"It takes a little bit [to get used to], there's a lot behind it all.
"We've beaten the current world champion [Caughey] and the former world champion [Leighton Minnell]. That's just fantastic."
Years of tinkering and modifications on the 1500hp PPG Hulk had paid off this year, making Dillon the first Ford engine driver to win the Superboat national title.
Engine Rebuilders put it together, with backing coming from PPG Hulk and Hydropumps.
Dillon and his hard-working crew were the only team to make the Superboat podium at every event, with victories at Round 1 and 3, runner-up at Round 2, and then three consecutive third placings from Rounds 4-6.
With nothing left to prove, he has sold PPG Hulk to Otorohanga's Daniel Roberts and will act as his mentor next season.
Needing to see off Hamilton rival Ollie Silverton in the Biolytix 400 series, Travers and navigator son Shane produced a lightning time to win the Top 5 eliminator, held as the final race instead of a Top 3 due to time constraints, and therefore the overall crown.
"We were doing a couple of 54s, that was about our limit," Travers said.
"I heard Ollie did a 56s, so I thought 'we don't have to be silly'."
After a lapse of concentration early in the day, Travers had taken himself away to the team truck to sit alone and get his head right before the eliminator races, while his family worked on the 500hp Radioactive boat.
"In the fourth qualifying round we actually went the wrong way. Shane was calling us left and I went right.
"I spun around and ended up backwards on the bank."
Determined not be eliminated early like he was at Meremere, the only round he didn't win, Travers got back among the top finishing times, trailing Te Awamutu's Patrick Haden, while Silverton just made the Top 8 and was the last entry into the Top 5.
Going out second to last with just Haden to come, Travers produced the drive of the day - finishing the 22 rotation course in 52.813s.
"That really surprised us. I didn't think we'd get in the 53s."
Haden could not match it and finished runner-up, while Silverton had to settle for third and therefore runner-up in the series behind the jubilant Travers clan.
"It's been absolutely magic. At the start of the season, our honest goal was to be in the top five."
Sponsored by Heibner Motorsport and Keown Honda, Radioactive was a new boat and engine package put together by Marton's Ian Coleman.
It proved a revelation on the scene - winning five of the six rounds plus the non-series ENZED Stadium Jetsprints Cup in January.
Travers also praised son Shane, who due to other teams using different navigators had actually wrapped up his national title early in the day at Featherston.
The only times father Ross had made mistakes during the campaign was when he did not go where Shane told him.
"He didn't muck up the whole season."
In the Group A class, Waitotara's Duncan Wilson competed in his first round since the season opener at Shelterview on December 27.
He and Waverley navigator Jaimee-Lee Lupton finished second on the day behind Hamilton's Sam Newdick, who comfortably wrapped up back-to-back national titles in this division.
Dillon and Travers, along with Newdick, will receive their national titles at the NZ Jet Sprint Association AGM and prize-giving, which will be held in Wanganui on June 20.
Round 6 results
Biolytix 400: 1. Ross and Shane Travers (Wanganui); 2. Patrick and Jay Haden (Te Awamutu); 3. Ollie Silverton and Geoff Sisterson (Hamilton). PSP Suntuf Group A: 1. Sam Newdick, Glenn Mason (Hamilton); 2. Duncan Wilson, Jaimee-Lee Lupton (Waitotara, Waverley); 3. Blake Briant, Kate Hoogerbrug (Gisborne).
Suzuki Superboats: 1. Glen Head, Darren Todd (Hamilton); 2. Peter Caughey, Karen Marshall (Christchurch); 3. Pat Dillon, Steve Edmonds (Wanganui).
