Top Alcohol racers Gary Phillips, Steve Reed, Debbie Reed, Wayne Newby and Rick Gauci will have a race against time on their hands for round one of the ENZED International Nightfire New Year Series at Willowbank Raceway on January 2/3.

Scheduled for the first of the two January Events, these five racers are also competing at Sydney’s Boxing Day Event (December 26/27) just the weekend before – giving them no more than five days off-track before their first qualifying runs on January 2 at Willowbank Raceway. Top Alcohol racers Gary Phillips, Steve Reed, Debbie Reed, Wayne Newby and Rick Gauci will have a race against time on their hands for round one of the ENZED International Nightfire New Year Series at Willowbank Raceway on January 2/3.

Scheduled for the first of the two January Events, these five racers are also competing at Sydney’s Boxing Day Event (December 26/27) just the weekend before – giving them no more than five days off-track before their first qualifying runs on January 2 at Willowbank Raceway.

In that time each team will be faced with a long ‘to do’ list – including travel from Sydney to Ipswich and at a minimum the usual three day round to round maintenance of clutch, bearings, valve springs and so on and at worst extensive repairs with new engines and other time consuming maintenance.

“The travel isn’t even straightforward – all I can say about driving up the coast at this time of year is that it is horrendous,” said Hillcrest Top Alcohol and Top Doorslammer racer Gary Phillips.

“We will be running the Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Funny Car in Sydney on the Friday and Saturday, and then starting the drive up to Willowbank on the Sunday – and that is if the weather holds up and the track doesn’t need to utilize its two rain dates.

“Usually the drive would take about 12 hours but with the traffic it could be longer, and that usual rest day you would try and take after a day’s racing is definitely not on the cards – we will be using every second we have at our disposal.”

Phillips will be running in two categories at Willowbank Raceway (round one will feature professional racing from Top Alcohol, Top Doorslammer and Pro Stock Motorcycle, as well as the Nitro Funny Cars and sportsman racing) with his Doorslammer ready and waiting to be loaded on the trailer once the team comes back from Sydney.

“We will be running in both the Top Alcohol and Top Doorslammer categories at Willowbank but just in Top Alcohol in Sydney, so the Doorslammer will be ready before we leave and hopefully everything goes to plan with the Funny Car so we aren’t faced with too many repairs,” said Phillips.

“I have plenty of parts so that isn’t a issue, but with the limited time to turn it around and the obstacle of not being able to have parts machined over the Christmas break if anything major happens – it is going to be a challenge, but with our major sponsor Lucas Oil Products’ trademark motto of ‘keep that engine alive’ on both cars, this will be our main intention.

“We have a plan and hopefully it all comes together – but we all know how plans go sometimes so we will just be hoping for the best so we can get to Willowbank, have a good weekend and put on a show for the fans.”

Another five professional racers entered in the Boxing Day Event will also head to Willowbank, although they will have some extra breathing space in-between rounds as they are not due at Willowbank Raceway until the second round of the Series, January 16 and 17.

The Top Fuel category will join the Top Bike racers, Nitro Funny Cars and sportsman racing at round two of the ENZED International Nightfire New Year Series, with Phil Lamattina, Allan Dobson, Darren Morgan, Phil Read and Martin Stamatis all heading to the track fresh from their Sydney hit-out.

The ENZED International Nightfire New Year Series is one of the jewels in the crown in the recently revamped major Event calendar for Willowbank Raceway – which kicked off with the new-for-2008 Spring Top Fuel Championships in September.



PROFESSIONAL ENTRY LIST: Round One, ENZED International Nightfire New Year Series:
Nitro Funny Car
Ashley Bailey
Gary Densham
Damien Harris
Mark Sheehan
Ricky Steffens

Top Alcohol
Dennis Byth
John Cannuli
Trent Carter
Rick Gauci
Steven Ham
Wayne Newby
Gary Phillips
Steven Reed
Debbie Reed

Top Doorslammer
Matt Able
Ray Bernard
Victor Bray
Ben Bray
Deno Brijeski
Maurice Fabietti
Robin Judd
Peter Kapiris
Sean Mifsud
Russ Pavey
Gary Phillips
Andrew Sutton
John Zappia

Pro Stock Motorcycle
Luke Crowley
Michael Gilbertson
Lachlan Ireland
Jason Lee
Rhett Lougheed

ROUND TWO: 16th & 17th January 2009
Featuring:
- USA v Aust Nitro Funny Car Tour, featuring USA Funny Car legend Gary Densham
- ANDRA Professional Racing from Top Fuel and Morgan & Wacker Top Bike
- ANDRA Sportsman Racing from Lifestyle Floorcoverings Competition, Lifestyle Floorcoverings Super Stock, Custom Central Competition Bike, McKern & Associates Super Compact, Crossroads Freightline Supercharged Outlaws, Modified, Californian Image Modified Bike, Super Sedan, Ipswich & District Welding Super Street, Queensland Diesel Spares Junior Dragster, Super Gas
- This is an ANDRA Championship Round for Professional Competitors & a South East Queensland Community Telco Track Championship Round for Sportsman Competitors