Mildura’s own ‘Carrot King’, Phil Lamattina, has clinched victory in an electrifying final at Sunset Strip for round two of the inaugural Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship, held during the Ken Scroop Memorial Meet.

All six Top Fuel cars found their feet during Sunday’s qualifying sessions, leading to super-tight two-lane racing across three rounds in front of a big crowd.

Lamattina ran a a 3.19 ET in the 10pm decider, edging out Rapisarda Autosport International’s Wayne Newby, who clocked a 3.20.

Lamattina had qualified for the final by defeating teammate Shane Olive. In that match-up, he managed an impressive 3.31 on a hot track behind the wheel of his Fuchs-sponsored fueller. Olive was right on his tail with a 3.32, though he made a brief excursion into the sand when one of his chutes failed to deploy correctly.

Olive still had something to smile about, despite being relegated to Final C against Phil Read. He ran a blistering 3.17@265mph, setting yet another track record for Mildura.

Lamattina’s win puts him on top of the championship table, now sitting on 200 points — just 20 clear of Read.

Round three of the series will be hosted at Perth Motorplex on April 8-9.

Of course, the Top Fuelers made up just part of the action on offer at Sunset Strip, with ten other classes also duking it out across the weekend.

“You cannot run Group One without Sportsman racers,” Sunraysia Drag Racing Association boss Kingsley Kuchel said. “They are and always will be the backbone of the sport.

“If you take them away you’ve got 15 entrants, and these guys keep coming back to our track over and over again. The reason we stay operational is because of these Sportsman racers.

“I try to treat every racer in this complex as important, whether they’re a Junior Dragster racer or Top Fuel guy. Everyone deserves to be looked after.”

Check out the results and a few more of our top picks below. We’ll have plenty more coverage in an upcoming issue of SM, so consider this a small taste in the meantime!

Ken Scroop Super Street winner was Domenic Lanciana, whose plastic-powered VS was a rare Holden in a sea of Chevs. As the plates suggest, it’s a 355 stroker built on a late model block with EFI-type heads. A Torker manifold and 750 double-pumper carb handle fuel duties, paired to a transbraked ‘Glide and 4500rpm converter. The weekend’s meet was also Dom’s first time racing the car, which he piloted to mid-7s.

Nikolas Karanovic campaigned his mum’s sweet 340-powered ’69 Barracuda in Super Street all weekend, ending up in second place. There’s a TorqueFlite auto behind the donk, paired to a 9in diff. “We bought it with the driveline in it about 15 years ago, and I’ve claimed it as my race car for the last four,” Nikolas explains. It’s run a best of 7.49 over the eighth-mile.

2016 Drag Challenge DYO champ Benny Phillips stuffed a big tyre under his nitrous-huffing, Chev-swapped HK wagon for a spot of bracket racing. He came out on top of the Fast Sedan class, having dialled in at 6.66 seconds.

RESULTS

Ken Scroop Super Street

1st. Dom Lanciana – VS Commodore

2nd. Nikolas Karanovic – 1969 Barracuda

Street Car

1st. Adam Ince – Mazda RX2

2nd. Josh Obst – Ford Cortina

Ladies Bracket

1st. Zoe Mcivor – HQ ute

2nd. Madi Sparrow – VR Commodore

Junior Dragster

1st. Todd Wagner

2nd. Ayden Lanciana

Modified Bike

1st. Lucas Neagou – Suzuki GSX-R1000

2nd. Shane Walker – Harley-Davidson Destroyer

Fast Sedan

1st. Benny Phillips – HK wagon

2nd. Lance Larcombe – 1968 Camaro

Modified

1st. Kenny Stewart – Fuchs Dragster

2nd. Cory Dyson – Mullins Dragster

Super Comp

1st. Adrian Vella – Chevrolet Cobalt

2nd. Louis Svignos – VF Valiant

Supercharged Outlaws

1st. Dale Tucker – HQ Holden

2nd. Bob Sherry – Chevrolet Monza

Top Bike

1st. Rob Cassar

2nd. Chris Matheson

Top Fuel

1st. Phil Lamattina

2nd. Wayne Newby