McDonald ready for Australia Day Drag Racing debut

If you ask Abbey Kay McDonald, there’s no better place than this weekend’s Australia Day Nationals at Sydney Dragway to make her National Drag Racing Championship debut.

McDonald will be taking on 250 others in the ex-Scott Bettes-owned Front Engined Dragster in the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship’s Modified bracket.

A rising drag racing star, the 28-year-old from the Gold Coast cannot wait to compete on the big stage.

“It is safe to say I am equally as excited as I am nervous to be making my debut at what is set to be an absolutely huge event,” said McDonald.

“This will be my first NDRC event and first-time racing at Sydney Dragway, so I am getting two firsts for the price of one.

“I’m very familiar with the Sydney-based drivers and there’s amazing talent there, so I’ll be bringing my A-game along!”

The road to McDonald’s looming national debut is perhaps unsurprisingly paved with a long history of high-powered machines.

Abbey Kay McDonald is ready to take on the NDRC in Sydney.

“Growing up constantly around pilots and planes, I had a love for big machines from a young age; however, my main interest was always on ground-level on four-wheels,” McDonald explains.

“Bathurst Day was bigger than Christmas Day in our house and, even though I’m a lover of many street cars, I was always drawing to race cars.

“There’s something about roll cages, bucket seats, tight cockpits, big horsepower and driving something to the absolute limit that always took my interest over everything else.”

McDonald’s trip to the Winternationals – the largest championship drag racing event held outside of the US – would soon prove a transformative experience.

“In 2016 I attended the Winternationals, my first drag racing event, as a total newbie to the sport, and to say my life changed over those four days is an understatement,” McDonald reflects.

“It was like someone had turned on a light for me and the obsession kicked off at once, spending the four days pestering any team or driver that would give me their time, asking a million questions and refusing to eat at times just so I didn’t miss a single pass.

“It was love at first quarter mile!”

Less than a year later, McDonald was given the chance she needed to explore the sport first-hand, and today she will racing Sydney Dragway herself.

“A close family friend purchased a Holden LX Hatchback Torana drag car for my sister and I to race as a complete surprise,” she said.

“He said the talent we both had shouldn’t be wasted and he turned my dream into a reality and, to this day, is still my biggest supporter and teammate.

“Since then, I have done my best to take the opportunity he’s given me, run with it and turn it into inspiration for other aspiring racers!” 

Abbey Kay McDonald driving her Front Engined Dragster.

McDonald started in Super Sedan, and then jumped straight into Modified as she believes it is her best track to her ultimate drag racing goal – Top Fuel.

“Last year was a huge year for me as my first year to run a full consecutive year of racing, saw me make my first seven-second pass and take home two local trophies,” she said.

“I also started professional driver training, was the guest speaker representing women in motorsport for an exclusive motoring group, attended countless motorsport events, met a handful of my idol drivers and teams, formed multiple new partnerships and got ready to expand into the world of circuit racing for 2024.”

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