Outstanding Performances from 58th Gulf Western Oil Winternationals, June 4-7, 2026

11 June 2026

Given the excellent track and air conditions, it was no surprise to see many excellent performances at the event.
Leading the way was Top Fuel, with Rapisarda Racing driver Wayne Newby recording a 3.681sec pass, which is the quickest outside of the US and is only .06sec slower than world record of 3.621.
Fellow Rapisarda Racing driver Damien Harris ran 335.82mph (540.44km/h) on his way to victory, a speed that is edging close to his best at the 2016 Winternationals of 336.99mph (542.33km/h), after which the racing distance for Top Fuel was reduced from a quarter-mile to 1000ft (304.8m).
Harris’s record-setting pass was run alongside Newby’s 327.11mph (526.43km/h) effort, scoring the pair the fastest side-by-side pass in Australia.  

Damien Harris 

Justin Walshe put down a speed of 325.77mph (524.27km/h) in his Nitro Funny Car, the fastest recorded for the eliminator in Australia. 
In Pro Alcohol, Cheyne Phillips twice bettered the world record for alcohol-fueled Funny Cars, with times of 5.346 and 5.330, also setting a new Australian speed record of 274.05mph (441.04km/h) in the Phillips family Camaro. In the first and second rounds of eliminations, the car performed an amazing feat of each time recording the same times and speeds of 5.378 at 273.55mph. 
Pro Alcohol recorded its quickest field, from Phillips’s 5.330 to Luke Marsden’s 5.532.
At the 2025 Winternationals, Phillips and Daniel Reed ran the quickest and fastest Pro Alcohol race in Australia and they eclipsed that mark this year, with Phillips’s 5.378 (the exact time he recorded in 2025) to Reed’s 5.385. These impressive times were matched with speeds of 273.55mph (440.23km/h) for Phillips and 271.95mph (437.66km/h) for Reed. 
Russell Taylor bettered the quickest Top Doorslammer time in Australia on three occasions during the event, with a best of 5.551sec, and Emilio Spinozzi’s 266.79mph (429.35km/h) top end speed during eliminations was almost 6mph (9.6km/h) better than the previous fastest mark.    
In the final, Taylor’s 5.551 at 258.67mph (416.28km/h) lost to Spinozzi’s 5.639 at 262.13mph (421.85km/h) for the quickest and fastest side-by-side race in Top Doorslammer history.  

Emilio Spinozzi 

Pro Stock saw the first 200.05mph pass since the eliminator changed to unleaded fuel in 2019, with Robert Dekert clocking 200.05mph (321.94km/h) in his Pontiac. 
In IHRA Pro Mod 660, John Ricca scored the bracket’s quickest time and speed at 3.642sec and 210.67mph (339.04km/h). Ricca ran that time and speed to win the final against Barry Plumpton’s 3.796 at 198.06mph (318.74km/h) for the eliminator’s quickest and fastest side-by-side pass.
Many other vehicles recorded the quickest time or speed for their class, including Jason Simpson running the first seven-second pass in the G/Gas Automatic class at 7.992sec, and an 8.973 from Tony O’Connor’s Falcon was the first eight-second clocking in the E/Modified Sedan Automatic class.          
Racers set 39 track records during the event.

Jason Simpson
 

Written By Lex Swayn, Photos by Dave Reid DRAGPHOTOS.COM.AU