CALENDAR

Winner are grinners and the saying was never more accurate than at the 2023 Gulf Western Oil Winternationals.

Here is the recap of the professional categories and Championship winners, and later this week we will do a full rundown of the Sportsman action from the biggest event of the year.

Top Fuel Funny Car

Entering the event there was only two points between championship combatants and teammates Morice Mc Millin and Brandon Gosbell. By the time the event was complete, we had witnessed possible the greatest single event of Nitro Funny Car Racing that Australia had ever seen.

Qualifying saw a subdued first session, with only McMillin able to log a full pass. His 4.89 was good enough to take the provisional number one qualifier, but the session showed little to indicate what was to come for the remainder of the event.

Saturday’s qualifying would see history being made With Morice Mc Millin and Brandon Gosbell logging the first side-by-side four second run at Willowbank raceway, which McMillin then backed up with the quickest run in Australian Funny Car history (at the time) with a 4.74 second blast at over 502 kph to cement the #1 qualifying position heading into race day.

Gosbell slotted into the #2 starting position, in what was the quickest Funny Car field in history. Adam Murrihy missed his first four second run by only three hundredths of a second, logging a 5.02 to sit third. Justin Walshe had issues with his Harts Paint Supplies car dropping cylinders and coasted to an early shutoff 5.14, with Anthony Begley bouncing back from a disastrous first day of qualifying to run a 5.15 to round out the field.

Race Day would see the Championship decided, one way or another. Round one began with a bang, with McMillin laying down the quickest pass in Australian history with a 4.74 second run over the quarter mile. That lasted precisely 2 runs until Brandon Gosbell put down a jaw dropping 4.69 second pass to be the first Funny Car outside north America to dip into the 4.6 second zone.

“This thing is one hell of a hot rod, one hell of a team”, Gosbell said. “I Watched Murrihy go 4.91 and I thought that we could be in with a shot here for a good run, but a 4.69 is incredible”.

He was referring to Adam Murrihy who recorded his first four second pass in the session, with Justin Walshe going sub 5 seconds as well. The slowest car of the session was Anthony Begley who recorded a sensational 5.06 alongside Gosbell, meaning that every competitor in the session made the quickest runs of their careers.

After two rounds of racing, the final would ultimately come down to Gosbell and McMillin in a race that would decide the Championship.

At the green light, Gosbell would get the start line advantage, but it soon went to waste with the car overpowering the racetrack. Gosbell had the best seat in the house to watch McMillin re-set the National Record to 4.70 on the run, which was backed-up within the required 1% by his earlier 4.71 from round two.

McMillin said after the win “Honestly, I don’t know what to say. What a weekend. This Championship is down to the team. Brandon even built the engine in the car, I’m just so proud to drive these cars. It means a lot. Thank you to GC and Wendy (Graeme and Wendy Cowin his team owner), I’m so happy to represent the brands”.

Pro Alcohol

Pro Alcohol was another category that made history at the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals, with Dragsters running riot over the category throughout qualifying.

By the time the dust settled, two Dragsters would be into the 5.3 second zone, with Cheyne Phillips logging the first sub 5.40s time followed by Tim Clifton later in the weekend.

Ultimately though, the Funny Cars came to the fore with category newcomer Andrew Searle and Longtime competitor Greg Clayton doing battle in the Final round.

Searle would defeat Tim Clifton in the semi-final on a hole shot, with Clifton re-setting the Pro Alcohol Dragster National Record to 5.39 with the loss (backed up to the required 1% with his earlier 5.40).

On the other side of the ladder, Greg Clayton was quietly going about his business logging consistent 5.5 second runs. He beat Caan Childs in round 1 and defeated a resurgent Cheyne Phillips who had found some form in his Pro Alcohol Dragster this weekend.

The final was again a race that was decided on the Start line, with a huge start line advantage to Clayton. Searle would go on to record the quickest pass of his career with a 5.51 but it was not enough to drive around clayton who streaked to a 5.65 for the win.

“My little brother has been tuning this car this weekend, and he has just done an amazing job. We had to borrow parts to make this run, thanks to Jamie Noonan, Caan Childs, Tim Clifton, Mark Brew and the guy that we raced in the final Andrew Searle”, he said. “Winner Winner! This is family deal. I have to thank the team owners Mark Rowland and Rod Holdsworth, this isn’t my car I just get to drive it!”.

The Championship was wrapped up before the event got underway, with Steve Reed Taking a popular victory in the long Championship Chase. Unfortunately for Reed, he lost in the first round of racing to Andrew Searle but nonetheless has locked up the 400 Thunder Pro Alcohol Championship.

RDW Excavator Parts Pro Slammer

Paul Cannuli went back-to-back in Pro Slammer with victory over Ben Bray, backing up his win from the 2022 edition of the event. Cannuli was dominant, taking the #1 qualifier and setting the quickest elapsed time in every round, besting with a 5.68 quickest elapsed time and a 5.74 in the final round.

Cannuli dominated the weekend from the outset, with a small but quality field of Pro Slammers taking to the track to take advantage of incredible weather and surface conditions. Almost every racer in the field set new personal bests across the weekend.

Steve Ham wrapped up the 400 Thunder Pro Slammer Championship with several rounds left in the series. Ham did not contest the final event of the series, however had amassed enough points to secure the title.

Russell Pavey locked in second in the title race, with Paul Cannuli finishing third on the back of an incredible back half of the season with 2 wins.

Glass Trade Centre Pro Stock

Pro Stock was outstanding from the outset, with Tyronne Tremayne pacing the field in both Friday Sessions. A 6.92 was enough to take the provisional pole, however a surprise to some saw the mustang of Scott Porter (still running a backup engine from earlier in the year) slotting into the #2 sport with a 6.93. Champion Elect Aaron Tremayne was third with a 6.93 as well, with Omar Sedmak the only other car into the 6-second zone with his first 6.

Simply qualifying for the event was enough to lock up the 400 Thunder Australian Pro Stock Championship for Aaron Tremayne, his ninth national title in what has been an incredible career.

Pro Stock was all Tremayne, with brothers Aaron and Tyronne Facing off in the final round. Aaron had put down the quickest run of the event in the first-round bye with a 6.92, and a 6.93 in the semi-final was enough to dispose of Omar Sedmak who made his first semi-final appearance in Pro Stock.

Tyronne Tremayne drilled the now 9-time Champion Aaron Tremayne on the green light, with almost a .05 reaction time advantage. The hole shot was the deciding factor in the race, with a 6.94 enough to hold off a quicker but losing 6.92 for Aaron.

“It’s nice to finally beat my brother at the Winternationals. He has been so damn good over the years, any time you can beat him you know you’ve done your job”, Tyronne Tremayne said in his post-race interview. “This will lock down second in the championship, which isn’t bad considering I missed a round when I broke my shoulder. It’s been a great weekend for me, and for the team”.

Pro Mod

Reigning Champion Zoran Gajic picked up where he left off at the last round of the championship, qualifying number one after two sessions. Stew Walsh was the only other car to dip into the 5 second zone, but troubles for much of the rest of the field.

By the time Qualifying was complete, Gajic’s  5.88 enough to secure the number one position and the bye run for Sunday’s elimination race. It was also enough to secure his maiden National title after missing the previous title by less than one round of racing.

It was a dramatic finish to Pro Mod with Rod Harvey crashing heavily around half track after getting out near the wall. The car rolled onto its roof and slid across the track into the opposite wall before sliding on its roof for nearly 300 metres.

“It was pretty disappointing to have that happen, but we will be back”, Harvey said at the trophy presentations after the race.

Zoran Gajic, unaware of Harvey’s crash behind him, completed the Winternationals / Championship Grand Slam with victory in both, along with the #1 qualifying spot and the quickest run of the event in a dominating performance.

Pro Stock Bike

Luke Crowley completed possibly the most dominant season in recent memory, going undefeated throughout the entire season in a feat that is unlikely to be repeated in the near future.

He paced the field with a 7.08 and Scott White a distant second with a 7.33 after one day of qualifying. The 7.08 would be the only full pass of qualifying for Crowley as clutch issues would curtail his other attempts.

Crowley would pull it together in the final round to take out Andrew Badcock.

Badcock’s journey to the finals was a story, having originally entered Top Fuel Motorcycle. When it became clear that competitor numbers were down for that category, Badcock hastily threw together his Pro Stock Bike in a matter of days and performed admirably in the runner up performance.

Top Fuel Motorcycle

Unfortunately, Top Fuel Motorcycle did not receive enough entries to form a contested category at the 2023 Gulf Western Oil Winternationals.