Round three of the 2019-2020 Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcar Series was a tough night for all parties concerned from the Venue operators, the competitors and the spectators with so much rain covering the State but somehow a narrow band of no rain fall on Premier Speedway allowed their opening race meeting of the season to be completed with some tough racing that saw James McFadden survive the night to take the Eureka Series round win by less than half a second from a hard charging Luke Oldfield.
With so much bad weather in the last few weeks down south trying conditions presented themselves to the Premier Speedway team but the good news was fifty one sprintcar teams entered the pits to be a part of a full race program that had many thrills, spills and some heartaches for some competitors with mechanical issue to hamper their night.
Time trails set the scene for the night, five time trial heat group session were run to seed the drivers into their respective heats for the night. Now time trials at Premier Speedway nearly always see some magical times set and last night was no exception when the local plumber Robbie Paton set the track alight with the fastest time of 10.349 seconds when all the time session time were merged together. Venue commentator Gavin White was out of seat with excitement over Robbie efforts.
While a few drivers suffered misfortunes in time trials with mechanical issues most of the heat races also claimed a few scalps on the night that would dash some of the drivers hopes, the likes of John Vogels, Bobby Daly, Dennis Jones and even Jamie Veal and David Murcott ended their nights campaign when they rolled in their respective second heat races.
With the heat race completed and the grids set some drivers in the C Main elected not to run as it would be a tough call to make it thru the field for a B Main spot and then a shot at the A Main.
After a little track prep eighteen sprintcars rolled around for the start of the Eureka Garages and Sheds A Main. The order was top points scorer W17 James McFadden on pole position with Q17 Luke Oldfield along side of him followed by Q83 Steven Lines, V45 Mike Van Bremen, V52 Darren Mollenoyux, Q23 Lachlan McHugh, V3 Corey McCullagh, V68 Brett Milburn, S13 Brock Hallett, V81 Robbie Paton, T62 Tate Frost, V37 Grant Anderson and the final six qualifiers who came from the B Main event were V40 Rusty Hickman, V42 Jye Okeeffe, VA29 Terry Rankin, S63 Ryan Jones, VA88 Grant Stansfield and VA81 Rhys Baxter.
Underway for the first lap of the Eureka Garages & Sheds A Main with McFadden and Oldfield charging hard together for the number one spot only for the red light to come when Brett Milburn got into trouble and rolled at turn four before one lap was completed.
Take two and the duelling pair of #17 cars lead away once more that would see McFadden take the lead on lap one with Oldfield holding a very closed second place, now with the drivers aware that the track had a lot of drive in it the field quickly settled down for the first few laps to feel the track out but is was not long until what appeared to be a contact between Hickman & Paton saw Paton out of the race then Hickman also pulled infield to end his night.
As the field rolled around for the restart both Baxter and Rankin also pulled to the infield with issues.
Back under way and McFadden had the lead but once again Oldfield was on his tail, now Lines had both McHugh and Mollenoyux on his case leaving McCullagh, Van Bremen, Anderson, Jones and Stansfield in their own battle. It was not long and the leading duo started to lap traffic, as McFadden was working thru the traffic the gap to Oldfield would open up but then close down just as quickly in the traffic. Lines was still holding off McHugh while Mollenoyux, McCullagh, Anderson and Van Bremen continued their race.
Heading into two third race distance and the leaders were still in heavy traffic when McFadden got caught up by a slower car that saw the close following Oldfield take the lead but that would be short lived as Okeeffe blew a tire and slowed in turn four only for the luckless Grant Anderson who was running high on the track to come around the turn and collect the slowing V42 machine that would see both drivers out of the running.
Rolling around for the restart once more and Lines was squeezed into the wall that would see his spin to a halt but he was able to restart from the rear of the field.
With the field now reduced the order at the restart was now McFadden, Oldfield, McHugh, Mollenoyux, McCullagh, Jones, Van Bremen, Stansfield and Lines.
Again both McFadden and Oldfield opened a gap on the field but it was Lines on the move to quickly pass Standfield and Van Bremen, Stansfield also made a pass on Van Bremen as Lines went by. Lines next scalp was Jones then he moved in to take both McCullagh and Mollenoyux to be back into fourth place with only a few laps remaining.
Oldfield was right with McFadden searching for a way past with two to go, Oldfield looked to have better speed but on the fast Premier Speedway clay way a pass on the leader was going to be a big call. This did not deter Oldfield who put in a last ditched effort as the pair came off turn four for the last time nearly side by side only for McFadden to take the win by 0.095 of a second. McHugh took third place from the fast finishing Lines while Mollenoyux lead home McCullagh, Stansfield and Van Bremen with Jones retiring with a couple of laps left to run.
While it was tough night in the seat for many James McFadden and Luke Oldfield put on a top show to end the night’s action.
The B Main event was taken out by Rusty Hickman from Jye Okeeffe, Terry Rankin, Ryan Jones, Grant Stansfield and Rhys Baxter who transferred to the A Main event.
Transferring from the C Main to the B Main was the winner Lisa Walker, Jordyn Charge, Leigh Mugavin, Andrew Hughes, Chris Solomon and Glen Sutherland.
Heat races on the night were won by V88 David Murcott, Q83 Steven Lines, V52 Darren Mollenoyux, V35 Jamie Veal, W17 James McFadden, Q23 Lachlan McHugh, V19 Sam Wren, V48 Adam King, VA81 Rhys Baxter and V73 Charles Hunter.
A full list of the placing can be viewed on the SRA web site results page at www.sravic.com
Borderline Speedway at Mt Gambier will present round four of the Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcar Series on Saturday night the 23rd of November 2019.
Eureka Garages and Sheds Series nightly contingency awards:
AVALON RACEWAY DRIVERS DRAW: ($50) – V52 Darren Mollenoyux.
HOOSIER TIRE AUSTRALIA: 11th Place in the A Main at Each round.
11th V42 Jye Okeeffe.
D&F RACING PRODUCTS: Hard luck of the night – V77 Brayden Parr.
C & H TRUCKING: Top Points Scorer ($100) – w17 James McFadden.
STEELPIPES PTY LTD: 1st competitor not to transfer from B to A-Main ($100) –
V98 Peter Doukas.
MR ELECTRIC – Winner of the B Main ($250) – V40 Rusty Hickman.
End of Series awards:
Eureka Garages & Sheds major sponsor of the Series overall prize money Poole.
C & H Trucking sponsor in the top ten award.
Award – Random draw at the Presentation Dinner.
Camden Neon Signs – sponsors of the Series Prize Poole + in the top ten award.
Hoosier Tire Australia – sponsors of the Series Prize Poole.
Western Nissan - for drivers finishing between 11th and 20th place in the Series. Random draw at the Presentation Dinner $1500 to the winner.
Lumbar Transport - End of Series most heat wins – V37 Grant Anderson & V88 David Murcott (3 wins each).
Western Nissan - most cars passed in the A-Main on the night,
VA88 Grant Stansfield (10 cars each)
(End of series award) Most cars passed overall – VA88 (15 cars)
ELIMINATOR RACE WINGS – for the driver that transfers the most from the B Main to the A Main event the most. Overall, VA29 Terry Rankin (3 Times)
(In the event of a tie the driver with the most points in the Series wins)
PARR MOTORSPORTS –Drivers Driver award as voted on by the drivers in the Series. (End of Series award)
Eureka Garages and Sheds Series – Indy Race Parts Top 10:
1st – Grant Anderson - 1137
2nd – Brett Milburn - 936
3rd – Corey McCullagh – 933
4th – Jye okeeffe - 851
5th – Bobby Daly - 822
6th – Terry Rankin - 798
7th – Chris Solomon – 796
8th – Grant Stanfield - 768
9th – Jordyn Charge - 682
10th – Brenten Farrer - 675
Western Nissan
(End of Series random draw between 11th & 20th place)
11th – Brayden Parr - 671
12th – Charles Hunter - 654
13th – Ryan Davis - 628
14th – Eddie Lumbar - 602
15th – Mike Van Bremen - 599
16th – David Murcott - 595
17th – Dennis Jones - 592
18th – Rhys Baxter - 563
19th – Tate Frost - 559
20th – Tim Hutchins - 556
For a full list of all the 2019-2020 SRA of Vic Race dates go to www.sravic.com
The Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria thank the following Eureka Garages and Sheds Sprintcar Series and season sponsors:
EUREKA GARAGES & SHEDS, WESTERN NISSAN, MAX DUMESNY MOTORSPORT, HOOSIER TIRE AUSTRALIA, CAMDEN SINGAGE & BUILDING SERVICES, C & H TRUCKING, PARR MOTORSPORTS, STEELPIPES AUSTALIA, LUMBAR’S TRANSPORT, AVALON RACEWAY, MR ELECTRIC, D&F RACING PRODUCTS, ELIMINATOR RACE WINGS, COREY GIBSON PHOTOGRAPHY, MAXAM PRINTING, SPRINTCARWORLD.
Eureka Garages & Sheds www.eurekagarages.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
Mr Electric www.mrelectric.com.au
Parr Motorsports www.parrmotorsport.com
Avalon Raceway www.avalonraceway.com.au
Corey Gibson Photography www.gibsonphotography.com.au
Sprintcarworld www.sprintcarworld.com.au
Maxam Printing www.maxamprinting.com.au
C & H TRUCKING
Eureka Series Round 3 top three Luke Oldfield James McFadden Lachlan McHugh - photo by Corey Gibson
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