5 January 2010

The ever-popular fire-throwing Nitro Funny Cars will return to Willowbank Raceway next Friday and Saturday (14/15 January) for Round Two of the New Year Series, and one racer the fans should keep their eye on is Damien Harris.

UPDATE: Event Cancelled

The West Australian dominated at Queensland’s premier drag strip last January, clean-sweeping the 2010 International Nightfire New Year Series and blitzing to an impressive 4.86 second pass at approximately 320 miles per hour (513kmh) – a new speed record and one-half of the quickest side-by-side pass for the category.

Harris will be part of a five-strong contingent of Nitro Funny Cars at Round Two of the 2011 New Year Series at the Ipswich drag strip.

“It is great to see more racers joining the Nitro Funny Car ranks and I think we are going to put on a great show for the fans next weekend,” said Harris.

“There is nothing like Nitro Funny Car and I hope with the increased numbers we can continue to grow this category.”

Since 2010’s New Year Series, Harris and team owner Paul Schackelton have moved to a new car body and NHRA certified chassis.

Harris says that while he is excited to get back to Queensland’s premier drag racing facility, the new combination will present a challenge.

“We have a limited amount of runs on the car and we will need to be looking closely at the data as we go along,” said Harris.

“We have tested the car and experienced some struggles, but we are confident of being able to present those four second passes before too long.”

Willowbank Raceway’s Managing Director Steve Bettes said there was nothing like Nitro Funny Car to get the heart pumping.

“Every time we have the Nitro Funny Cars here at Willowbank Raceway the action they deliver is nothing short of phenomenal,” said Bettes.

“The racers in this category are determined to make every run count, and are continually knocking down records and setting new benchmarks every time they get on track for an event.”

The two-round New Year Series at Willowbank Raceway kicked off with round one over January 2/3 and will continue next weekend with round two across Friday January 14 and Saturday January 15, with the fire-throwing Nitro Funny Cars to bejoined by Top Doorslammer and Pro Stock for the two-day event.

For more information and tickets, please visit www.willowbankraceway.com.au

Willowbank Raceway is Queensland’s premier drag racing facility and hosts four major drag racing events each year – the two-round New Year Series in January, the Australian Top Fuel Championships in March and the Castrol EDGE Winternationals in June. The Queen’s Birthday event is the largest drag racing event outside of the US and is the season finale for the ANDRA Pro Series calendar.