WILLOWBANK Raceway’s Winternationals event has again been nominated for the Queensland Sport Event of the Year.
The other finalists are Brisbane Lions vs Richmond Elimination final, the 2021 NRL Grand Final, The Brisbane Cycling Festival, and The Vicki Wilson SHS Netball Championship.
The Winternationals has been recognised for Australia’s most competitive professional drag racing series, the 400 Thunder Professional Championship.
It has just completed its 54th running of the event this year, with more than 360 teams competing in front of 35,000 spectators for more than $185,000 in prizemoney.
Run over four days, benefits greatly in its local economy with a massive influx with competitors, crew and spectators, booking out local accommodation, and restaurants as well as purchasing provisions from local shopping centres for the four day period.
The event also generates a large amount of television broadcast for the sport, venue, and local area.
KAYO broadcasts over 25 hours of live broadcast during the event, with Fox Sports picking up more than 15 hours of produced broadcast.
Unlike the 2021 NRL Grand Final and the AFL Elimination Final,
The Winternationals is a permanent event at Willowbank Raceway and brings more than $9m each year to local economy.
A successful Winternationals event means so much to the local economy, the Track at Willowbank and also the sport of Drag Racing in Australia.
If you ask any drag racer in Australia which trophy they would like to win the answer would undoubtedly come back as the Winternationals Trophy.
The event has largely been driven by two Ipswich residents, Harry Rowsell and Tracey Fletcher, who together have accumulated more than 50 years of service at Willowbank Raceway.
Harry has just completed his 31st Winternationals and believes that the event is about to blossom again, post COVID restrictions.
“It is great to see large numbers of spectators returning to the track to see the peak professional drag racers competing for the Winternationals,” he said.
“They have been the biggest race in Drag Racing in the Southern Hemisphere for over 40 years now, to be part of the organisation of this race gives me a great deal of pride and enjoyment.
Tracey Fletcher has already commenced preparations for the 55th running of the Winternationals.
After completing her 21st Winternationals, she didn’t really have time to sit back and reflect on her milestone event, it was on with planning to make the next one bigger and better for the competitors.
Tracey is in charge of ensuring the venue gets the maximum number of competitors each year and also planning out the advertising and social media strategy to maximise the crowds.
If you haven’t taken in a Winternationals event, ensure you get to the 55th event on June 8-11, 2023.
