Tim Van Ginneken is in good form and must be one of the main contenders for a win this weekend - Photo by Corey Gibson Photography
The Eureka Sprintcar Series Returns to Heartland Raceway
Author : Ian Vale
Round eight of the Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcar Series heads to the big wide open spaces of the Heartland Raceway venue this Saturday night with a healthy list of nominations that will see all the main players in the Series in action plus USA driver Kyle Hirst making his first appearance in Australian for this season driving for the PRP Organisation.
With round seven of the Eureka Series that was scheduled to run at Simpson Speedway being washed out the drivers are ready to resume their battle in the Series.
Many of the drivers nominated for this weekend competed in the a few rounds of the World Series Sprintcar competition with over the past week with some very creditable performances.
Glen Sutherland heads the points table from Tim Van Ginneken and Brett Milburn, both Tim and Brett had mixed fortunes in the early part of the Series but both drivers are right back in the game after Avalon’s round six of the Series where Tim stormed home to second place just missing the feature win while Brett came home in third with Dennis Jones taking a well deserved fourth place.
Charles Hunter is in good form this season with many good performances although the opening round of the Series which was at Heartland Raceway was a poor night by Charles’s standards he is sure to be right in the mix this Saturday night.
Grant Anderson is a regular visitor to Heartland Raceway and he is always a big threat when he runs there.
The young guns Jordyn Charge and Brayden Parr have been opening peoples eye’s with their strong performance in the Series. The sportsmanship between these two drivers shone at Avalon Raceway in the World Series event when Brayden qualified into the A Main only to suffer mechanical problems that would put him out of the race. Jordyn and the V60 Westside Nissan Team quickly offer Brayden their car so he could be in the WSS main event. After having to start from 20th place Brayden brought the V60 machine home in 13th with a great drive in the unfamiliar equipment and he was quick to thank Jordyn and the his farther Mark for giving him the opportunity.
One of the Series regulars Jye Okeeffe was up to second place in the Series points only to be involved in a nasty crash in round six that will see him on the side lines for some time.
South Australia’s Glen Sutherland in the S20 Gambier Earthmover car had the lead of the Eureka Garages & Sheds A Main at round one of the Series at Heartland only to make a small mistake that saw him having to settle for second place at the venue once again, Glen will want to protect his Series points lead but a win at Heartland Raceway will be something he wants to tick of his bucket list.
Another driver that very much likes the Heartland Venue is Brenten Farrer, Brenten had to come from position eleven in the B Main in round one to qualify for the Eureka A Main event and he then drove thru the field to finish in fifth place. A top six start in the A Main this weekend could put him in as one of the main contenders for a feature win.
Micheal Cunningham recently returned to racing after being on the sidelines due to an injury but this did not stop him from preparing the V10 Penrite, PRP Engineering car for the likable American Kyle Hirst for his down under campaign thru the month of January. Kyle is no strangers to the Australian soil and has driven for the PRP team previously before driving for the Monte Motorsports Team last Season.
Kyle will have to be one of the favourites for this event. Warrnambool’s Corey McCullagh is a top three contender as well, Brett Milburn, Dennis Jones, Tim Van Ginneken, Grant Anderson, Brenton Farrer along with Glen Sutherland are in the main contenders bag.
The Solomon brother of Chris and Paul are back in the Eureka Garage & Sheds Series for this round as is Eddie Lumbar who is retuning after a leg injury, David Aldersley, West Aussie Scott Reilly will be in the field along with lady racer Rhiannon Burleigh, David McKay, Sam Wren, Jacob Smith, Terry Kelly, Brad Warren are just some to the drivers nominated for what will be another tough night of competition at Heartland Raceway for this round of the Series.
So far the Eureka Garages & Sheds Series has completed six rounds and there have been six different winners, could we see yet another new name added at the completion of this weekend event?
Heartland Raceway Echuca / Moama for round eight of the Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcar Series Saturday the 7th of January 2017. On track action will commence at approximately 5.45 pm.
For more information go to the Heartland Raceway website. www.heartlandracewaymoama.com
Eureka Garages and Sheds Series – KTM Top 10: 1st – Glen Sutherland - 2134 2nd – Tim Van Ginneken - 1972 3rd – Brett Milburn - 1936 4th – Jye Okeeffe -1868 5th – Corey McCullagh - 1840 6th – Dennis Jones - 1710 7th – David Murcott - 1701 8th – John Vogels - 1665 9th – Jacob Smith - 1597 10th – Sam Wren – 1471
Western Nissan (End of Series random draw between 11th & 20th place) 11th – Brayden Parr - 1441 12th – Brad Warren - 1431 13th – Charles Hunter - 1393 14th – Peter Doukas - 1393 15th – Jordyn Charge - 1388 16th – Adam King - 1327 17th – Scott Reilly - 1127 18th – Terry Kelly - 1120 19th – David McKay 1108 20th – Tim Rankin - 1091
The Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria thank the following Eureka Garages and Sheds Sprintcar Series and season sponsors:
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