Western Australia is a huge state that takes up a fair slice of this great country. And while the majority of that state is sparsely populated, the city of Perth has gathered a great audience this weekend at the Motorplex.
The draw card is the 43rd running of the Westernationals, and being the premier event on the Motorplex calendar, fans are in for some top class ANDRA Drag Racing Series action.
The Kings of the Sport, Top Fuel are making their second championship appearance this season at the ‘plex and will feature a field of six nitro-burning dragsters.
This years Westernationals will have a number of firsts – the first time Top Fuel are holding a championship round at the event, the first time the event is being held over three-days, and the first time that Top Doorslammer are running a championship on the three-round format.
For current Australian Top Fuel Champion Darren Morgan it’s his first time on the track for the 2014 ANDRA season. Team DMR was not able to race at the Nitro Max event back in January due to lack of funding.
But thanks to support from American Truckworks, Shannons Insurance, K-Trans WA, Victorian American Imports, Royal Asphalt and their many associate partners, Team DMR are ready to pound the pavement and win some points in the 2014 ANDRA Top Fuel Championship.
“We just can’t thank all our sponsors and supporters enough who help us do what we love to do”, said Morgan. It was disappointing to have missed the last round. Our team hasn’t missed a round in the past seven years. We really appreciate the support from Top Fuel Australia who assisted Team DMR in making it this trip. They understand that we need to bring a better product and put on a show for the fans.”
As was the format for the Nitro Max event, the Westernationals will run two championship rounds back-to-back, potentially giving DMR the opportunity to win two events in the one weekend.
The three-round format see’s a compulsory qualifier in which all cars must put in a run. Then the cars are seeded and paired up for the first round, after which the quickest winners then face off for the A and B finals.
“Certainly for the fans it’s a great thing to see all the cars come out twice and then have the finals. The format puts all the cars on the track and that makes for a better show”, said Morgan.
Western Australia is well represented in Top Fuel with four of the six drivers all based in WA. Damien Harris, Alan Dobson, Martin Stamatis and Mark Sheehan all have the potential to run fast, win and make trouble for the two Victorian entries of Team DMR, and current points leader Phil Lamattina.
“On Wednesday we did some testing and made a few runs to test out some new parts. At the Nationals last year we had the Championship wrapped up so we used the event to test new 8-stand clutches. For the test day we have new superchargers and a new Darren Myer injector hat. We have the first one in competition and NHRA have the other for approval”, said Morgan. It’s all about consistency, as this new DMPE blower only needs rebuilding after eight passes instead of four.
“I’m looking forward to this weekend and racing again. The competition is going to be tough as they all have the potential to upset, which is good for the fans. We love the WA fans as they love their drag racing. They get excited, are passionate about the sport and we have a big fan-base here.”
Top Doorslammer will kick off the pro action at 5:30pm tonight with the nitro stars taking the stage at 6:00pm. Qualifying for the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship continues from 11:00am.
For full details please click here.