Rusty Hickman took the win in last night’s Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria 360 Sprintcar Challenge presented by Hickman Tree Maintenance by a narrow margin from Paul Solomon and Jessica Moulden at Heartland Raceway.
Rusty driving the V40 J&J drove a steady race to keep his challengers at bay during the twenty five lap journey to win the race that got away from him this time last year that he led for nineteen laps then.
Paul Solomon put his car on pole position for the Hickman Tree Maintenance 360 Challenge with Rusty Hickman alongside after the top six shootout that would also see Eddie Lumber who was having a good night line up on the second row with Brayden Parr. Last year’s event runner up Brenten Farrer was on the third with Daniel Ellis.
With slick track conditions that allowed the drivers to use the entire track it would be smart drivers to make sure they would be there at the end with tyre wear being the main issue.
Rusty Hickman got the jump over Paul Solomon at the start and Eddie Lumbar got the better of Brayden Parr to slot into third place, Parr was also overtaken by Brenton Farrer leaving him in fifth place by the end of lap one.
Hickman started to open a up gap early on over the pursuing pack, Solomon looked comfortable in second place but Lumbar had Farrer searching for a way past to succeed on lap nine just as the caution lights came on for Georgia McLeod who had stopped against the turn three wall that would see her retire from the race. Michael Cunningham also received a flat tyre in the same incident that would see him retire.
Under way once more and Solomon had picked up the pace to keep Hickman in within reach if he made a mistake, Farrer, Lumbar and Parr were duelling for third position leaving the racing race order with Daniel Ellis in sixth place from Micheal Tancredi, Jessica Moulden, Darren Hickman, Darren Clark, Jesse Nicholas, Chris Campbell, David Aldersley, Daniel Forbes and rounding out the runner were Ben Gartner & Chris Booley.
Just over two thirds race distance Farrer seemed to be making ground on the leaders only to spin and come to a halt in turn four, unfortunately Parr made contact with Farrer but all seemed okay for both drivers to continue at the restart.
Just prior to the restart, Lumbar who was now in third placed rolled to the infield and would not take any further part of the action.
The attempted restart went no further than turn two when Parr’s machined slowed leaving both Tancredi and Darren Hickman nowhere to go and all three cars came together and stopped, Parr would be out for the restart. Farrer would also retire with deflated right rear tire before he could complete anther racing lap.
Seven to go and Rusty Hickman was in clean air and looked to be driving conservatively opening a small gap back to Solomon, Solomon could see his chance of the win slipping if he didn’t up the pace a little and that’s what he did to start closing on Hickman leaving Moulden running in a comfortable third place from Daniel Ellis and Jesse Nicholas.
As the laps wound down the end result was Rusty Hickman would receive the chequered flag in first place by just over half a second from Paul Solomon then Jessica Moulden in third place, Daniel Ellis took fourth, Jesse Nicholas home in fifth place while David Aldersley finished in sixth place. Rounding out the finishers were Chris Campbell, Michael Tancredi, Daniel Forbes, Darren Clark, Darren Hickman, Ben Gartner and Chris Booley.
The next SRA 360 sprintcar event is to be conducted at Avalon Raceway Lara on Saturday the 29th of April for the SRA 360 Sprintcars Diggers Cup.
Before the SRA 360 Sprintcar event the Annual three nights of the Easter Sprintcar Trail will be conducted to kick off at Avalon Raceway before heading to Borderline Speedway and finishing At Premier Speedway.
The Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria thanks the following 360 Sprintcar Sponsors.
Parr Motorsports www.parrmotorsports.com
Hickman’s Environmental & Tree Maintenance. www.hickmans.com.au
Ascot Vale Sports & Trophies www.ascotvalesports.com.au
The Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria also thanks the following season sponsors:
EUREKA GARAGES & SHEDS, KTM AUSTRALIA, WESTERN NISSAN, MD MOTORSPORT, HOOSIER TIRE AUSTRALIA, CAMDEN SINGAGE & BUILDING SERVICES, PARR MOTORSPORTS, STEELPIPES AUSTALIA, LUMBAR’S TRANSPORT, AVALON RACEWAY, D&F RACING PRODUCTS, ELIMINATOR RACE WINGS, COREY GIBSON PHOTOGRAPHY, MAXAM PRINTING, SPRINTCARWORLD.
Eureka Garages & Sheds www.eurekagarages.com.au
KTM Australia www.ktm.com.au
Western Nissan www.westernnissan.com.au
Hoosier Tires Australia www.mdmotorsport.com.au
Camden Signage & Building Services www.camdenneon.com.au
Steelpipes Pty Ltd www.steelpipes.com.au
Lumbars Transport www.lumbars.com.au
Eliminator Race Wings www.crossmotorsport.com
Parr Motorsports www.parrmotorsport.com
Avalon Raceway Lara www.avalonraceway.com.au
Corey Gibson Photography www.gibsonphotography.com.au
Sprintcarworld www.sprintcarworld.com.au
Maxam Printing www.maxamprinting.com.au
Prior to the night action Rusty Hickman and his farther Darren ready themselves Photos by Corey Gibson Photography
.JPG)
