Near perfect weather welcomed racers to the opening round of the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship at Sydney Dragway on Friday as the 48th annual Australian Nationals began in classy fashion.

Many runs underneath national time records were made as racers took advantage of cool and clear conditions at the Western Sydney venue.

One of the most iconic Top Doorslammers in the country returns to active competition this weekend at the Australian Nationals at Sydney Dragway along with one of its fan favourite drivers.

In recent years Debbie and Grant O’Rourke have been campaigning their Top Alcohol Funny Car around the country, but for Debbie the big focus was returning to the Top Doorslammer ranks with their famed HK Monaro.

Follow along from the action as it happens at Sydney Dragway for today's Australian Nationals test and tune.

Returning to the venue where he claimed last season’s Nitro Champs, Brisbane based Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Steve Ham will head to Sydney Dragway for this weekend’s Australian Nationals as a favourite.

With the Australian Nationals coming up, Lucas Oil Top Alcohol and Top Doorslammer driver Gary Phillips has been doing plenty of kilometres on the road.

We got Gary to tell us what it's like out there, how the family gets along and whether or not he can reveal any road secrets.

Father and son duo Victor and Ben Bray will be looking to make history repeat at Sydney Dragway this weekend as the 2012/2013 ANDRA Top Doorslammer Championship chase begins with the Australian Nationals.

With just four days to go until the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship kicks off, Jason Maggs and his team are still working tirelessly to get his wild Corvette ready for battle

This weekend will be packed full of fan events ahead of the Australian Nationals at Sydney Dragway, which is shaping up to be one of the best events ever at the NSW venue.

Queensland's Chris Matheson will be aiming for an impressive fourth championship in a row come this season with his Nitro Voodoo Top Bike team, which kicks off next weekend at Sydney Dragway.

The Fuchs LTFR Top Fuel dragster opened the 2012/13 ANDRA championship season in style with a runner-up trophy and a new track record at Adelaide International Raceway on Saturday.

After topping the qualifying sheets with a 4.33-second pass, Lamattina made his way to the final to face off against last season’s champion, Darren Morgan.

Reigning national Top Fuel champion Darren Morgan began his series defence in the best way possible on Saturday night, taking out the opening round of the ANDRA Drag Racing Series at Adelaide International Raceway.

ANDRA will be providing live updates via Twitter through Saturday's opening championship rounds of Top Fuel and Pro Stock at Adelaide International Raceway.

Adelaide will come alive to the sound of 8,000 horsepower nitro burning engines this Saturday as reigning Top Fuel champion Darren Morgan rolls into town for the first round of the ANDRA Drag Racing Series.

Back in April 2012, Darren took out the inaugural Pro Series 1000 event at Adelaide International Raceway and is looking to repeat the feat this weekend, when the team goes head-to-head with Top Fuel pilots Phil Lamattina, Luke Shepherd and Steve Read.