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.

“The team and the car are ready to rock,” said Darren. “All the long hours in the workshop preparing for this event will be worth it when the throttle cracks open for the first time in front of a packed house of fans.”

A key ingredient to the team’s success Saturday is tuner Ben Patterson, who’s responsible for getting Darren from A to B in the quickest possible time.

“Adelaide International Raceway provides some unique challenges for Top Fuel tuners,” he said. “It’s one of the few tracks that are all bitumen so you really have to finesse the power to the ground. Too much and you go into tyre smoke, too little and you are not going to win the race.”

Darren Morgan Racing will also have a secret weapon with them this weekend, a blonde bombshell by the name of Madeleine Jevic, who plays Brianna Wheeler in the new eight-part comedy series Upper Middle Bogan.

“Our Top Fuel dragster was used in the recent filming of the series,” said Darren. “Madeline enjoyed herself so much that she decided to come along this weekend and be our guest at a real drag race. Fingers crossed we can convince her to take on the backup duties, which will be a breath of fresh air for the fans I’m sure”.

Without a major sponsor for this event, long time friend Theo Pavlomanolakos of Pavtek Performance has stepped up to provide a helping hand financially for the team.

“Theo was actually my crew chief when I won my first Top Fuel championship and we set records together. He retired from racing Top Fuel so he could concentrate on his business,” said Darren.

Darren Morgan Racing would like to thank its major associate partners Shannons Insurance, Victorian American Imports and Pavtek Performance along with their many associate partners.

The ANDRA Top Fuel championship gets underway on Saturday, October 20 at Adelaide International Raceway, before heading to Sydney for the Australian Nationals from November 2-4 in two weeks time.

Image by Chris Harvey.