Competitors were greeted to an unseasonably cool morning at Alice Springs Inland Dragway for the final chapter of the journey to crown the winner of the Red CentreNATS Champion Nigel Warr memorial trophy.

The two driving challenges were run back-to-back, with Owen Webb challenging the 12 hand picked competitors to an eighth-mile run down the drag strip, and a go-to-whoa with a slalom inbetween on the burnout pad. Each competitor had two runs, the fastest of each contributing to their final score.

“As always, the driving events are just as important as show judging criteria, it often decides the winners,” says Owen.

Those words rang true this year, as Chris Haddon and his LJ Torana of twenty years aced the driving tests on both fronts. narrowly earning him the win over Anna Povey’s freshly-finished VL Commodore wagon by a single point.

“Anna won the People’s Choice Award, which factors into the points, for Champion” says Owen. “So, Chris acing the driving events was what gave him the win, he won both.”

Chris was ecstatic when he was announced as the winner this evening, so we quickly interrupted his celebrations to quizz him about his sweet little Torry, and how he took out the top silverware.

How many times have you been to this event? 

“This will be my fourth. We had a go at Red Centre Champion back in what I reckon would be 2020, Graeme Miller was the winner that year. 

And how long have you had this car for? 

Nearly 20 years. I built this from scratch myself, including painting it. I did most of it except the engine and the tubs. The tubs were done by the late Frank Zagari, and the engine by Hercules in Sydney. It’s a 414ci small block Chevy. Just the usual gear, AFR heads, it’s basic stuff. It has run a 9.94@137mph, all motor with no nitrous.

What type of racing do you tend to like to do with it? 

Oh, look, it’s not really a race car, so it was just for street duties. I took it to the drags once and ran it out the back door and it went nice. I’ve done the street meets out there, but nothing serious. Obviously not being caged and all that. I can’t really race it. So yeah, I just like to have it here when I can.

And how did today go for you?

Yeah, it definitely felt positive. The car was on song. It felt really crisp this morning. The track actually probably had more traction than it did last night, for the heavy hitters. I was on a mission. I knew the driving points helped. So I thought, hey, let’s give it a go.

Talking to Owen Webb, you won by one point. It was the driving events that got you the win. 

Oh, mate. Unbelievable. I mean, obviously everyone would like to win by a mile, but credit to Anna and their car. It is an amazing vehicle, that thing’s an absolute standout. So, you know, to be able to compete and mix it with something like that, it’s amazing.

What did you take on this weekend? 

Some street cruising, the street parade and the Heavy Hitters drags. I would have liked it on the dirt drags, but I don’t like cleaning! My focus was the Heavy Hitters for the weekend. I really wanted to do well in that. It was excellent, man. The racers, they’re quite a great bunch of guys, you know. The camaraderie between everyone, you’d expect everyone to be real competitive, which they are, but they were super nice.

Are you going to come back next year? 

I’d like to come back next year. I’m building a little HB, so I want to bring that next time, something different. Just a nice car to cruise and maybe do some skids.”