10 May 2011

Willowbank Raceway's Castrol EDGE Winternationals (June 10-13) will play host to Top Alcohol champion Wayne Newby's best shot in recent years of claiming his third ANDRA Pro Series championship.

Since claiming his latest illustrious title in 2006/2007, Newby has always been in the hunt and is currently leading the points as the 2010/2011 season heads to Willowbank Raceway for the largest drag racing event held outside of the US, to be staged on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend (June 10-13).

With nearest championship rival Aaron Hambridge retiring from the season earlier this year to become Crew Chief for Top Fuel outfit Lamattina Top Fuel Racing, Newby’s only challenger heading to Queensland is local Steve Reed.

However with a 114 point margin to Reed and the Sydney-sider making it to seven consecutive finals this season, Newby is quietly confident that Willowbank Raceway will play host to his third championship triumph in June.

“We love racing at Willowbank, and the Winternationals is always such a spectacular event – naturally it’s a great feeling to be going to the event with a good lead in the championship points, but of course we are in it to win it and would love to bring that gold Christmas tree home,” said Newby.

“The crew have worked really hard this season and we’ve tried a few different set ups to get the car right and to try and eliminate the tyre shake problems which seem to plague us. We have managed to make the last seven finals so I feel we have at least achieved some consistency.

“The Nitro Champs was a big event for us as we had our major sponsor JBS tools, releasing their new ‘Masters Tools Series’ at the event so we wanted to put in a big effort.

“The car ran a 5.64 second pass at 250mph straight off the trailer so we were stoked with that – it was enough to qualify at number one which was great as we weren’t sure what the weather was going to do.

“We made it to our seventh consecutive final though with the weather playing nice on Finals day, and hopefully we can carry through to the Winternats for an eighth consecutive final and hopefully a championship and Winternationals win!”

Newby and the rest of the Top Alcohol racers will be joined on track at the season-ending Castrol EDGE Winternationals by the rest of the ANDRA Pro Series ranks – including the 7000 horsepower Top Fuelers, Top Doorslammer, Top Bike, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle, alongside the racers of the Rocket All Stars Racing Series sportsman categories, with in excess of 500 racers set to hit the Willowbank Raceway quarter-mile across Friday June 10 to Monday June 13.

The Castrol EDGE Winternationals is an entertainment extravaganza held annually across the Queen’s Birthday weekend and is expected to provide an economic injection of millions of dollars into the South East Queensland region.

Children aged 13 and under are able to gain free admission to the Raceway during the Castrol EDGE Winternationals, and students with ID are able to gain discounted entry. One-day, two-day and full-event passes are all available – for more information, to purchase tickets and for schedules, please visit http://www.willowbankraceway.com.au/

Willowbank Raceway is Queensland’s premier drag racing facility, hosting year-round racing including four ANDRA Pro Series rounds per year including the Castrol EDGE Winternationals. For more information, please visit http://www.willowbankraceway.com.au/

EVENT INFORMATION: CASTROL EDGE WINTERNATIONALS

Feature racing: Top Fuel, Top Doorslammer, Top Alcohol, Pro Stock, Top Bike, Pro Stock Motorcycle

Also racing from: Lifestyle Floorcoverings Competition, Lifestyle Floorcoverings Super Stock, Super Compact, Competition Bike, Allstar Batteries Supercharged Outlaws, Knijff Earthmoving Modified, Powercruise Super Sedan, Speed Elec/Prime Signs Super Street, Modified Bike, Donnelly Blasting Services Junior Dragster and Super Gas.

Schedule
(Approximate and subject to change – visit http://www.willowbankraceway.com.au/
for updates)
Friday June 10
On-track qualifying action from 9.00am – approximately 7.30pm
Pro Stock Qualifying at 5.00pm

Saturday June 11
On-track action from 8.00am – approximately 8.00pm
ANDRA Pro Series Qualifying from 12.00pm – approximately 5.30pm

Sunday June 12
On-track action from 8.30am – approximately 6.30pm
ANDRA Pro Series Qualifying from 12 noon – approximately 5.30pm

Monday June 13
On-track action from 8.30am – approximately 4.30pm
Opening Ceremonies – 10.30am
ANDRA Pro Series racing at 11.00am, 1.15pm and all finals from 2.45pm

Ticketing – tickets available for purchase from http://www.willowbankraceway.com.au/

NB: General Admission = access to the spectator mound and paddock area
NB: Multi-day passes are available for pre-purchase through the Willowbank Raceway website only, no at-gate purchase of multi-day passes will be available

General Admission Tickets:

One-day passes:
Friday June 10 – Adult General Admission- $20.00
Friday June 10 – Student/Concession General Admission (Must show ID) – $20.00
Saturday June 11 – Adult General Admission – $50.00
Saturday June 11 – Student/Concession General Admission (Must show ID) – $42.00
Sunday June 12 – Adult General Admission – $50.00
Sunday June 12 – Student/Concession General Admission (Must show ID) – $42.00
Monday June 12 – Adult General Admission – $50.00
Monday June 12 – Student/Concession General Admission (Must show ID) – $42.00

Two-day General admission pass (available in Saturday/Sunday or Sunday/Monday format):
Adult – $90.00
Student/Concession (must show ID) – $75.00

Three-day General admission pass, including complimentary Friday General Admission:
Adult – $140.00
Student/Concession (must show ID) – $110.00

Reserved seating (price DOES NOT include admission), available for Saturday, Sunday and Monday:
Startline Club – $16.00 per day
Grandstand – $12.00 per day

For information on corporate options at the Castrol EDGE Winternationals, please visit http://www.willowbankraceway.com.au/