Round 1 of the NDRC/PDRC Championship got off to a slow start with all of Friday’s action being called off due to rain which persisted throughout the day. Although a rained out first half of the event wouldn’t dampen the quality of racing that we were going to see on Saturday. Seeding the field from last year’s championship creating some exciting matchups. From the onset, humid conditions stuck around from the Friday and threw the tuners a curveball with no testing or qualifying prior to the start of the season. Unfortunately, the 11-car field was cut down after Brian Pursell suffered electrical gremlins which left an even 10 left to fight for the Gold Christmas Tree.
The decisive race of the first round was John Barbagallo against Chris Soldatos which in hindsight was a race for the A final. Unfortunately for the Soldatos Motorsport entry the race was decided when John was given an eternity on the start line, allowing John to get the win and a handful of points going into the second round. Round 1 of racing also marked the official debut of Thomas Leake, 2nd generation Leake in Pro Stock. Starting his Pro Stock career in a side-by-side race with the current national champion as well as running a PB 7.15 at 187MPH is no lousy introduction into the incredibly tight class of Pro Stock.
For the second round Thomas was met with the same fate, coming up against the national champion again. However, he was not going to go down without a fight, setting another PB, running 7.05. Unfortunately for Thomas it was not enough for Dekert’s 6.955 which would send him straight to the A final. It was a repeat of Round 1 for most teams, the only differences were Clint Georgewould face John Barbagallo, and Chris Soldatos was paired up against Mario Polito. John Barbagallo stepped up his efforts from the first round and gained his spot into the A final with a 6.985 against a 7.163 from a returning Clint George.
In the D Final it was Thomas Leake up against Mario Polito. A better reaction time from Leake saw him edge in front but early chutes cost him the win. The C Final saw Ray Oxley v Tony Polito. A bad reaction time from Polito cost him the win which allowed Oxley to take out the C final and two from three against Tony Polito in their Ford v Chev battle. In the B Final it was Rick Chilton and Chris Soldatos to do battle and after what could have been an A final appearance, Chris Soldatos won the B final with a 6.994 over a 7.042 from Chilton.
In the A final it was the Australian Champion Rob Dekert up against the JB Automotive car of John Barbagallo. In what was the race of the event for Pro Stock, John Barbagallo left Dekert on the start line. However, the Unique racing car showed its power with an identical 6.955 from the round prior but it was not enough to take the win over Barbagallo’s 6.997 with 9 thousandths deciding it at the stripe.
The JB Automotive team have definitely re arrived on the Pro Stock scene with this victory and have set up what will for sure be a memorable season in Pro Stock with a Ford now being added to the list of front runners. Could the Rooster become the first champion in a Ford Since Jason Grima in 2013?
PDRC Pro Drag Racing Championship
NDRC – National Drag Racing Championship
Sydney Dragway
