Super Sedan is always one of the toughest brackets to get a win yet alone a win at the Winternationals. There is always an oversubscribed field and teams need to be at the top of their game potentially for six rounds as was the case at the Fuchs Winternationals just over a week ago.

Rick Neilsen has been racing for over 10 years but last week he won his very first ANDRA Gold Christmas Tree with a final win over a red lighting Pete Whitbourne.

Consistency is always the goal whether it’s heads up or dial your own racing but Nielsen had that in spades last week hitting his dial in on at least three occasions while coming very close on his other attempts. 

“My XY GT Ford ran very good in the Winter Warm Up and I cut some good reaction times to give us a baseline for the Winternationals,” said Neilsen.

“After qualifying was done we fronted up for first round where I got an easy win after the other competitor had issues. Second round on Sunday saw things get real serious, running a 10.331 on a 10.33 than out reacting Noel Green in the third round running a 10.359 on a 10.33 with a 016 light.” 

In his fourth round match up Neilsen cut a better reaction time and was able to back off with a 10.40 on a 10.33 to set up a showdown with Allan Grimsey in his Capri. 

“He cut a slightly better reaction but I ran a 10.375 on a 10.35 dial in to take the victory by .004 thousandth. That win was huge giving me a bye run in the semi finals.

“I concentrated on making a perfect run in the bye round, hitting the shift points and staging as shallow as possible resulting in a 10.350 on a 10.35 dial in. This gave me a huge confidence boost in the final.

“The final round I dialled in a 10.32 and cut a .025 light and saw the win light come on in my lane as the other competitor red lit.”

Neilsen would go on to run the car out the back door with a 10.353 victory lap.

“It was a huge week with testing and racing but the old Ford got the win. I have to thank Dad and Stewart who crew for me, and my sponsors Jack Bros and Precise Automatics. With the points being very tight it looks like we will continue to travel for the championship.” 

The next round of the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship moves to the Red Centre for the Desert Nationals at Alice Springs Inland Dragway July 19-20. 

For more information about the Desert Nationals please click here.

Image courtesy: Dragphotos.com.au