Prior to the event I spent some time with Cory and, while he was glad to be in Australia (“I’m having such a great time and we haven’t even raced yet”), he was coming off a bad domestic season that saw him fail to get into the Top Ten for the first time in quite a few years. Despite this Cory Mac did get down to business in a car that he hadn’t raced since 1999 (the old MBNA chassis) by qualifying third with a 4.704. Despite losing a blower belt at the 1,000-foot mark Cory had enough momentum to win over a fast closing Allan Dobson. |
Australian teenage Top Fuel sensation, Amanda Shepherd couldn’t make the tough Top Fuel team when her 5.24 fell short of the 5.13 bump. The weekend wasn’t a total loss with the announcement of new sponsor Wynn’s coming on board.
For American broadcaster and part-time Top Fuel driver, Mike Dunn it was a welcome return to WSID at the wheel of the same car that Scott Kalitta took to victory at the last two International events. Dunn qualified fourth with a 4.86, however he took an easy 5.49 to 5.62 win over Terry Sainty in the first frame while in the semis he used a two-tenths advantage off the line against Mark Mariani to win with another sub par 5.29 to 5.20 holeshot win. In the final against Phil Read, Dunn took the lead off the line (not bad for a part-time racer really) .75 to .91 but his lead was quickly taken back by Read who streaked to a 4.80/279 mph win over a fading 9.68 at 72 mph for the American. I had to leave early that night and didn’t get a chance to meet up with Dunn again after the event, however on the WSID website he said that despite searing temperatures on the Saturday and sultry conditions on the Sunday he was not prepared to blame the track for his sub par performances. “Actually, the track is excellent even with the heat and WSID is as good as anything back in the States, as for our efforts here, I think we have been a little lucky to sneak into the final but I am happy for Santo (Rapisarda) and the team – we did at least achieve that. |
Despite winning Australian championships Phil Read had not had much luck in trying to beat the Americans over the past few years. His runners up at the last two events to Scott Kalitta were frustrating for the second generation racer but this year Read was able to break through. This started with a second qualifying 4.686 only two thousandths off team mate Martin Stamatis’ 4.684. In his first round against Darren Morgan both went up in smoke – Morgan first then Read – he was able to recover first and a 5.42 was enough to keep ahead of a 6.16. The semis saw Read take on McClenathan and it was Cory out of the gate first but it by a couple of hundredths but Read was untroubled thanks to a 4.76/279 to a spent McClenathan back on a 5.35 at only 180 mph. 
