Three days of insane racing has begun at Sydney Dragway for the Gulf Western Oils Nitro Champs. The event features a double dose of nitro, with Top Fuel (who are doing two complete rounds over the weekend) being joined by XPRO Nitro Funny car for the first time, as well as great fields in Top Doorslammer and Pro Mod.

Supporting the Group One heroes is an incredible array of racers and cars competing in the Aeroflow Sportsman Championship. Here are a handful of cars we’ve got our eyes on below.

And if you’re keen to see the show in person, you can grab your tickets here!

Mark Sugars, 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint

Queenslander Mark Sugars took out Super Sedan at Warwick Dragway’s Grand Opening meeting, a couple of months ago and is in the same wheelstanding form at Sydney Dragway.

The oh-so-cool Sprint runs a 720hp, 454ci Windsor – built by Mark and his son Brandon at Demon Race Engines – and is backed by a transbraked C4, 4200rpm stall and fabbed 9in. Out back is a four-link rear with a set of 15x12in Weld Pro Stars wearing fat Hoosiers. The whole car was build in-house, topped off by some great artwork by Matt Siddell.

Ben Love, Valiant gasser

This AP5 wagon has lived quite a life! Originally built by Tony Davis as ‘Dragnet Ink’, it was later developed by Shaun Pask into a blown, 500ci big-block powered weapon dubbed ‘Knuckle Duster’.

Now, Armidale’s Bena and Clarissa Love have taken up the torch, giving the wagon a super-cool makeover as ‘Los Diablo’. The couple have been regular visitors to Sydney Dragway, running deep into the nines and looking insane while doing it.

Nathan Cowie, Suzuki Mighty Boy

We’ve been fans of Nathan’s Mighty Boy for a long time and why not? The car weighs in at a slender 800kg, rocks a 400ci small block and with its short wheelbase, is spectacular to watch.

Chris Dalton, HQUBES

Geelong’s Chris Dalton ran a 8.892 at 160mph in his tough HQ this morning. While that wasn’t quick enough to qualify Top Sportsman, the HQ proved the old adage, ‘if you can’t be fast, be spectacular!’

Leo Georgis, Flying Carrot Racing

Leo Georgis’s ‘Flying Carrot’ Ford Escort is one of the quicker cars in the Super Sedan field, running a 8.802 at 153mph with in the 400ci SBC-powered van. Leo is sitting comfortably in the Top 20 of the Super Sedan NDRC Eastern Conference coming into the Nitro Champs.