FEW events on the Australian motorsport calendar carry the kind of electricity the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals brings to Willowbank Raceway each winter, and the 2026 edition did absolutely nothing to change that reputation.
Spread across four massive days, the 58th running of Australia’s premier drag racing event, the largest championship drag racing event held outside of North America, drew competitors and fans from every corner of the country.
With more than 480 entries across 21 categories, the racing delivered from the first burnout to the final chute deploy.
By the time the final smoke had cleared, the record books had been rewritten multiple times over. Damien Harris clocked an extraordinary 540.45kph to set a new Australian Top Fuel speed record, while Russell Taylor ran a jaw-dropping 5.551-second pass to reset the Top Doorslammer ET record for the second day in a row.
Eight three-second passes and 11 runs exceeding 500kph had the packed grandstands on their feet repeatedly across the weekend.
The finals were nothing short of spectacular. Josh Leahy climbed out of his XPRO Nitro Funny Car barely able to find words after taking the win in a flame-throwing side-by-side final, competing the whole weekend while under the weather.
“It is the Winternationals, baby!” he said. “Never in a million years did I think I would be holding this Gold Christmas Tree.”
Up in Top Fuel, Damien Harris delivered a calmperformance to take the win.
“It’s definitely a win, and a good morale booster for the team.”
Pro Alcohol’s Daniel Reed held off world record holder Cheyne Phillips by just twelve-thousandths of a second in a finish that will be talked about for years.
There were emotional debuts, first-time winners, sibling rivalries, and more than a few fireballs along the way, all part of what makes this event unlike anything else in Australian motorsport.
The Winternationals has always been about more than the numbers on the timing board. That spirit, unchanged across nearly six decades, remains the beating heart of the event.
