"VAN" (Sports Desk - 03.03.2026) :: WA’s Kyle Putland might have been making his debut at Mildura’s Sunset Strip at the weekend for the Twilight Nationals, but that didn’t stop him from turning plenty of heads during the event.
On Friday night, two rounds of qualifying were held for what was the first round of the 2026 BLAHST Australian Top Fuel Championship, with Putland in the box seat after Q1 to challenge for his first ever NDRC Top Qualifier Medallion.
While it wasn’t to be, with him being pipped at the post by Shane Olive, the performances by Putland in front of what was a packed crowd at the regional eighth-mile facility had plenty of people talking both on the track and online and saw Putland feeling confident heading into race day.
“We started off well on Friday – our first qualifying pass of 4.042 seconds at 304.01kph saw us the quickest of the field. That was actually with a mistake, as I had loaded the wrong set-up to the engine,” Putland explains.
“For Q2, we then had a wide-open throttle switch failure, crossing the line at 4.192 which saw us forced to settle for second on the qualifying order.
“While annoying to have those issues, what it does mean is that there is a lot more in the car, a lot, and with those issues resolved ahead of Saturday’s racing, and the previous dramas we have had with the car at earlier events also sorted out, I was really looking forward to getting out there.
“The crowd out there was great, and it was really good to see that support, and the track was going to be amazing.
“We were feeling quite confident of going well to be honest. Obviously though, Mother Nature had other ideas, which was quite disappointing.
“So now, we have to gather up all that energy and momentum and take it with us to the Riverbend Nationals.”
Putland has already been on track at Dragway at The Bend this week ahead of the March 28-29 event, taking his trailer to the Tailem Bend venue and chatting with staff before continuing on his way back home to Perth.
“Heading into the Riverbend Nationals, I really can’t wait! I love that track, and we are feeling confident,” he said.
“Our best result there is a B-Final win, and we are anxious to lock down our first A-Final victory and Top Qualifier – hopefully we can make that happen at this event.
“The competition is going to be tough, but we are going to come out swinging as hard as we can!” he added, while thanking Oil and Energy, Hydraulic Technical Solutions and Grease Systems WA, and his crew for all their support.
The Riverbend Nationals at South Australia’s Dragway at The Bend will mark round two of the 2026 title chases for both BLAHST Top Fuel and the XPRO Nitro Funny Cars, as well as NDRC championship racing for Pro Alcohol, Pro Mod, Top Doorslammer, and Top Fuel Motorcycle, and the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship.
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