Five reigning national drag racing champions will be putting on a show of their skills at Queensland’s Benaraby Raceway this weekend for round eight of the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship.

Among them will be Alexandra Hills’ Jason Simpson, a national Super Stock champion and record holder, who will be aiming to show Benaraby that he means business when his Ford Capri, capable of accelerating to 250kmh in just over eight seconds, hits the track.

“It’s my first time racing at Benaraby and I’ve heard from some teams that have been there that it’s a good track with a fun atmosphere,” he said. “We want to come out and support the local Queensland tracks and while we will enjoy it you’re of course aiming to bring home the win as well.”

Simpson’s championship defence began in fine fashion with victory at the Australian Nationals in Sydney in November but he then endured a couple of tough rounds and says he is not quite where he wants to be in the points.

“The season has been up and down, we started off well in Sydney but then when we ran there next we didn’t too good and then the Winternationals in Brisbane was rained out,” he said. “That has hurt us a little bit in the championship, so we are going to have to go for as many points as we can in Benaraby. I won’t be holding back.”

Simpson got into drag racing when he was just 17 years old, racing his street cars on the strip. It was almost two decades ago in 1996 when Simpson began racing in Super Stock and since then he hasn’t looked back.

“Apart from a break of a few years I have been in Super Stock ever since and the G/GA class is one I have run for quite a while,” he said. “We’ve done pretty well since then with highlights like the national championship.”

The expansion of regional rounds in the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship has been a great success so far with Benaraby joining Portland, Victoria and Alice Springs, NT on the national calendar.

These rounds allow the mixture of Competition and Super Stock categories into a single Super Comp field where entries are low and this is what Simpson will face this weekend.

“I haven’t run against dragsters and altereds in a long time, we all prefer to run separately but beggars can’t be choosers,” he said. “This is about supporting the track so the event can become bigger and better in coming years.”

Simpson will be joined by fellow national champions Matt Watts (Supercharged Outlaws), Robert Harrington (Super Street, competing in Modified at this event), Daniel Sekli (Modified Bike) and Simon Isherwood (Super Gas).

The Benaraby Nationals will run from July 20-21 at Benaraby Raceway in Queensland and features round eight of the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship.

Image courtesy dragphotos.com.au.