It’s Grand Final time this Saturday night (June 1) at Audeck Archerfield Speedway with the 17th and final round of racing for the 2018/2019 East Coast Logistics Sprintcar Track Championship. Whilst Andrew Scheuerle already has the track championship wrapped up, the final round will close out what has been a remarkable season of racing that has delivered fierce competition and breathtaking action. In fact, with Scheurele chasing his third consecutive feature race win and the minor placings in the championship still to be decided, it seems there might still be a few memorable moments yet to play out. Also featuring on a big season-ending program will be the Australian Lightning Sprintcar Championship and the Queensland Microsprint Championship, plus Street Stockers, Junior Sedans, Open Sedans and Ford vs Holden vs Sigma sedans.
Following his narrow runner-up result to Scheuerle in the previous round last Saturday night, Peter Lack lines up for his final ever appearance at Archerfield in a very strong position to finish second in the track championship. Whilst any result that sees Lack finish ahead of Allan Woods and Brent Kratzmann will be enough to secure second in the series standings, a feature race win would be a fitting way to close out his 18 year association with GW Racing. However, there is no room for sentimentality when results are what matters, so Scheuerle, Kratzmann, Woods and the other 20 drivers will be doing their utmost to deny Lack a fairy tale farewell.
Having finished fourth last weekend, another strong finish in the finale will see Kevin Titman consolidate a spot inside the top five in the standings, with Kristy Bonsey also set to be rewarded for a very consistent season with a seventh-place finish overall in the championship behind Luke Oldfield, whose absences from the last few rounds has seen him slip down the order. In fact, with her position secured and the off-season ahead, Bonsey has nothing to lose and might be inclined to push just a little harder in a bid to finish the season with her best result. Further back in the standings, Randy Morgan and Mitch Gowland are locked in a battle for a top ten series finish, while the likes of Ben Hilder, Michael Saller and Darren Jensen, whose inclusion comes as a surprise following what looked to be a serious engine meltdown last weekend, loom as potential spoilers chasing a podium result with little regard for the implications it might have on the series contenders.
The Australian Lightning Sprint Championship will see a sextet of New South Wales-based competitors, including current champion Chris Davis and two-time winner Kurt Wilson, taking on a strong local contingent. Whilst the late staging of the event has perhaps reduced the interstate representation a little given that most southern venues ended their season many weeks ago, a 20-car field will fight for the right to carry #1 for the next 12 months. Beyond Davis and Wilson, there are several others who present as genuine championship contenders, including the likes of Dave Fanning, Keith Blatch, Jason Rae and Jim Kennedy, who clocked a feature race win here two weeks ago, along with southerners such as AJ McTaggart, Peter Styles and Danny Stone.
The Queensland Microsprint Championship will also be a QLD vs NSW showdown with a six-strong blues squad seeking to steal the state crown. Australian champ Shane Munro will lead the locals into battle, facing off against some strong opposition in the form of Mitch Isaacs, who finished second in the national title final, along with Ernie Havas, Jackson Isaacs, Peter Challen and Andrew Baker.
The Open Sedan Track Championship will see a Super Sedan-mounted collective comprising Wayne Kirkman, Dave Mortimer, Glenn Wilmott, Ron Hornbuckle, Matt McGee and Bob Ware fight it out for the A Division title, while the B Division will see the mighty Datsun 1600 of Josh Manser take on a slew of Falcons and Commodores from which Neil Crawford, Mark Anderson and Rachael Hawkins are expected to emerge as front runners.
If the results throughout the season are any indication, Robert Kynaston already has hand on the Track Championship trophy for Ford vs Holden vs Sigma sedans, such has been his dominance in recent months. Defending champ Michael Laver will need to work some magic if he is to upstage Kynaston, while Bernie Wright will be fighting hard to get his Sigma into victory lane.
Making their only appearance for the season, the Street Stocker field includes several drivers synonymous with the category, such as Glenn Armstrong, Robert Duncan, Shane Carlson, Paul Smith and Luke Gray, while the Junior Sedan field also includes some familiar names with Zac Brims, Hayden Brims and Jaiden Santin amongst the entries.
Gates open at 4.00pm and the action gets underway with early racing from 5.00pm. The main program, which also includes the King of the Ring and Enduro events, kicks off at 6.00pm.
East Coast Logistics Sprintcar Track Championship Grand Final nominations: Allan Woods, Andrew Corbet, Andrew Scheuerle, Anthony Lambert, Ben Hilder, Brandon Haynes, Brent Kratzmann, Brock Dean, Darren Jensen, David Whell, Jason King, Karl Hoffmans, Kevin Titman, Kristy Bonsey, Libby Ellis, Michael Saller, Mitch Gowland, Peter Lack, Randy Morgan, Scott Genrich, Sean Rose, Tim Farrell, Trent Vardy
Australian Lightning Sprint Championship nominations: AJ McTaggart, Andrew Sparks, Ben Wright, Chris Davis, Danny Stone, David Fanning, David Van Vegchel, James Kennedy, Jason George, Jason Rae, Jayden Iacono, Jim Kennedy, Keith Blatch, Kurt Wilson, Michael Gollagher, Peter Styles, Robert Holmes, Scott Jukes, Scott Moir, Tyler Stralow
Queenland Microsprint Championship nominations: Andrew Baker, Andrew Carrick, Cameron Munro, Colin Tunnah, Connor McCullough, Eddie Schwehla, Ernie Havas, Jackson Isaacs, Jason Glynn, Jason Summers, John Lawson, Matt Hanford, Mitch Isaacs, Peter Challen, Shane Munro
Open Sedan Track Championship nominations: Bob Ware, Dave Mortimer, Glenn Willmott, Matt McGee, Ron Hornbuckle, Wayne Kirkman, Peter Grey, Cloe Bennett, Haiden Grantz, John Woolf, Josh Manser, Leslie Beer, Mark Anderson, Michael Cheeseman, Neal Crawford, Rachael Hawkins, Ricky Price, Thomas Hunter
Street Stocker nominations: Adam Grill, Brock Armstrong, Brodie King, Daniel Williams, David Putsey, Glenn Armstrong, Josh Boyd, Kelli Miller, Luke Grey, Matt Weir, Nicholas Duncan, Paul Smith, Robert Duncan, Sam Bruggy, Shane Carlson
Junior Sedan nominations: Brock Youngberry, Eric Wallace, Hayden Brims, Jaiden Santin, Josh Weir, Ryley Smith, Shanae Smith, Zac Brims
Ford vs Holden vs Sigma Track Championship nominations: Aaron Wells, Bernie Wright, Dallas Dack, Daniel Wright, Maverick Dack, Michael Laver, Robert Kynaston, Travis Maher, Troy Price
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