Joe Bauer’s just had his second big win at a ‘Nats event with his thumping 1968 Dodge Charger, taking out the coveted Rockynats Champion title at Rare Spares Rockynats 5.

The imposing, slammed R/T already has a Street Machine Summernats Grand Champion title in the trophy cabinet, taking out the top gong on debut after a grand unveiling at Summernats 36.

The Rockynats Champion crown was just the tip of the iceberg for the Charger; it also nabbed the People’s Choice award by a significant margin, and won Top Interior, Top Bodywork, Top Engineered and a second place in Top Engine Bay to secure a spot in the Top 10 Elite standings.

The Road to Rockynats Champion events kicked off early Sunday morning, when the 12 top-end machines in the running for the title convoyed to Quay Street in Rocky for the street drags, with the un-prepped road surface proving a challenge for plenty of the high-powered contenders.

Joe’s force-fed Charger was no different, blazing the tyres for his whole first run, with a backfire mid-track on the second run also providing a brief scare.

Chris Kaarsberg’s Drag Challenge-proven LX Torana was the quickest car on the day, clocking a 7.22@107mph. Unfortunately, a dead starter motor over at the burnout pad meant Chris was unable to take on the slalom or go-to-whoa, so he bowed out of the running early.

Jim McLaren’s stunning HQ Monaro GTS seemed a bit choked up on the drag runs, but with barely 150km on the clock before its grand unveiling on Friday evening, the LSA-powered machine should be ready to rip next time out.

With the street drags done, the convoy cruised over the Fitzroy River and down to the Buddy’s Fire Burnout precinct, where the final two driving events, the slalom and go-to-whoa, took place.

Joe’s Charger whomped through the slalom with the occasional puff of smoke from the massive rear meats, and he nailed the go-to-whoa perfectly in the big American barge to effectively seal the 2025 Rockynats Champion title.