Tasmania’s Tate Frost secured a popular win following a thrilling final few laps at Avalon Raceway for round 3 of the SRA Sprintcar Series before a large crowd who enjoyed the tight finish. Frost crossed the line less than a second ahead of a fast finishing Jordyn Charge while pole sitter Jamie Veal finished third despite leading in the closing stages.
The event doubled as the prestigious Fireball Derby held in memory of Bill Evans and it was Veal and Frost who would square off on the front row courtesy of their sizzling times in the Gold Shootout. Jock Goodyer started on the second row along with Jordyn Charge who was brilliant during the Shootouts to elevate himself out of the Bronze, through the Silver and into the Gold making up valuable starting positions.
While the first attempt to start was called back due to Robbie Farr stopping in turn 2 following contact forcing the stoppage. Up until that point Farr and the Victory Lane Racegear team had a strong night qualifying inside the top 8. Ultimately the second push start required sent the popular Farr to the rear of field.
It was the drop off the green on the second attempt that saw Frost gain a great advantage and manage to squeeze back to the preferred low groove entering turn 1 to lead ahead of Veal and Goodyer who’d suffered front wing damage following contact on the initial skirmish.
From this point it was very much a cat and mouse battle as Frost would keep a safe distance from the chasing Veal and at one point positioned a pair of lapped cars between himself and the pursuing V35. At other stages Veal would close to within a handful of car lengths before Frost would edge his way clear again.
Frost, like everyone in the feature field was managing tire wear and slowed the pace of the race down sufficiently enough to not overwork the tires but also keep a small gap over the ever present threat of Veal, Goodyer, Jordyn Charge and Grant Anderson.
With only a handful of laps remaining Veal turned up his pace and closed quickly on Frost managing to position himself perfectly exiting turn four to gain the lead entering turn 1 in heavy traffic.
Not to be denied, Frost turned back under Veal and the pair drag raced down the back straight entering turn 3 before Frost would narrowly edge his way back to the front and drive the T62 straight to the victory line crossing the line ahead of a fast finishing Charge who would also pass Veal in the closing laps.
Finishing behind the leading trio was Jock Goodyer who managed the damage to his front wing perfectly while Grant Anderson produced a consistent night to round out the top 5, Sixth across the line was Tasmania’s Tim Hutchins ahead of Bobby Daly who is enjoying a consistent start to the series as he keeps accumulating valuable points.
Cam Waters enjoyed a solid night to finish eighth ahead of fourteenth starting Brock Hallett and Chris Solomon in tenth.
Outside of the top 10 were Jy Corbet, Daniel Pestka, Scott Enderl, the unlucky Robbie Farr, Grant Stansfield, Terry Rankin, Glen Sutherland, the impressive rookie Parker Scott and Michael Tancredi while Ashley Cook was the only retiree.
The last chance B-main saw Scott Enderl recorded a popular win narrowly winning ahead of Terry Rankin, Parker Scott, Ashley Cook, Daniel Pestka and Grant Stansfield who all made their way to the A-main.
The heat races on the night were won by Chris Solomon, Tate Frost, Glen Sutherland and Michael Tancredi while Jamie Veal was quickest in the Gold Shootout with a strong 13.782 second lap.
Time trial groups saw Jamie Veal, Grant Anderson, Tate Frost and Jock Goodyer record the quickest qualifying times to record valuable points but also starting positions.
Fans and teams alike endured a lengthy delay just prior to heat 4 getting underway while paramedics were called for New South Welshman Starr Kopa who suffered a medical episode following treatment he received during a red light incident. The unfortunate set of circumstances required an ambulance transfer for Starr and all at the SRA Sprintcar Series wish him a speedy recovery.
On a positive note it’s only a short week before round 4 of the SRA Sprintcar Series fires back into action this Saturday night, November 18 at Warrnambool’s Premier Speedway where once again good prizemoney coupled to series points will see a strong field attend.
SRA Open Sprintcar Series nightly contingency awards:
Avalon Raceway drivers draw: ($50) – S11 Scott Enderl.
D&F Racing products: Hard luck of the night – VA70 Matthew Symons
C&H Trucking: Top Points Scorer ($100) – T62 Tate Frost
Steelpipes Australia: 1st competitor not to transfer from B to A-Main ($100) –
V72 Jacob Smith.
IDIGIT – Winner of the B Main ($200) – S11 Scott Enderl.
Hoosier Tires WAV 100: A Main feature winner, WAV R/Rear Winner ($100):
T62 Tate Frost. $100 + $50 for the left rear.
End of Series awards:
Lumbar Transport - End of Series most heat wins – S20 Glen Sutherland (2 Wins)
G&C Forestry - Most cars passed in the A-Main on the night. S27 Daniel Pestka (7 cars)
(End of series award) Most cars passed overall – N47 Marcus Dumesny (15 Cars)
Eliminator Race Wings – for the driver that transfers the most from the B Main to the A Main event the most. Overall, V8 Bobby Daly - (In the event of a tie the driver with the most points in the Series wins)
Camden Signage & Building Services – sponsor of the Series Prize Poole top ten award.
C & H Trucking sponsor in the top ten award.
Eureka Garages & Sheds - Prize Poole.
Award – Top ten random draw at the Presentation Dinner.
G&C Forestry - for drivers finishing between 11th and 20th place in the Series. Random draw at the Presentation Dinner $1000 to the winner.
Parr Motorsports –Drivers Driver award as voted on by the drivers in the Series. (End of Series award)
Camden Signage & Building Services – Series, Top 10:
1st – Bobby Daly - 1019
2nd – Daniel Pestka - 984
3rd – Jock Goodyer - 783
4th – Rusty Hickman - 782
5th – Glen Sutherland - 766
6th – Jamie Veal - 766
7th – Brett Milburn – 591
8th – Terry Rankin – 696
9th – Dane Court – 691
10th – Tate Frost - 691
G&C Forestry (End of Series random draw between 11th & 20th place)
11th – Tim Hutchins - 658
12th – Chad Ely - 629
13th – Grant Anderson - 579
14th – Jy Corbet - 577
15th – Daniel Sayer – 559
16th –Mick Saller – 552
17th – Jessie Attard – 549
18th – David Aldersley – 548
19th – Brock Hallett - 545
20th – Cameron Waters - 539
The Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria thank the following SRA Open Sprintcar Series and season partners for their support:
EUREKA GARAGES & SHEDS, G&C FORESTRY, MAX DUMESNY MOTORSPORT, HOOSIER TIRE AUSTRALIA, CAMDEN SINGAGE & BUILDING SERVICES, C & H TRUCKING, PARR MOTORSPORTS, STEELPIPES AUSTALIA, LUMBAR’S TRANSPORT, AVALON RACEWAY, IDIGIT, D&F RACING PRODUCTS, ELIMINATOR RACE WINGS, COREY GIBSON PHOTOGRAPHY, MAXAM PRINTING, SPRINTCARWORLD.
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
Eureka Garages & Sheds www.eurekagarages.com.au
Eliminator Race Wings www.crossmotorsport.com
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
G & C Forestry https://www.facebook.com/gcforestry
D & F Race Products
C & H Trucking
IDIGIT
Frost and Veal hard at it inthe SRA Open Series R3 A Main - Photo Courtesy of Corey Gibson Photography
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