For the Street Machine team, there was no better way to beat the cold, wintery blues of Victoria in July than to jump on a flight straight to Cairns and then take a 90-minute drive south-west to Springmount Raceway for Northern Nats 2026. 

First published in the October 2026 issue of Street Machine

This year marked the 10th running of the event and the third since partnering with the Summernats crew. The three-day shindig is always a fantastic time, with a chilled-out atmosphere offset by bulk smoke and noise from the heavy hitters on the burnout pad and drag strip.

To mark Northern Nats’ 10th anniversary, this year’s headline awards were renamed to honour the event’s founders. The Northern Nats Champion award was rechristened the Evan Yelavich Trophy, while the Lee Harvey Trophy was the new moniker for the Pro Burnout Series silverware.

“We ran the first Northern Nats in 2016 after the track opened, and it was the first major event there,” Evan Yelavich recalled. “We did it for those seven years, and when Lee and I were ready to hand it over, we couldn’t think of anyone else better than Andy [Lopez of Out There Productions, the company behind Summernats] to take it, because we wanted to see it continue and grow.”

Lee Harvey added: “Northern Nats had really been in the works since 2012; Evan and I first talked about it at my son’s second birthday. So, it was very cool when Andy let us know the awards had been named after us; we certainly didn’t expect it.”

Just shy of 300 entrants took part across the three days this year, and plenty of punters packed the viewing hill for the drag racing and burnouts. Throw in the perfectly mild North Queensland weather and you’ve got a recipe for a bloody peachy weekend of horsepower.

If you’re unfamiliar, Northern Nats is an all-in car festival, featuring drag racing, powerskids, roll racing, a show ’n’ shine, and of course, burnouts. In the true spirit of the event, you’ll see plenty of the burnout competitors taking on the roll racing and powerskids, and drag cars lighting up Skid Row. Entrants are always eager to have a crack at all disciplines and soak up all the weekend has to offer.

The seasonably cooler conditions saw plenty of PBs in the drags but also played havoc with racers’ dial-in times during the Sunday finals. After three full days of drag racing, and with nearly $20,000 in cash on the line, the finals in all classes went down to the wire. Plenty of racers from Cairns, Townsville, and the surrounding areas came to throw down, from big-tyre, purpose-built thumpers to true street cars.

On Saturday afternoon, renowned Summernats judge Owen Webb sought to crown the Northern Nats Champion – the event’s top prize, similar to the Grand Champion award at Summernats. Owen hand-picked 10 cars as finalists; not only did they have to score highly in the show judging, but they also had to prove they had the function to match the form by tackling a drag strip run and a go-to-whoa with a slalom on the burnout pad.

For the second year running, Dennis O’Brien’s HQ One Tonner took out the top prize, leaving the pad after the trophy presentation in a blaze of tortured radial rubber glory.

“The driving events are usually what makes and breaks this for them,” said Owen of the Champion combatants. “In this case, there were just two points across the top three, and it was Dennis’s win in the drags that made the difference.”

On the pad, the Castlemaine Rod Shop Pro Burnout Series always goes big at Northern Nats, this time partnered with Tropical Meltdown and supported by LongBoost Performance Parts. Two qualifying spots and a Wildcard Shootout berth at Street Machine Summernats 39 were on the line, as well as just under $35,000 in prize money, $20K of which was for first place in the Pro class.

As well as 26 Pro cars, more than 30 entrants across the Open and Development classes also hit the pad. A unique aspect of the Northern Nats burnout comp is the use of an accumulative scoring system. There were no qualifying or elimination rounds; instead, entrants in all three classes had to do a quality skid on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the combined score from all three burnouts determining the finishing order after Sunday’s final.

The attrition rate among the Pro Burnout Series cars was high, with the pad taking no prisoners over the first two days of competition. Friday’s 26 starters had been whittled down to just 17 come Sunday afternoon, with Ryan ‘Bubba’ Lofts in the ORWHAT VX Calais taking the $20,000 top prize and the qualifying ticket to Street Machine Summernats 39.

As far as winter warmers go, you’d be hard-pressed to beat a weekend in North Queensland at the picturesque Springmount Raceway. Organisers are already working on dates and juicy details for Northern Nats 11, so keep your eyes peeled to their socials for that, and we’ll see you there next year! 

TWO-TIMER

For the second year in a row, Dennis O’Brien and his HZ-fronted HQ One Tonner earned the Northern Nats Champion title, renamed the Evan Yelavich Trophy for 2026. The big block-powered ute is a largely home-built machine, and although it’s a pretty thing, Dennis isn’t afraid to throw it around.

“Mate, the thing has done so many sets of tyres, and it just keeps going,” said Dennis. “We love this event – the people, the cars. It was more stiff competition this year; people don’t realise how much time and effort go into cars like these.

“I’m so grateful I get to share this with my wife and my son, because you don’t get moments like these back.”

NORTHERN NATS 10
RESULTS

One of the coolest features of Northern Nats is the side-by-side Skid Row on the burnout pad during the cruise sessions – and boy, does it make for some cracking photos!

David Norman’s ‘Double Trouble’ gasser is a 1941 Willys pick-up running a 350-cube small-block with nitrous! With a 10.5@128mph PB to its name, the Willys went all the way to the finals of the drag racing to finish runner-up in the Fast Street 10.00-12.99 class

Phillip Moncrieff’s Proton Jumbuck burnout beast was originally meant to be a Nissan Cube, before he threw an LS1 into what was a front-wheel-drive ute to burn rubber. “It’s been together for around six years; it gets a lot of attention!” he said. It uses a stock-bottom-end LS1 that had previously done 330,000km in a VX SS, before being turned up to 380hp in the Jumbuck

The Castlemaine Rod Shop lads made the trek all the way up from Central Victoria to show their support for the event. Unfortunately, their campaign on the pad didn’t make it past Friday night, with BLOWNHJ snapping its crank and GEE WIZ nudging the front into the wall. The burnout game can be a cruel mistress

Cairns local Steve Marino’s EV-converted downhill-racer go-kart was the only way to sneak an electrically powered machine past the punters without causing a riot!

Karl Stevens’s 2007 Hino truck wasn’t towing cars off the pad – it was taking part! The turbo Barra combo screamed to the ovation of the packed crowd, until something in the driveline cried ‘no more’ on Saturday night. Fortunately, Karl got things sorted and the truck was back on the pad Sunday

The roll racing was one of the most entertaining aspects of the weekend, with the final coming down to Daniel Costello’s turbocharged, 403ci LS-powered CV8 Monaro and Marty Atkinson’s RB26 Skyline R33 GT-R. Daniel took the chocolates, having already done us all a favour by dispensing with a Tesla in the earlier rounds

The dual-entered CUM2BLOW VX Commodore of Matt Nelson and Sarah Dunbar certainly came to blows in the Sunday-afternoon burnout final, following a whole weekend of the pair sending multiple sets off. The VX gripped up on the initial send into the pad, and Matt couldn’t arrest the speed before meeting the far wall. Luckily, no one was injured

The pearlescent paint of Don Gray’s mean 555ci HQ Monaro looked simply sublime in the Queensland sun in the line-up for the Northern Nats Champion driving events, and he finished in the Top Five for the show ’n’ shine judging

Saturday night saw carnage aplenty in the Pro Burnout Series, including Jack Harrison’s SHUT UP HiLux. A ‘Bluetooth’ belt for the dry sump system resulted in the engine going rods-out due to oil starvation, which was a shame, as Jack was on a bloody tear!

DRAG RACING
RESULTS

We came across Nick Eden’s ratty HG Monaro at last year’s Northern Nats in the show ’n’ shine, but this year, he just had to get involved in the more dynamic aspects of the event. After driving down from Cairns, Nick gave the HG’s 383ci small-block a workout in the drags and on Skid Row

Those who’ve entered or worked at any Summernats event would likely know Matilda ‘Tilly’ Simpson Brewer (centre). Tilly has been a champion behind the scenes for Summernats for the past six-or-so years, but NN10 was her last event for the company before heading off on a new adventure. Warren Gersekowski took her on a fiery Friday-night skid in 1TUFHG skid to celebrate. Good luck, Tilly!

Matthew McCabe not only lit up Skid Row on the Saturday afternoon, but he also steered his PHOENIX VY Commodore in a methanol-fed, exhaust fire-popping manner in the burnouts, earning him fourth spot in the Pro class and a Wildcard Shootout ticket to Street Machine Summernats 39

Aaron Chalkley’s methanol-fuelled AU DOIN Falcon sent the punters mad with cheers on Saturday night thanks to a mighty blaze from beneath. After the firies put out the flames, Aaron attempted to finish his skid, but the driveline exploded as soon as he shifted drive to the wheels, forcing the AU off the pad on a tilt-tray

Ryan ‘Bubba’ Lofts and his VX Holden Calais was the inaugural winner of the Lee Harvey Pro Burnout Series Trophy, taking home $20,000 and a qualifying ticket for Street Machine Summernats 39 after three ripping skids across the weekend. He also won the powerskid competition!

Jim Vearing’s stunning LJ Torana sports a 5.3L LS with ITB injection, and it copped plenty of attention in the show judging, winning the awards for Top Engine Bay, Top Paint and Top Coupe. He also had a crack at the Northern Nats Champion driving events, finishing in the Top Five overall for show judging