Gary Phillips-Willowbank Wrap Up

Phillips Strikes First Blood for New Season

Gary Phillips has carried over his winning form from last season's Top Alcohol Championship victory to dominate the inaugural Blown Alcohol Championships at Willowbank Raceway. Claiming the event win plus top speed and low elapsed time for the season opener also netted the 14 time national champion a new Australian record with a blistering 5.524 second pass in the final at 259.11mph, which was also just shy of the current speed record, instantly sitting the team on the top of the ladder with an already healthy gap of thirty points over closest rival, Steve Reed.

"The Funny Car was in fine form right from when took it out of the trailer. We did the usual work on the engine between rounds only to have to tip in some fresh Lucas Oil after each run. It's great when you can clean-sweep a round and not even hurt the engine which is a great testament to the quality of Lucas Oil."

The win in Top Alcohol was a fitting compensation for a catastrophic run for Phillips' in the second round of qualifying of Top Doorslammer where a broken tailshaft punctured both rear tyres while crossing the finish line, crunching the '53 Studebaker into both safety walls. Fans are waiting with bated breath as to the future of the 2007 National championship winning racecar, as the Lucas Oils team continue to survey the total damage.

The extraordinary incident set the tone for a drama filled opening round of the season, that also saw current national champion, John Zappia crunch the wall in the final against Maurice Fabietti.

With less than a month until the next round of competition, the Lucas Oils team have a lot of work on their hands, with both Top Alcohol and Top Doorslammer on the bill for Sydney's Nationals on September 11-13.


Courtesy of Bennie Bishop