STAGE SET FOR NEW YEAR NITRO

The Top Fuel and Funny Car action will resume next weekend for their first National Drag Racing Championship meeting of 2025.

They will go racing at the New Year Nitro event at Queensland’s Willowbank Raceway this Friday and Saturday.

this will be the first trip to Willowbank for Top Fuel and XPRO Nitro Funny Car since June of 2024, where they competed on the newly resurfaced track surface.

For Justin Walshe, that event was a true stand-out, seeing the Gold Coast racer take out not only the prestigious Winternationals event win, but also the inaugural NDRC XPRO Nitro Funny Car title.

With a home track advantage also on his side, Walshe now heads into New Year Nitro looking to build on that momentum.

“At the Winternationals we won the race meeting itself and we sealed the championship for the season, but there’s no pressure,” Walshe grinned.

“I am always excited to go to Willowbank because it is technically our home track. I am very excited to get back there and see if we can have the same performance and take home some gold, so to speak.”

Walshe also feels the heat will play a big factor in the hunt for speed.

Upping the ante for the racers will be the fact that the track conditions are expected to be very different to those experienced at ‘the Winters,’ explains Walshe.

“The heat will make it tricky to tune the race cars as it will be the hottest time of year, so we will be working hard to make sure we have them performing for the crowd.

“You are going from June, where it is absolutely perfect conditions for racing these styles of cars, to summer and January, where it is very hot, but we will be throwing everything we have at it to make sure the fans get the show they expect!

“As drivers, we all have the utmost trust in the guys tuning the cars and you have to be ready to drive it to the best of your ability, no matter the conditions.

“I just have to trust in the decisions made by our in-house tuning team, Graeme Frawley and David Mullins, and be ready for whatever the track and conditions throw at me.

“We might even see a first time winner at Willowbank – if I had to make a prediction that isn’t me, I would say Adam Murrihy – a fellow local – is one to watch.”

Walshe will be one of the drivers to beat having won five of the six events last season.

But he is smarting after not being at his best at The Bend due to mechanical issues.

“We didn’t have a great event at The Bend as we had a few mechanical and tune-up issues come our way, but during the last run of that meeting, we think we found a good baseline and starting point for the next race meeting,” he explains.

“I am feeling quietly confident that we have a good tune-up coming into New Year Nitro and we’ll finesse it from there.

“As we get ready to get into action next weekend.”

Image: Cackling Pipes

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