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HISTORICAL
FIRST NATIONALS TOP FUEL WIN
– 1970 AUSTRALIAN NATIONALS
SURFERS PARADISE INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
The first one was winning Top Fuel under the AHRF at Surfers Paradise in
1970. I can remember I felt so proud of everybody; it gave me the biggest
buzz. It was just incredible winning that event and bringing home this
magnificent perpetual trophy that is well over a metre high. Any many years
later just by chance someone asked me; ‘Did you ever win that big trophy?’
and I said yes I did. They said; ‘We can’t find it, it’s lost’. And I said it’s not
lost; it’s at home in my trophy cabinet. And you should have seen the look
on their face. It is now at Willowbank, I gave it back and Willowbank have
it in a big cabinet and it’s magnificently displayed because it was one of a
kind. We received little replicas for it later.
A lot of people never had the pleasure of racing at Surfers Paradise (Surfers
Paradise International Raceway closed in 1987 – Ed). Surfers Paradise was
probably the happiest place you would ever want to go to race. You could
enjoy the nightlife, you could go out to the racetrack, you could have a hell
of a good time and the one thing missing was the politics. There was no
politics. So it was a great race, it sticks in my mind.
DOING THE DOUBLE – 1976
AUSTRALIAN NATIONALS
ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
2
Number two would have to be at Adelaide when I won Top Fuel and Funny
Car because I did it a couple of times over there. When I won Top and Funny
Car, again at the time, the track was run by Bill Pickett. Bill Pickett was
Keith Williams best mate and he ran Surfers Paradise. When he left Surfers
and they built Adelaide Bill went over there to manage it.
ANDRA Drag Racing Hall of Famer Jim Read shares five
of his lasting memories from the Australian Nationals –
Australia’s most prestigious drag racing event.
Bill Pickett probably made you feel like you were an equal. He probably
made you feel like he appreciated everything you came to do for him and
he was the owner promoter we never, ever asked how much am I getting
paid? Never asked the man. And we would come to Adelaide and he’d
say; ‘Is this enough Jim?’ And (he’d say that) to Warren Armour and Bob
Dunn and all of those guys around that era. Everyone loved Bill, there’s
a lot to learn from Bill Pickett.
But Adelaide Raceway was just the most fabulous place and it was
fun, really fun to race there because people in Adelaide are really
nice – we made some fabulous friends there. It’s always stuck in my
mind, my Funny Car and my Fuel car going out there winning and
winning at the same event. And you hear the Americans all the
time, Kenny Bernstein or and whoever the first man to win Top Fuel
an Funny Car and I say hang on a minute, I won it at the one race
not five years later (laughs). So it really sticks in my mind that one.