shared desire is to have a meaningful and fair national series and conference system leading to a true National Grand Final.

“The NDRC has made some positive decisions that we feel address these issues and ensure a proper conclusion to the Sportsman racing season.”

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 On the latest podcast, Bruce, PG and Andrew talk about their three motor racing highlights of 2023, and to balance it out… The three lowlights as well, not lowlifes Bruce!