The first ANDRA Christmas Tree trophies of the 2025/2026 ANDRA Sportsman Series have been lifted at the Hidden Valley Drag Strip, following the conclusion of Nitro Up North Saturday evening (30 August).

When all was said and done, it was Riley Kilvington (New Gen Business Park Junior Drag Bike), Cody Hunt (Junior Dragster), Shaun Boyer (Goodyear Racing Super Street), Bryan Finn (Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike), Gary Baker (The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Sedan), Dan Hodgins (Gallagher Modified), Adam Rapp (New Gen Business Park Competition Bike), Tommy Turic (Top Sportsman), and Ashley Smith (New Gen Business Park Supercharged Outlaws) who took home the ANDRA Christmas Tree trophies in their brackets.

Taking the runner-up honours were Cooper Plummer (New Gen Business Park Junior Drag Bike), Brooke Morrison (Junior Dragster), Neil Mellett (Goodyear Racing Super Street), Jason White (Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike), Darren Russell (The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Sedan), Josie Hodgins (Gallagher Modified), James Low (New Gen Business Park Competition Bike), Peter Kirkpatrick (Top Sportsman), and Aidan Abel (New Gen Business Park Supercharged Outlaws).

The Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike and New Gen Business Park Supercharged Outlaws racers also had an extra reason to smile, with the winners and runners-up enjoying additional rewards as part of the new ANDRA Racer Support Program.

The winners in Modified Bike were rewarded with a $100 voucher from Ballistic Performance Parts while the runners-up received a $50 voucher each, while in Supercharged Outlaws, the winner and runner-up were presented with a $100 and $50 fuel voucher respectively thanks to Powerplus Racing Fuels.

In New Gen Business Park Junior Drag Bike, enjoying its first round as an official ANDRA championship bracket this weekend, Perth racer Riley Kilvington overcame a challenging weekend on a borrowed bike in what was described as one of the toughest race days of their career to secure a hard-fought victory.

Kilvington broke out on the way to taking the win over a red-lighting Cooper Plummer in the final run of the night – which was a re-run following issues with the first running of their final. As well as the runner-up honours, Plummer also enjoyed claiming the Top Qualifier Medallion presented by New Gen Business Park on Friday night.

To get to the final, Kilvington took wins over Immanual Gillatt and Cooper Plummer in rounds one and three of the Chicago Shoot Out format. Likewise, Plummer got the better of Aliza Harris in round one and Kilvington in round two, before a loss to Gillatt in round three.

“It was a tough weekend for me as I was riding someone else’s bike so I had to get used to that during the qualifiers – Dan Hodgins was kind enough to offer that to us so we could compete last minute from Perth,” Kilvington explained.

“Then race day was probably one of the hardest race days I have ever done, including two re-runs. It was good to have it go our way though and to get the win is awesome – it is definitely very rewarding!

“Thank you to Dan and Josie from Hawk Eye Motorsport, and also to Archie Fabian Motorsport as well.”

In Top Sportsman, the home-track advantage wasn’t enough for runner-up Peter Kirkpatrick, who was shown the door in the final round by Tommy Turic. Turic, who also claimed the Top Qualifier Medallion presented by New Gen Business Park on Friday, took the round two win over Darryl Stephen, after a bye in round one. Kirkpatrick also had a bye in round two, after taking the win over Leon Davies in round one.

Saturday’s win was a special one for Turic, having previously won in Darwin – also during a season opener.

“I am feeling ecstatic – this is a good win, and it is great to get the season off to a good start,” Turic grinned.

“This is my third final in a row, and I am just thankful to have the chance to come up here.

“The last time I won the opening round of the season, which was here in Darwin, I won on debut in the XY in Super Street and went on to also win at Alice Springs and then from there, went on to win the championship.

“Hopefully this is a good start for a repeat of that – that is the plan anyway! First trophy down, hopefully many more to come.

“I have to say thank you to my dad Vlado as this is his car! Thank you also to Mark Hunt and his crew for allowing me to put my car in their transporter they just built and bringing the car up here. Also thank you to my crew Chris Zuch, Bruno, Mark Hugo, and dad again.”

In New Gen Business Park Supercharged Outlaws winner Ashley Smith got the better of runner-up Aidan Abel in the final round.

To get to the final, Smith raced through the first two rounds of elimination runs, sending Dennis Baylis and Glenn Bull packing in rounds one and two, before a bye in round three ahead of the final match up against Abel. Abel, meanwhile dispatched Garthe McIntyre in round one, before doing the same to Top Qualifier Medallion presented by New Gen Business Park recipient Peter Coles in round two and Mark Hunt in the semi-final.

“This is a new motor for me that has only done six quarter-mile passes, so this is an awesome result!” Smith smiled.

“I have had a lot of help from Matt Abel and Dale Heiler from Tuned by Dale, they have been really good helping me out and I am just actually quite ecstatic to win, I did not expect that.

“It was a really good event, really awesome, and there were so many people in the stands which was great.

“It was fantastic also to have my 13-year-old son Jimmy Smith up here from Brisbane to watch his dad race, thanks mate. Thank you also to my sponsors Rhino Industrial and also Ken from Asbestos Solutions, and of course all of my crew that came out tonight to help out.”

In Junior Dragster Cody Hunt took the win over runner-up Brooke Morrison. To get to the final, Hunt took wins over Taylor Horton (round one) and Lily Horton (round two) before lining up against Morrison. Morrison meanwhile enjoyed a win over Jay Coles in round one and a single run in round two, after Top Qualifier Medallion presented by New Gen Business Park recipient Angelina Kondilis was unable to make the round two run.

In Goodyear Racing Super Street Neil Mellett broke out, handing the win to Shaun Boyer in the final run of the night. To get to the final, Boyer first sent Connor Wahlqvist packing before a bye in round two and dispatching Top Qualifier Medallion presented by New Gen Business Park recipient Jamie Irwin in the semi-final. Mellet, meanwhile, got the better of Nicole Higgins in round one and Theo Karamandis in round two, ahead of a bye in the semi-final. Top Qualifier Irwin enjoyed a bye in round one and took the win over Claudio Petrilli in round two before being knocked out by Boyer in the semi-final.

In Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike a double breakout saw Bryan Finn take the win over runner-up Jason White when White went further under his Dial In. To get to the final, Finn first came out on top over Top Qualifier Medallion presented by New Gen Business Park recipient Ian Read ahead of the final match-up against White. White meanwhile, first successfully lined up against James Taylor before securing the runner-up honours.

In The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Sedan Gary Baker drove around Darren Russell to grab the win and ultimate round bragging rights. Baker got the night started with a victory over Mitchell Sperrer in round one, before going on to clinch the win over Thomas Parry in the semi-final. Earlier in the night, Russell got the better of Mark Busscher in round one and Top Qualifier Medallion presented by New Gen Business Park recipient Troy David.

In Gallagher Modified, husband-and-wife racers Dan and Josie Hodgins faced off in the final round, with Top Qualifier Medallion presented by New Gen Business Park recipient Dan Hodgins claiming the win over runner-up Josie.

New Gen Business Park Competition Bike ran the Chicago Shoot Out format this weekend with Adam Rapp and James Low lining up in the final pairing, which would see Rapp go on to take the overall event victory over runner-up Low. To get to the final, Rapp enjoyed wins over Leith Darrach and Top Qualifier Medallion presented by New Gen Business Park recipient Cheryl ‘MsVrod’ Beddoes, however, Rapp was defeated in round one by David Denner. Low, meanwhile, won all three of the night’s earlier match-ups, getting the better of Joe Khoury (round one), Denner (round two), and Darrach (round three).

The non-stop on-track action across the evening also included the NDRC Top Doorslammer season grand final for their 2024/2025 championship season, along with racing for the local Street Car and Street Bike track championships and exhibitions from the Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Cars, Wheelstanders, and the high-flying High Air FMX show.

In Street Car and Street Bike, Shane Crow and Josh Schuit took the win over runners-up John Zelley and Anthony Long in their respective classes.

In NDRC Top Doorslammer, John Zappia took the event win ahead of runner-up Salim Matta, with the result also seeing Zappia triumph over Lisa Gregorini in the battle for second place in the championship behind champion elect Russell Taylor, who secured the big trophy at the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals in June.

ANDRA thanks the Hidden Valley Drag Racing Association and all of its volunteers and sponsors for an outstanding racetrack and a well-run event.

Racers won’t have to wait long to hit the track again, with round two of the 2025/2026 ANDRA Sportsman Series at the Desert Nationals to be held at the Alice Springs Inland Dragway on September 3 – for event info, go to www.cadra.com.au

The northern drag racing action (non-championship) will then continue at Alice Springs with the ANDRA-sanctioned Red CentreNATS across September 5-7, including Heavy Hitters Drag Racing at Alice Springs Inland Dragway on the Saturday – go to www.redcentrenats.com.au for more information.

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