World record chase begins
Today, four brave Top Fuel drivers will begin their pursuit of chasing a world record at The Dragway at The Bend.
The three-day Spring Nationals National Drag Racing Championship event has taken over the South Australian venue, which in a short space of time has cemented itself as one of the fastest in the world.
Within two years of opening, Australian records have been blasted away and now the fastest times in the world are within reach.
Adding to the occasion is the presence of John Ricca, who recently broke the world record and will be blasting at The Bend in his 2018 Camaro.
“We would love to put on a show at the Spring Nationals for the crowd and break a world record on Australian soil, something that is rarely done,” he said.
The current NHRA World Record is 3.623s/343.16mph set by Brittany Force.
A bumper crowd is expected for the long weekend 2025 edition of Spring Nationals with over 20,000 attending the 3-day 2024 event.
The four Top Fuel stars on show will be Phil Lamattina from FUCHS Lubricants Lamattina Top Fuel Racing, Phil Read from Hydraulink Jim Read Racing, plus Wayne Newby and Damian Harris from Rapisarda Autosport International.
All four of them have some serious numbers on the board.
Lamattina leads a team that has four Australian Top Fuel titles under its belt with half of them his own.
The others were won by Darren Morgan and Kelly Bettes, who is the only female to win an Australian Top Fuel Championship.
Lamattina’s best ET is 3.770s, while at the last event, the Winternationals, they were the only team to complete five consecutive 3.8 second ETs with a best of 3.83s.
Phil Read set the Top Fuel National Record at The Bend’s Spring Nationals in 2024 at 3.725s before it was reset by Damien Harris at the Riverbend Nationals 2025.
However, Read has since gone even faster, lowering his benchmark to 3.719s/328mph during the recent Nitro Champs at Sydney.
His team is a generational one, with Team Principal Jim Read, sons Phil as driver and Bruce as Crew Chief, and their sons Kurtis and Adam work on the blower and clutch.
Harris holds the current Australian Top Fuel records of 3.683s/333.16mph or 536.17km/h.
He is the only person to eclipse the 3.6s zone and has even achieved it on three occasions.
However, Newby has been the dominant driver this season and leads the Australian Top Fuel standings.
The driver who runs the only active enclosed canopy style Top Fuel bodied dragster in Australia also has three US Nationals experiences.
His best ET is 3.719s and top speed 329mph.
The 2025 Spring Nationals at The Bend takes place over the 3-5 Long weekend in October at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park.
Image: Grant Stephens
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