"VAN" (Sports Desk - 10.03.2025) :: After nearly eight months out of the seat of his 11,000hp, 500+kph Top Fuel Dragster, Phil Lamattina made his much-anticipated return to Top Fuel at the 54th annual Westernationals – round three of the NDRC Top Fuel Championship chase.
The veteran racer fought his way to the C-Final against Phil Read, but his run ended early when the Fuchs Lubricants dragster erupted in a fireball. Now, with his sights set on the upcoming Riverbend Nationals (April 5-6) at Dragway at The Bend, Lamattina is ready to come back stronger.
Despite a red light in round one against eventual Westernationals winner Peter Xiberras and a narrow .049s loss to Damien Harris in round two, ‘The Carrot King’s’ return to the national Top Fuel stage after missing the first two rounds of the 2024/2025 NDRC season felt seamless.
“I’ll be honest, it nearly felt like I never left,” Lamattina said. “It’s crazy. After all that time away, it was like riding a bike.”
The team came into the Westernationals with a measured approach, aiming to shake off the cobwebs while integrating new crew members into the fold.
“On paper, we probably didn’t look that good,” Lamattina admitted. “But all in all, we can take a lot of positives away. That said, we’re still nowhere near where we really need to be to compete at the level we expect.”
The team had a clear set of goals for their return – get the car to the start line, execute their runs, and most importantly, learn from the experience. Lamattina believes they ticked most of those boxes, despite not turning on the win lights.
“Going into the weekend, we told ourselves to keep expectations low,” he reflected. “But the competitive nature kicks in when you get there, and you just want to win. It is as simple as that.”
With the Riverbend Nationals at Dragway at the Bend up next, Lamattina’s focus now shifts to refining the setup and extracting more performance from the car.
“We probably need to get our tune-up a little bit better, well, actually, we need to get our tune-up a lot better,” Lamattina said. “Parts-wise, inventory-wise, putting the car back together, all that worked really well, but we’re still making poor decisions when it comes to tuning.”
The competition in Top Fuel is fierce, and Lamattina knows there’s no room for complacency.
“There’s not much room for error,” he said. “Everybody who turns up is more than capable of winning. You can’t be complacent at all.”
As the defending Riverbend Nationals winner, the pressure is even higher.
“The expectations to perform at that level are probably a lot higher,” Lamattina said. “The conditions are likely to be conducive to running fast, so we’ll need to step up.”
“I actually won at The Bend the last time I was there. So, no pressure!”
As always, Lamattina took the time to acknowledge those who make it all possible.
“A huge thank you to Fuchs, R&J Batteries, and Muirs,” he said. “Without their support, we wouldn’t be able to keep doing what we do. And, of course, shout out to the crew, especially the younger guys coming through.”
The 2025 Riverbend Nationals marks round four of the 2024/2025 NDRC Top Fuel Championship across 5-6 April. The South Australian event is also hosting rounds of the XPRO Nitro Funny Car, Top Doorslammer and Top Fuel Motorcycle championships, as well as racing for the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship.
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