With five national event wins, Glenn Henley headed to Dragway at The Bend’s Riverbend Nationals as the man to beat in Top Sportsman.

While the event itself might not have gone the way he planned, the South Australian racer’s incredible performances across the season stood him in good stead to ensure he walked away with the Western Conference final win.

Despite a first-round knockout by David Foster, Henley had enough points going into the final day’s racing to secure the Western Conference final win ahead of runner-up Leon Davies. Davies, in turn, knocked out fellow contender Valdo Turic in round one before falling to Greg Damiani in round two.

Event runner-up Damiani would go all the way to the final against Jason Young thanks to additional defeats over Roc Puccini (round one) and Foster (round three), plus a bye in round four.

“It was great to win, it was nail biting, and a great personal reward for my crew and family for all the effort we have put in, winning five events along the way,” Henley (pictured above thanks to Cackling Pipes) said.

“While we didn’t go as far as we wanted in the event today, the car was consistent as usual and my thanks goes to my crew, my wife Tracey, my brother Brett Henley, Nicholas Karanovic, Brian Keane, Trampas and Brett Matthews, as well as THR Engine Developments, and Craig Carrison Race Engines back in Mount Gambier, Glenara Transport.”

Young was equally stoked to take out the event honours at Tailem Bend. He had ensured he was able to race all the way to the end by defeating Peter Grandoni (round one), Darren Parker (round two), Cory Read (round three) and Sam Cardinale (round four) before his final stand against Damiani to take out the event victory.

“We are stoked!” Young said.

“We worked really, really hard on the car all weekend – we fixed doors, replaced starters, changed lots of stuff – we were working hard, and it is a great result for the boys and the team.

“The whole weekend is a credit to everyone involved; it really is. It was a great weekend.”

A full complement of Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship racers descended on the state-of-the-art South Australian venue for the April 5-7 event alongside Top Fuel, Top Doorslammer, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle, putting it all on the line for the highly anticipated conclusion to the Western Conference.

For an overview of the Riverbend Nationals results for all brackets, including group one, please click here.

For a detailed rundown of how each of the sportsman brackets unfolded over the weekend, please click here.