Portland, Victoria plays host to the opening round of the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship this weekend and coming into the event with an expanded family team is Modified national champion Craig Baker.

Baker will be joined by 12 year old son Josh who will be making his first appearance in the Junior Dragster category.

Josh was perhaps the main beneficiary of the family’s first national title win, with a promise from his dad that he would buy a Junior Dragster if they won the Aeroflow series.

“Part of the deal was that if we won the championship, I promised Josh he would get a Junior Dragster,” Craig explained.

“It all started when we were in the USA on holiday in 2012 and he wanted an iPad. I said if I won the Australian Nationals I would buy him an iPad and of course then we won the Nationals.

“So then I made another promise, that if I won the championship we would buy a Junior Dragster. My wife is now trying to tell me I promised her some crazy things as well!”

Baker expects that he will be a nervous parent watching Josh hit Fuchs South Coast Raceway for the first time.

“I’m not sure how much it will distract me but it is great having him follow in my footsteps, he knows everything about drag racing,” he said.

“Obviously we want to do well but it’s also about having fun and getting Josh going on his drag racing career.”

With a newly acquired championship in hand, the opening round for the season will be no time for Baker to show any weakness with 12 Modified teams all chasing valuable points.

“You feel like you have the target on your back after winning the championship,” he said. “We just have to go out there and do our best with our own team.

“We’ve made no changes at all to the car, the only thing we have been concentrating on is picking up little maintenance issues.”

Baker will be just one of four new national champions who will be racing at Fuchs South Coast Raceway on Saturday and Sunday, including Super Sedan title holder Johnny Kapiris, Modified Bike champ Gavin Dohnt and Super Gas man of the moment Matthew Forbes.

Qualifying starts from 11am Saturday, with eliminations from 10am Sunday.

Image courtesy Lee Davis.