ANDRA Christmas Trees glittered in Mildura this evening (Sunday 21 September) as the winners of round three of the 2025/2026 ANDRA Sportsman Series claimed Sunset Nationals victory in their respective brackets.

A blockbuster field of sportsman racers for the event delivered a full day of non-stop action, with Cooper Plummer (New Gen Business Park Junior Drag Bike), Zayne Condello (Junior Dragster), Malcolm Todd (Goodyear Racing Super Street), Dean Jamieson (Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike), Tony Tedesco (The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Sedan), Kenny Stewart (Gallagher Modified), Edge Mallis (New Gen Business Park Competition Bike), Sam Cardinale (Top Sportsman), Shane Baxter (New Gen Business Park Supercharged Outlaws), and Graeme Spencer (Super Gas) taking out the big trophies.

The runner-up honours went to Aliza Harris (New Gen Business Park Junior Drag Bike), Luca Lamattina (Junior Dragster), Michael Jennings (Goodyear Racing Super Street), Matt Jones (Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike), Les Waight (The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Sedan), Adriana Cartledge (Gallagher Modified), Cheryl ‘MsVrod’ Beddoes (New Gen Business Park Competition Bike), Daniel Jones (Top Sportsman), Brendan Carr  (New Gen Business Park Supercharged Outlaws), and Pete O’Connell (Super Gas).

In the non-championship local Street Car bracket, father and son Danny Wilson and Kris Wilson lined up for the final pass, with Danny red-lighting, handing Kris the win.

In New Gen Business Park Supercharged Outlaws, Shane Baxter claimed the ANDRA Christmas Tree Trophy with a win over Brendan Carr. Baxter opened his account with a round one victory over Mark Hunt, followed by a win against Jason Keily in round two, before progressing through a round three bye. Carr, meanwhile, began with a win over Tim Stewart, then eliminated New Gen Business Park Top Qualifier Shane Kramer in round two, before advancing over Doina Day in the semi-final to secure a place in the decider.

Sunday’s win topped off a strong weekend for Baxter, who is now looking ahead to next month’s Spring Nationals.

“It was an emotional win for me – after the run the firies all ran over for a photo shoot and I got a bit emotional about that,” Baxter smiled.

“We put another engine in the car and were really using this meeting as a test for Dragway at The Bend, so we didn’t expect to get past a round or two, so it all turned out pretty darn good!

“I cut some good lights today which saved us and the track was very, very good. It was just kind of weird (getting the win) when I didn’t think we would go far at all, and we went way, way further than I thought was going to happen.

“I am looking forward now to going to The Bend in a couple of weeks and hopefully we can run our first 200mph – that is what I am looking to do, as I have been racing 40 years and have run 199, so I am looking for the 200! Having said that, I am always looking forward to the Spring Nationals!

“Sunraysia Drag Racing Association have done a fantastic job this weekend, it turned out beautiful, so thank you to them, and thank you to Bryan Oakley of Industrial Thermo Couplers – this is his car that I am driving – and also John Marshall, Phil Soderstrom, and of course, my fantastic crew.”

In Gallagher Modified Kenny Stewart took the win over Adriana Cartledge after the latter Top Qualified on Saturday. Stewart raced through the first two elimination rounds, first getting the better of David Grills before doing the same to Derek Wills, setting up a final showdown with Cartledge. Cartledge had earlier defeated David Bunnik in round one and Bradley Hicks in round two, before falling to Stewart in the decider.

Sunday’s win is extra special for Stewart, with this weekend marking the Victorian racer’s first round of the 2025/2026 ANDRA Sportsman Series.

“It has been an awesome weekend, the weather was great and it was quite pleasant – not one of those stinking hot weekends!” Stewart said.

“The racing went really well, we went through quite well, like clockwork all weekend, and the car was on rails all weekend – it just ran four seventy eight every pass, which made it a lot easier, not having to guess at dial-ins.

“We are rapt to get the win, this is our first meeting back for the season and we are totally rapt to come out and win the first one.

“We had some really good competition with Adriana and Derek and all the rest of them, they don’t make it easy!

“Thank you to my crew, Amanda, Will, and our new crew member Clancy who went really well, and also our sponsors: Fuchs Lubricants, our engine builder Paul Turner, Pro Shift Automatics, Swarf King Engineering (Peter and Doina Day from SCO), and also Gerry’s Ski Shop – some of these guys have been sponsoring us for almost 33 years now, and we couldn’t do it without them.”

In New Gen Business Park Competition Bike, Top Qualifier Edge Mallis secured the win over Cheryl ‘MsVrod’ Beddoes. Mallis advanced with a round one bye, a round two win over Nathan Stone, and victory against Jake Hamilton-Moderate in round three before lining up against Beddoes in the decider. Beddoes, meanwhile, defeated Stone in round one and Joe Khoury in round two, and progressed through a round three bye, and ultimately faced Mallis in the final.

Mallis is very happy to be back on his Kawasaki after a few months away and even happier to come away with the Sunset Nationals win on Sunday.

“After three and a half months of not being on the bike, this old fella certainly got woken up this weekend, put it that way! That second qualifier in particular, woah that woke me up! You have to remember, I am 65, an old fart! So, I definitely knew about it,” Mallis laughed.

“We took a heap of power out of it and still broke the record, so we are more than happy. The bike has so much power, we can’t use it all. It is more about managing it, that is the hardest thing, to tame it – it is just an animal of a thing.

“To win is great – I keep telling people, I can’t see the forest for all the Christmas Trees!” he grinned. “We are looking at a bigger house!

“Thank you to my crew, Aaron Kilderry and Mick Donohue, Blaze Hansen my tuner up in Queensland, ANDRA and the Sunraysia Drag Racing Association, and Leticia who is home looking after everything for me.”

In New Gen Business Park Junior Drag Bike, Top Qualifier Cooper Plummer claimed the big trophy over Aliza Harris. Plummer opened with a round one win against Bailey Paul before defeating Austin Walpole in round two, Harris in round three, and again in the final. Harris, meanwhile, advanced with a round one victory over Walpole and a round two win against Paul to line up against Plummer in both the semi and the decider.

In Junior Dragster Zayne Condello took out the ANDRA Christmas Tree with a win over Luca Lamattina in the ‘Angry Carrot’ in the final. Condello had earlier accounted for Lachlan McGregor in round one, before defeating Ava Walker in round two, Mason Kuchel in round three and Bailey Hawke in round four to advance to the final. Lamattina, meanwhile had earlier dispatched Brock Furlanetto in round one, before defeating Cody Hunt in round two and Deklan McGregor in round three, with a round four bye sending him through to the final. Earlier on, Top Qualifier Charlize Grivell was knocked out in round one by Angelina Kondilis.

In Goodyear Racing Super Street, Top Qualifier Malcolm Todd went all the way to clinch the win over Michael Jennings. To get to the final, Todd first took the round one win over Andrew Waight before a round two bye, and then overcame Danny Quilty in the semi-final to reach the decider. Jennings earned his place in the final with victories against Andrew Francis in round one, Stefan Lianas in round two, and Tex Griffiths in round three.

In Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike, Dean Jamieson took out the top honours over runner-up Matt Jones, and also took out the Top Qualifier honours earlier in the weekend. Jamieson progressed to the final with victories over Jason White (round one) and Derryn McGregor (round three) and a bye in round two. Jones booked his place in the final after defeating Darren Taylor in round one, Rob Church in round two, and Lucas Neagoe in round three.

In the South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Sedan, Tony Tedesco took the win over Les Waight. Tedesco’s path to the final included victories against Steven Nusbajtel in round one, Dimos Stefanopoulos in round two, Peter Furlanetto in round three, and Corey Pocock – who knocked out Top Qualifier Rob Camilleri in round two – in the semi-final. For Waight, the road to the final matchup began with a win over Matt Dickeson in round one, before wins in round two over Dave Sultana and Dave Todd in round three, before a bye in the semi-final.

In Top Sportsman Sam Cardinale was victorious over Top Qualifier Daniel Jones in the final pass. Cardinale’s winning run featured wins against Dean Tassone in round one and Jason Young in round two, before advancing through a round three bye. Jones, meanwhile, progressed with a round one win over Andrew Thompson, a round two bye, and a round three victory against Leon Davies to reach the decider.

In Super Gas, Graeme Spencer walked away with the ANDRA Christmas Tree Trophy over a red-lighting Pete O’Connell in the final run. Spencer raced through two rounds, first dispatching Warren Bull in round one and then Jason Wilson in round three, while enjoying a bye in round two on his way to the final. O’Connell, meanwhile, also enjoyed a bye in round three after taking wins over Jordan Spencer and Rob Bergamin in rounds one and two.

For full results from the Sunset Nationals, please visit: https://www.andra.com.au/series/results/

ANDRA thanks the Sunraysia Drag Racing Association (SDRA) and all of its volunteers and sponsors for an outstanding racetrack and a well-run event.

ANDRA also thanks the participating companies of the ANDRA Racer Support Program, who rewarded the winners and runners-up of their sponsored brackets with gift vouchers today: Ballistic Performance Parts (Modified Bike, Junior Drag Bike), Atlantic Oils (Super Sedan), Powerplus Racing Fuels (Supercharged Outlaws, Super Gas), Speedflow Products (Supercharged Outlaws, Super Street), Shinko Motorcycle Tyres (Competition Bike), and Maxima Racing Oils Australia (Competition Bike).

The Atlantic Oils Sunset Strip will again host ANDRA Sportsman racing next weekend on Saturday 27 September with a juniors-only round as part of the Nitro Golf Centre Junior Nationals (26-28 September), providing an extra opportunity for these racers to score valuable championship points. Round four of the 2025/2026 ANDRA Sportsman Series then heads to Dragway at The Bend for the Spring Nationals and a full complement of ANDRA Sportsman Series racers, alongside plenty of Top Fuel and PDRC action. For event information, visit www.sunsetstrip.org.au and www.thebend.com.au/spring-nationals-2025

For more from ANDRA, visit www.andra.com.au