The Castrol EDGE Winternationals confirmed its status as the largest event in Australian Drag Racing with four days of action at Queensland’s Willowbank Raceway. The entry list boasted an amazing 536 competitors and a massive crowd was on hand to see the best sportsman racers in the country do battle in the Rocket All Stars Racing Series. The Rocket All Stars Racing Series awards the top five point scorers in each of ANDRA''s Group Two, Three and Four brackets a large end of season pool worth over $50,000 for the 2009/2010 season! The only requirement for the Rocket All Stars Racing Series is that it is compulsory for the racers to run the appropriate size Rocket All Stars Racing Series stickers in a visible location.  


COMPETITION - The final of RARS Competition was between the two people who ended the Rocket Series in first and second positions, Phil Otto and Justin Walshe. The final was perhaps the best in the history of the bracket with the timing equipment having to award the win on the beam as it was a mathematical dead heat! The Winternationals win went to the South Queenslander in Walshe but the overall title went to defending champion Phil Otto in his new Altered. Anthony Begley took his Funny Car to an impressive third position whilst the other Anthony Buckley, smashed the field in Winternationals qualifying and finished the season in fourth position overall. Based on his Winternationals form, Buckley will be in title contention next season.

1st Place - Phil Otto (220 Points)

2nd Place - Justin Walshe (200 Points)

3rd Place - Anthony Begley (170 Points)

4th Place - Anthony Buckley (140 Points)

5th Place - Wayne Cartledge (140 Points)

SUPER STOCK - RARS Super Stock featured one of the strongest fields in recent memory at the Castrol EDGE Winternationals. Nino Cavallo and Alan Puglia finished the Championship in first and second positions respectively but both were eliminated in the early rounds at the final event of the season. The Winternationals event win went to South Australian, Alex Panagiotidis. Paul Beauchamp started the 08/09 Rocket All Stars Series in spectacular fashion, which secured his third position in the final standings. Two of the leaders from the 2007/2008 Rocket All Stars Series in Super Stock were also amongst the leaders this year in Graeme Simms and Ralph Perri.

1st Place - Nino Cavallo (210 Points)

2nd Place - Alan Puglia (200 Points)

3rd Place - Paul Beauchamp (200 Points)

4th Place - Alex Panagiotidis (180 Points)

5th Place - Graeme Simms (180 Points)

COMPETITION BIKE - West Australian racer, Kevin Gummow, has made it two in a row in RARS Competition Bike. Gummow managed to overcome a field of quality racers including David Rundmann and fellow West Aussies, Gordon Crawford. In the Winternationals final however it was Gummow versus the New South Welshman in Kempe. Geoff Kempe was the number one qualifier and Kevin Gummow was the number two qualifier. The winner was decided on the holeshot, with Kempe taking the win.

1st Place - Kevin Gummow (280 Points)

2nd Place - David Rundmann (250 Points)

3rd Place - Gordon Crawford (210 Points)

4th Place - Geoff Kempe (200 Points)

5th Place - Blair Pennington (160 Points)

SUPERCHARGED OUTLAWS - It was a triumph for the ladies in RARS Supercharged Outlaws with South Queensland’s Christine Steffens taking the title in emphatic style – with a Winternationals win. In a pair of tight semi final tussles, two West Australians squared off in the first with Marty Dack’s Mustang putting away Steve Swinscoe. In the second semi, Casey Mortensen gave Christine Steffens, .63 of a second head start on the ‘dial-ins’ and he was not able to bridge the gap, which meant a Steffens v Dack final. Steffens took home the Winternationals Gold Christmas Tree as well as the overall title. Matty Watts took second place in a standout season for the young racer with Nathan Peirano featuring amongst the points in a typically good season for the northern Queensland based team.

1st Place - Christine Steffens (260 Points)

2nd Place - Matty Watts (180 Points)

3rd Place - Nathan Peirano (160 Points)

4th Place - John Ward (120 Points)

5th Place - Geoff Gradden (100 Points)

MODIFIED - Mark Eadie was the man to beat all season in RARS Modified with back-to-back Championship success from the 2007/2008 Rocket All Stars Series. Eadie made his way to the Winternationals final where he met the small block Ford-powered dragster of David Mullins in an all South Queensland final round. Mullins took the win by the barest of margins to cement fourth place in the points standings behind New South Welshmen, Luke and Musgrave.

1st Place - Mark Eadie (260 Points)

2nd Place - Brendon Luke (160 Points)

3rd Place - Andrew Musgrave (150 Points)

4th Place - David Mullins (120 Points)

5th Place - Robert Millett (120 Points)

SUPER SEDAN - Greg Fowler is starting to make RARS Super Sedan his very own category and again he beat his son, Steven Fowler to the title! The Father and son finished equal on points but Greg’s superior performance at the Winternationals ensured the title was his for the second year running. John McNight’s HQ Monaro was amazingly consistent over the weekend and managed to take home the Winternationals final when the Chev Berretta of Fowler had an issue with the trans-brake in the final. ANDRA’s Northern Australian Division was represented in the top of of the Rocket All Stars points by Ashley Wanchap and Steven Somer who finished in fourth and fifth places respectively.

1st Place - Greg Fowler (200 Points)

2nd Place - Steve Fowler (200 Points)

3rd Place - John McNight (100 Points)

4th Place - Ashley Wanchap (100 Points)

5th Place - Steven Somer (100 Points)

MODIFIED BIKE - Jason Hammelswang has had a standout season in RARS Modified Bike and he made it a double celebration at Willowbank Raceway, winning the Winternationals Title and finishing number one in the Rocket All Stars points. Hammelswang’s Yamaha R1 faced off against the Suzuki Hayabusa in the final and the West Australian finished just short of riding around Hammelswang. Another West Australian, Robert Green finished in second position in the pointscore aboard his Honda CBR ahead of Queenslander Alexey Tukaukin in third place.

1st Place - Jason Hammelswang (300 Points)

2nd Place - Robert Green (140 Points)

3rd Place - Alexey Tukaukin (140 Points)

4th Place - Ian Read (120 Points)

5th Place - Alan Annis (100 Points)

SUPER STREET - Tony Wallace showed amazing early season form in RARS Super Street but a third round exit at the Winternationals combined with an event win for Paul Dilley guaranteed Dilley’s championship win. Dilley managed to beat the 1956 Chevrolet of Reece Glass in the final. Jordan Scott and Ian Neilsen made their way through to semi final stage, a result which netted Neilsen third position in the overall classification. Glass’ finals appearance left him in third position ahead of the Chev-powered Rover of Terri Sander in fifth.

1st Place - Paul Dilley (220 Points)

2nd Place - Tony Wallace (220 Points)

3rd Place - Ian Neilsen (180 Points)

4th Place - Reece Glass (140 Points)

5th Place - Terri Sander (140 Points)

JUNIOR DRAGSTER - RARS Junior Dragster has become one of the most competitive and sought after Rocket All Stars titles and Blaze Hansen has earned his 2008/2009 series win. Hansen finished equal on 160 points with fellow Queenslander Jake Donnelly but his superior performance at the Winternationals gave him the title. Kaine Schwarz beat out a huge Winternationals field to take the event win defeating Jake Roney in the final in a tightly contested affair with both drivers achieving near identical reaction times.

1st Place - Blaze Hansen (160 Points)

2nd Place - Jake Donnelly (160 Points)

3rd Place - Ethan Hort (150 Points)

4th Place - Rhys Naylor (120 Points)

5th Place - Kristie Allan (120 Points)

SUPER GAS - In RARS Super Gas, the winner of the Winternationals was going to be the winner of the 2008/2009 Championship as Darryl Stephen faced off against Simon Isherwood in the final. The result was a dual breakout but the small block Ford powered Probe of Stephen broke out by less than the 565ci Chev powered Commodore of Isherwood, handing the New South Wales racer both ANDRA Gold Christmas Trees. Shane Moran was close behind in third place with Romeo and Stivala rounding out the top five.

1st Place - Darryl Stephen (260 Points)

2nd Place - Simon Isherwood (260 Points)

3rd Place - Shane Moran (220 Points)

4th Place - Roy Romeo (100 Points)

5th Place - Frank Stivala (80 Points)

SUPER COMPACT - New to the Rocket All Stars Racing Series for the 2008/2009 Season, RARS Super Compact is the high-tech drag racing bracket that has seen oversubscribed fields after just a single season. Heading into the Castrol EDGE Winternationals, the title could have gone to anyone especially after the series leader, Damien McKern, red lighted in an early round and second placed Rodney Rehayem was also eliminated after just one round of racing. Joe Signorelli in his super-fast Toyota Celica made his way to the finals at the Winternationals and victory in the final would have given the New South Wales based racer the ANDRA Gold Christmas Tree but he was stopped by Tim Kreis by the tiniest of margins. New Zealander Rod Harvey finished in fourth place ahead of Winternationals Champion, Kreis.

1st Place - Damien McKern (180 Points)

2nd Place - Joe Signorelli (160 Points)

3rd Place - Rodney Rehayem (160 Points)

4th Place - Rod Harvey (140 Points)

5th Place - Tim Kreis (100 Points)