while he couldn ’ t take out the event win , he did reset the A / MD national ET and MPH records to 6.871s and 197.87mph .
“ We are always happy to reset records , even though we don ’ t actively chase them ,” Barlow said .
“ The car was running really well in Alice Springs and the numbers we ran were a little better than expected for the conditions , considering we were running at effectively 3500 foot of air which isn ’ t the best for making power . I was expecting low 6.90s , so to pull out a 6.87 second pass was rather pleasing .
“ The last time we raced in Alice Springs was in 2015 when we were lucky enough to come away with a win . We were hoping for a repeat and we gave it our best shot but could only manage to snare the runner up result . Our congratulations go to Adam Mundy in his dragster on his first Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series win .
“ All in all it was a great event – the Alice Springs track is a great track to race at , the club do a great job along with the volunteers . All of the team at Alice Springs really turned on a brilliant event .”
For Modified Bike racer and former champion Bryan Finn , the Desert Nationals marked another fun and “ lucky ” chapter in his drag racing journey .
“ Once again I have been lucky ! I could stand here and say I am super talented and that is why I won , but the reality is I just have some Irish luck on my side ,” laughed Finn .
“ At the end of the day as long as I am laughing and having fun , it is all good .
“ We got up to Alice Springs on Wednesday and had a grand old time in the lead-up , and when it came down to the racing we just went out , did some laps and had fun , and it all worked out great for us !
“ I have to send my thanks to Deon McHugh Signs , American Muscle Cars , McLEOD Drilling , Toll Port Augusta , Northern Motorcycles and Butlers Mechanical . Also to Archie , Fabian and Brian ( Brains ) Moore – party on !”
In the Top Sportsman ranks , electrical issues battled since Darwin couldn ’ t stop Darren Saliba from Top Qualifying and then taking the win over reigning champion Jason Arbery .
On their way to the final , Saliba had successfully faced off against Rick Smith ( semi ) after enjoying a bye run in the opening stanza while Arbery had taken on Vlado Turic ( semi ) and Greg Damiani .
“ It was a total shock to take the win in Alice Springs , to be honest we didn ’ t expect to get through the meeting the way the engine was ,” explained Saliba , who thanked his family , crew and sponsors Creative Concrete SA , Competition Automotive and Autobarn Elizabeth as well as Howard Springs Caravan Park for their support during the Alice Springs event .
“ In Darwin we Top Qualified and then we hurt the engine , we put a new lifter in and kept going and went out in the semi-final to Rick Smith .
“ Then we were off to Alice and continuing to have problems , seeing us trying to work out why one bank on the car was not working , and we still have that problem now !” Saliba said after the event .
“ We still managed to Top Qualify and then had a bye run into the semis . Once again , we faced off against Rick Smith in the semi-final but this time we were able to get the win and we went on to race the Australian number one , Jason Arbery , in the final .
“ Jason is one tough competitor to beat , but I cut a good light and we were able to take the win . It was a very pleasant surprise as we didn ’ t know how we were going to make it through the meeting or if it was going to pull up or blow up , luckily it didn ’ t blow up !
“ We had a really enjoyable time and we can ’ t wait to see what we can do across the rest of the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series season ,” concluded Saliba while giving a nod to ANDRA , Summit Racing Equipment , the Central Australian Drag Racing Association and Hidden Valley Drag Racing Association for their support of the recent events .
ANDRA thanks the Central Australian Drag Racing Association as well as all of the volunteers and sponsors for an outstanding race track and a well-run event .
For full results from the Desert Nationals at Alice Springs Inland Dragway , please click here .
Round three of the 18 / 19 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series , the Sunset Strip Nationals , will be held at Mildura ’ s Sunset Strip across September 22 and 23 . For more information on that event , please visit www . andra . com . au or www . sunsetstrip . org . au
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