The unbelievable had happened as she went from having the win and annexing 2009 Australian Top Alcohol Championship to having a bent race car. Under the first or worst rule Hambridge was handed back the win that he completed in 5.59 seconds at 249.86 mph while Phillips went from utter despair to an unbelievable win. “I am absolutely heartbroken,” Debbie Reed said after the race. “I would really love to come back next season and fight for it, to have it over again. Unfortunately at the moment though, as much as I want to keep going, with our current funding situation it just isn’t looking possible without a corporate partner, but you never know and I guess we will just have to wait and see” she concluded

The opposite was true for Phillips - “This is just awesome. It’s my wife Debbie’s birthday today and son Cheyne’s tomorrow and because we were at the track, when I woke this morning, I asked them what they wanted and the ANDRA Top Alcohol Championship was the answer!” said Phillips, still elated despite this being his thirteenth Australian title in the category and his fourteenth overall with the inclusion of the 2007 Top Doorslammer win. Like Frank Manzo, Phillips is sponsored by Lucas Oil Products and would have to be one of the most successful drag racers ever in the world of drag racing.

Another racer that did win a championship but who also looks like he’ll not have the funding to come back is New Zealand Top Bike competitor Athol Williams. He has had a season that many a racer would kill for that included a 2009 Winternationals win. This saw him top qualify with a 6.337, a time that had the rest of the field covered by some four tenths, however Williams was to suffer some carnage on his second qualifier. In eliminations a 6.36 against Alan Herriman’s Suzuki followed by a solo 6.41 put him in the final where his 6.339/226.02 totally overshadowed Chris Porter’s 6.77. “It has been great to come from ‘Across the Ditch’ and give Top Bike a bit of a shake up - “No seat belts, no roll cages, no fire bottles - just adrenaline on wheels and lots of CH3NO2”, he said after the meeting. Lets hope he can make it back to our shores again.

Pro Stock was one bracket that just amazing. There were seventeen entries vying for the eight spots on offer and it came as no surprise that a 7.15 bump was the quickest ever in the history of the small block powered breed. This saw John Barbagello, in his Ford Escort pick up where he left off at the Nitro Champs with a top qualifying 7.074. No one thought he would go out in the first frame at the hands of eighth qualifier, Dodge Avenger driver Lee Bektash – a solid .417 activated 7.16 held off a tardy .504 initiated 7.109. Bektash then upset the more fancied Tyronne Tremayne in his Chev Cobalt improving to a 7.127 against a second best 7.169.

Talking of the unexpected and it was Shane Tucker, in a GTO cum Holden Monaro, who came in beside the Dodge for the final of the Pro bracket. After qualifying seventh with a 7.149 he had Aaron Tremayne red light against him in the first frame, though his .415 7.177 would have easily handled Tremayne’s 7.201. He then took a 7.164 to 7.171 victory over Scott Porter’s Mustang in a close encounter. The final saw Tucker’s GTO out first on the Dodge and it was an all the way win thanks to a 7.134 to 7.136. “What  A weekend” was the way Shane Tucker summed it up. He has been trying to put together an American Pro Stock deal while working at Cagnazzi Racing but with the down turn in the economy this has not been able possible – he is a real talent. Tremayne meanwhile had taken the Australian Pro Stock Championship.

Like Pro Stock, Top Doorslammer had plenty of entrants - fifteen trying to make it into the eight car field. As such the quickest ever bump of 6.077 was realized with Deno Brijeski’s 6.10 not being good enough and the likes of seasoned veterans Victor Bray and Peter Kapiris on the outside looking in. It was a one-two punch for the West Australian racers, John Zappia and Robin Judd with 5.901 and 5.912 qualifying times though Zappia didn’t have it that easy. “Our lock up clutch had a malfunction that saw me bog down on the line in my first qualifier. We stripped the engine down and had to replace a damaged piston and then had to replace the engine after the 5.901 second run”, he told me after qualifying.