Questions over the future of Calder Park RacewayEarly in November it was announced that the current staff at Calder Park Raceway would no longer be required as of mid December and the Bob Jane Corporation, of which Rodney Jane is a director, would be taking control of the venue from this point forward.

This change in ownership has raised a number of questions regarding the future of the venue. Most importantly for drag racers and fans, will Calder Park Raceway still be holding drag racing meetings? Will the calendar of events for 2013 go ahead as scheduled? And will ANDRA be involved?

Morgan retains championship lead (Photo courtesy Phil Luyer)Darren Morgan Racing went into last weekend at the Perth Motorplex with high expectations having won the first 2 rounds of the ANDRA Top Fuel Championship.

Qualifying got underway on Friday evening and the V8 Nights / K Trans WA backed dragster shot straight to the number 1 position with an off-the-trailer 4.750 at 306.12 MPH.

Looking back at the data, tuner Ben Patterson could tell the track was very tight and the conditions perfect for Top Fuel drag racing. "The track was nice and cool and the air was excellent. While the track is always good in Perth you don't always get a cool track and that's what makes for really quick times."

After much anticipation the 2013 calendar of events for Hidden Valley Drag Strip has now been released.

The ANDRA Drag Racing Series is set to make it debute for the first time at the new Hidden Valley facility. While details are still being finalised both Top Alcohol and Top Bike categories have been confirmed attendees by ANDRA, the sports governing body.

Based on the successful 2012 format of the NT Titles, we are also sticking to the same weekend in July to bring you two nights of action packed drag racing and loud, tyre frying burnouts from the 12-13th July. With competitors from across the Northern Territory and around Australia vying for the title of NT Champion, Darwin will witness some of the closest sportsman racing and smokiest burnouts the Territory has ever seen.

Mark Sheehan wins Top Fuel in PerthMark Sheehan put a stop to Darren Morgan's winning streak on Saturday night at Perth Motorplex, taking victory in spectacular fashion in the third round of the ANDRA Top Fuel championship.

Sheehan defeated Morgan in the opening round and then went on to eliminate Phil Lamattina, who remains winless this season despite three straight finals appearances in the Fuchs dragster.

The final was a dramatic nitro pedal-fest, with both drivers on and off the throttle as they attempted to get 8000 horsepower to hook up to a cooling race track. Sheehan's 5.40 just nudged over the finish line ahead of a 5.55 from Lamattina.

Sheehan was just able to survive a big top end charge from Lamattina, giving him his second event win in a row at Perth Motorplex out of his three events total in the category.

ANDRA and Willowbank Raceway are pleased to announce an exciting new event will be added to the 2013 calendar featuring championship rounds of Top Fuel and Top Alcohol.

The Santo's Cranes Super 3 Extreme Drag Race concept, featuring the Louie Rapisarda Top Fuel Trophy Race, will see professional drag racing not only return to the Easter timeslot (29-30 March 2013) at Queensland's premier drag racing facility, but do so with a format never before seen in Australian title competition.

Willowbank Raceway Managing Director Steve Bettes said the new format and event had come about after a long period of preparations with the Australian National Drag Racing Association.

Top Fuel winner Mark Sheehan (Photo courtesy ANDRA) When a close race occurs in the final round of an event, you could say it's the ultimate way a drag race should end. But an even more chaotic and eagerly awaited outcome could be a pair of pedalling Top Fuel dragsters struggling for traction. In the final of Top Fuel, Mark Sheehan kept his dragster ahead at the most important part of the track to stop the Lamattina team from taking their first victory of the season.

Although quality far outshone quantity in Top Fuel entries, it was a show that was always set to impress, the art of throwing such a powerful and ill-tempered dragster down the strip without things going kaboom in a big way. The three qualifiers were split with two on Friday evening and one at the typical 6pm round 1 starting slot on Saturday.  Therefore, the 8pm session would be the first of the go hard or go home mantra.

3 finals from 3 rounds for Phil Lamattina and LTFRFUCHS Top Fuel dragster pilot Phil Lamattina has made his third finals appearance in row after the first three rounds of the current ANDRA Championship season.

After qualifying in the number three position, Lamattina and Crew Chief Aaron Hambridge made some dramatic changes to the tune-up for the first round of eliminations.

Lamattina explained, "We found the conditions tricky early but once we got our head around what was required, we knew we could go quick and fast."

"The racetrack got better and better as the race meeting went on and to be honest, it was as good as anything we have ever raced on."

Championship leader - Darren Morgan (Photo courtesy Fred Dwyer)Darren Morgan Racing heads west this weekend for a Top Fuel showdown at the Perth Motorplex.

Currently sitting number 1 in the ANDRA Top Fuel Championship after winning the first 2 rounds of the season, Darren Morgan knows that the team will need to bring their A game to fend off the challenges of Phil Lamattina, Allan Dobson and Mark Sheehan (who won this event last season).

“We love coming to the Perth Motorplex,” said Darren Morgan. “It’s a fantastic facility and the West Aussie crowd really love their Top Fuel drag racing. As a team we’ve had a lot of success in Perth and we’ll be looking to stretch our legs at the front of the field and maintain our championship lead.”