History making Pro Stock field for Fuchs Winternationals
16 May 2012
The super-competitive drag racing division of Pro Stock will be even more cut throat at the Fuchs Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway with 26 cars entered for the event.
The field is the largest ever in ANDRA professional drag racing and alongside 50 other professional teams in Top Fuel, Top Doorslammer, Top Alcohol, Top Bike and Pro Stock Motorcycle will make for one of the greatest shows seen in the sport.
Queensland’s Dave Newcombe currently sits third in the championship and said it was awesome to see the growth and depth in the field. Out of four events this season there has been four different winners.
“Maybe I’m biased but I reckon it’s the best bracket out,” he said. “It has been opened up a lot more with rule changes and 16 car eliminations.
“Everyone used to think it was impossible to come in and be competitive but now you can buy an engine from America and be up there.”
Newcombe is 47.5 points behind the championship leader, fellow Queenslander Denis Whiting. While the margin is significant, Newcombe’s Village Motors Ford Mustang comes into the final event for the series on a roll, scoring a runner up at Sydney’s Nitro Champs as well as top qualifying.
Whiting meanwhile is in a slump, having been eliminated in the first round for two events in a row.
Newcombe says he will be making sure his “team mates”, fellow racers using locally-built John Barbagallo engine packages, will be there to get in the way of championship rivals.
“I’ll make sure all our team mates are out racing and use them as our blockers,” he said. “The championship is the goal. Unfortunately we were number two last season, but this season has been very tight and we’re hitting our stride at the right time.”
Headlines were made at the last round of the championship when Peter Ridgeway ran the first six second pass in Pro Stock. Newcombe is no stranger to the mark, having recorded an unofficial six second run in testing last year, but said he is confident they can produce the magic number at the Fuchs Winternationals.
“I think we’ll do it for sure, bad luck has got us at the last two meetings,” he said. “That’s the way it goes sometimes. We’re using John Barbagallo engines and to be honest I think they’re making more power than the American packages.”
The Fuchs Winternationals takes place on June 8-11 at Willowbank Raceway near Ipswich, Queensland. The full ANDRA drag racing experience will be on show including all pro categories and the best sportsman racers in the nation taking part in the Rocket Allstars Racing Series.
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Pro Stock points (after four rounds)
1 Denis Whiting 289
2 Michael Ali 287.5
3 Dave Newcombe 241.5
4 Shane Tucker 221
5 Tyronne Tremayne 219
6 Jason Hedges 213
7 Aaron Tremayne 176.5
8 Jason Grima 170
9 Lee Bektash 157
10 Chris Soldatos 144