"VAN" (Sports Desk - 07.12.2025) :: While Saturday at South Coast Raceway may have been decidedly soggy at times, Sunday saw the 165+ ANDRA Regional Sportsman Racers greeted by perfect sunny weather conditions for the final day of the South Coast Nationals.
Across the day eliminations racing was held for 11 championship brackets for what is round five of the 2025/2026 ANDRA Series season, with the following racers taking out the event-winning silver ANDRA Christmas Tree trophies at the end of the day: Cooper Plummer (New Gen Business Park Junior Drag Bike), Ava Walker (Junior Dragster), Stefan Lainas (Goodyear Racing Super Street), Dean Jamieson (Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike), Tony Tedesco (The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Sedan), Adriana Cartledge (Gallagher Modified), Edge Mallis (New Gen Business Park Competition Bike), Daniel Jones (Top Sportsman), Shane Baxter (New Gen Business Park Supercharged Outlaws), Shayne Reid (Super Comp), and Adrian McGrotty (Three Dimensional Construction Super Gas).
Recognised with the runner-up awards at the end of event presentations were Lawrence Raschella (New Gen Business Park Junior Drag Bike), Todd Wagner (Junior Dragster), Dean Cleary (Goodyear Racing Super Street), Rob Church (Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike), Dimos Stefanopoulos (The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Sedan), Derek Wills (Gallagher Modified), Nathan Stone (New Gen Business Park Competition Bike), Tommy Turic (Top Sportsman), Brendan Carr (New Gen Business Park Supercharged Outlaws), Mitch Oxley (Super Comp), and Warren Smith (Three Dimensional Construction Super Gas).
Also on-track this weekend was the local Street Fighter bracket, with Jaydan Hoggan taking the win over runner-up, Tim Parker.
In New Gen Business Park Junior Drag Bike, Cooper Plummer took another win to add to his successful season tally so far by defeating Lawrence Raschella in the final. Earlier in the day Plummer had faced off against Austin Walpole in round one, before a round two bye. Raschella meanwhile had dispatched Riley Kilvington (round one) and Aliza Harris (round two) on his way to the final match-up. Plummer was also the top qualifier for the bracket.
“This is my first time winning here, so I am pretty happy about that. And it is just amazing as well that I won on dad’s birthday, so that is a big bonus – a big happy birthday to you dad,” Plummer said.
“Today has gone decently well, just had a few issues with the clutch and the kill switch, but overall, it wasn’t too bad.
“I can’t wait for the next meeting here, it is looking awesome,” Plummer added, while thanking all of his sponsors, his mum, dad, and Mick; as well as Kenny Harris – father of Aliza Harris – for the lending of a lanyard.
In Three Dimensional Construction Super Gas, Adrian McGrotty took another South Coast Nationals win after winning at the same event last year – a victory that commenced a winning streak which played a big part in him taking out the 2024/2025 ANDRA Championship for Super Gas. McGrotty ensured his place in the final with wins from John Moumas (round one), Colin Griffin (round two), and Jason Wilson (semi), while runner-up Warren Smith had taken wins from Warren Bull (round one) and Brodie Tedesco (round two) before a bye in the semis.
“We are pretty happy with that!” McGrotty said.
“The guys here do an absolutely unbelievable job, they battled through the rain yesterday and we still got through the meeting, so credit to them.
“Thank you also to ANDRA and to the bracket sponsors Three Dimensional Construction, and also Powerplus Fuels who also support the bracket (through the ANDRA Racer Support Program).
“We were on the right side of everything today, the car ran well, and the crew did their job well, and the driver did three-quarters on his job,” he laughed.
“Hopefully we can repeat this at the South Coast 660 – we would love to come back and be able to repeat.”
For Adriana Cartledge, the Gallagher Modified victory came on a special weekend, celebrating the birthday of the late Billy Cartledge, who passed away in January 2024 at the age of 11. Cartledge first took out the New Gen Business Park Top Qualifier honours yesterday, before racing through to the big trophy today over runner-up, Derek Wills. On her way to the final, Cartledge enjoyed a bye in round one before taking wins from David Grills (round two) and Kenny Stewart (semi-final). Wills meanwhile had successfully taken on Josie Hodgins (round one) and Bradley Hicks (round two) before a semi-final bye.
“We are really happy with our results this weekend,” Cartledge said.
“We wanted to turn on the win lights for Billy’s birthday, and we did just that, taking home an ANDRA Christmas Tree.
“Thank you to my husband Luke and also Mick and the track staff for a great weekend!”
New Gen Business Park Competition Bike employed the Chicago three round shootout format this weekend, with Edge Mallis taking the win over Nathan Stone in the finals. Mallis and Stone earned their respective places in the finals with round two and three wins over New Gen Business Park Top Qualifier Joe Khoury and Cheryl ‘MsVrod’ Beddoes (Mallis) and Jake Hamilton-Moderate before a round three bye (Stone). In round one, they faced off against each other with Stone turning on the win light, but in the final, it was Mallis who would be celebrating the victory.
In Junior Dragster, Ava Walker took the win over Todd Wagner after having earlier taken victories over Lily Horton (round one), Levi Knezevic (round two), and New Gen Business Park Top Qualifier Taylor Horton (round three) before a semi-final bye. Wagner meanwhile had successfully taken on Lily Vickery (round one), Charlize Grivell (round two), Angelina Kondilis (round three), and Brock Furlanetto (semi) before heading to the final against Ava Walker.
In Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike, Dean Jamieson took out the ANDRA Christmas Tree from runner-up Rob Church after having yesterday claimed the New Gen Business Park Top Qualifier medallion. Jamieson had earlier dispatched Greg Oberti (round one) and Bryan Finn (round two), while Church had put Jason Rattray (round one) and David McGinn (round two) on the trailer.
In Super Comp, Shayne Reid took the win over New Gen Business Park Top Qualifier Mitch Oxley in the final, after the pair had also faced off in round three of the Chicago Shootout Three Round format, with Oxley that time turning on the win light. Earlier in the day, Oxley and Reid both won their round one match-ups, with New Gen Business Park Top Qualifier Oxley enjoying a bye, and Reid taking on Rhys Naylor. In round two, Oxley won over Naylor while Reid had a bye.
In New Gen Business Park Supercharged Outlaws, Shane Baxter backed up his 2024 South Coast Nationals victory with victory in the 2025 instalment, over runner-up Brendan Carr. Baxter punched his ticket to the final after defeating Tony Lamanna (round one) and Mark Hunt (round two) before a semi-final bye, while Carr had emerged victorious from match-ups against Drago Nikodijevic (round one) and top qualifier Doina Day (semis), with a bye in round two.
In South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Sedan, Tony Tedesco took the ANDRA Christmas Tree trophy by defeating Dimos Stefanopoulos in the finals, after earlier successes from Les Waight (round one), Ned Karanovic (round two), Matt Dickeson (round three), and Alex Gkroidis (semis). Stefanapoulos meanwhile raced through to the finals with wins from Michael Hanrahan (round one), Scott Bradshaw (round two), and Gary Vogelsang (round three) before a bye in the semis.
In Goodyear Racing Super Street, the win went to Stefan Lainas – another racer who also took the victory at the 2024 event – with the runner-up award going to Dean Cleary. Lainas made his way to the final stand by bettering Andrew Francis (round one), Brian Keane and (round two) and Michael Jennings (semis) with a round three bye, while Cleary had taken on Lisa Trezise (round one), his dad John Cleary (round two), and Andrew Lampkin (round three) before a semi-final bye.
In Top Sportsman, Daniel Jones took the win after having earlier claimed the New Gen Business Park Top Qualifier medallion. Jones was matched with Tommy Turic in the finals, following earlier wins over Mick Rouhan (round one), and Stuart McBain (semi) with a round two bye, while Turic had sent Scott Foreman (round one), and Jamie Mclaren (round two) packing ahead of a bye run in his semi-final.
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