World Series Sprintcar champion Steven Lines proved too strong for the locals when he stormed to victory in round two of the East Coast Logistics Sprintcar Track Championship at Ausdeck Archerfield Speedway on Saturday night (October 19). On a track juiced up by heavy rain earlier in the day, Lines chased Brent Kratzmann for more than 20 laps before taking the lead when Kratzmann whacked the back straight wall and exited the contest. In another breathtaking display, Luke Oldfield surged from the outside of row four to secure second spot ahead of Ryan McNamara, Aaron Kelly and Bryan Mann. 
Round two of the Shock Absorber Therapy AMCA Nationals Track Championship saw Nathan Durston prevail in the 20-lap feature race, leading home Thomas Vickery, Nathan Tomkins, Steve Potts and Northern Territorian Jacob Belcher. Other feature winners on the night were Bodie Smith (Compact Speedcars), Glenn Willmott (Open Sedans) and Hans Van Der Ryken (RSA Sedans).
Despite the inclement weather across Brisbane and surrounding areas throughout the day, the full quota of 30 nominations fronted for East Coast Logistics Sprintcar qualifying and it was Oldfield who clinched KRE Fast Time, stopping the clock at 12.277 on a heavy track, edging out Lines (12.316) and opening round winner Kevin Titman (12.456). Next best were Mitchell Gee (12.456) and Kratzmann (12.651), with Mann, Brent Aprile, Kelly, Randy Morgan and McNamara rounding out the top ten.
Toowoomba’s Scott Genrich downed Corbett and Kelly to win the opening heat, with Adam Butler continuing his strong start to the season to take out heat two in advance of Karl Hoffmans and McNamara.
Heat three saw McNamara secure a spot in the Dash when he held on to defeat Oldfield, who had surged from row four to finish well clear of third-placed Mann.
In his return to Sprintcar competition following an injury-induced layoff, Callum Walker was immediately back on the pace and charged home to win heat four over Morgan and Corbett.
Oldfield emerged as the top qualifier from the preliminaries, only to select position five in the pre-race grid draw for the Trax Tyre and Auto Dash. Having only secured a spot in the Dash as a result of a quicker qualifying lap after finishing on equal points with Aprile and Walker, it was Kratzmann who found himself elevated to pole position for the 6-lap shootout. However, it was Lines who proved too pacey from the outside front row to lead home Kratzmann, Andrew Corbet, Kelly, McNamara, Mann and Titman. Whilst everybody else seemed content to simply consolidate their position, Oldfield was focussed on moving forward and, looking to make one of his customary outside runs, he miscued in turn three and hit the wall with sufficient force to render him a spectator and confined to a fourth row start for the main event.
The B Main resulted in a good win for Sean Rose over Brett Minett, Mitch Gowland and Karl Hoffmans, with Andrew Baumber making a spectacular exit when he crashed heavily in turn four.
In a complete contrast to his opening round performance that saw him fail to qualify for the feature race, Kratzmann leapt into the lead from the outside front row to lead Lines, Kelly and Corbett through the opening laps. The order at the front remained unchanged until lap 10 when Mann moved ahead of Corbet, whose race would end somewhat ingloriously six laps later when he flipped out in turn four. With Mann also caught up in the moment and subsequently required to restart from the rear, Oldfield found himself fourth and quickly disposed of Kelly to advance into third. Despite his best efforts, Lines had made little impression on the lead with Kratzmann seemingly on track for an overdue feature win. However, exiting turn four on lap 20, Kratzmann whacked the wall, handing the lead to Lines and then heading infield a lap later. With Oldfield now occupying second spot and Aprile having disposed of Kelly for third, Lines drew upon all of his experience to keep Oldfield at bay, with just 0.178 separating the pair at the chequer. A flat tyre on the final lap sent Aprile plummeting down the order and enabled McNamara to secure his first ECL series podium. Likewise, Kelly secured his best series result in fourth place, with Mann taking advantage of a high attrition rate to climb back to fifth at the flag, followed home by Mitchell Gee and Titman, whose performance was a far cry from his opening round heroics. Butler, Gowland, Rose and Aprile were the only other finishers as Morgan, Walker, Genrich, Minett and Hoffmans joined Corbet as casualties.
Geoff Davey and Justin Snellman collected heat wins in the Petzyko Sprintacr Development Series before Davey streeted the field in the feature race to score an emphatic win. Ron Hendrickson finished second, with Snellman third ahead of Libby Ellis and Cody Reynolds.
The opening heat of AMCA Nationals was long way removed from the close racing that we typically see from the category, with Matt Hardy finishing more than 10 seconds clear of the field. Aboard the Kevin Stow #17, Steve Potts finished second ahead of Nathan Tomkins.
Heat two was a return to form with Stuart Jefferies leading all but the final few metres. Thomas Vickery occupied second spot initially before Steve Price took the position on lap four, with Nathan Durston also moving past Vickery a lap later. However, in a frantic finish, Durston would surge into second spot on lap nine before contacting Jefferies in the final turn to snatch the lead and the win. Jefferies held on to finish second, while Vickery surged again to grab third from Price.
Vickery downed Michael Denning and Graeme Holland in heat three before Durston backed up to win again in the final preliminary, downing Tony Blanch, Price and Hardy on this occasion.
The feature race proved a somewhat straightforward affair for Durston as he led Vickery through all 20 laps from pole position. Vickery occupied second spot for the duration, with Hardy giving up the chase as early as lap five. Steve Price occupied third spot until he and Blanch tangled and stopped in turn four on lap nine to bring about a restart and their banishment to the back of the field, elevating Tomkins into the top three, where he would remain until the end. Potts picked up fourth and was followed home by Belcher, with Jefferies and Troy Price next best ahead of Blanch, Brett Robotham and Jay Allen.
Bodie Smith made easy work of a small field of Compact Speedcars to win both heats and the feature race. Dave Collins set the early pace in the feature race but ultimately had no answer when rounded up by Smith, finishing second ahead of Trent Usher, Regan Payne and Rob Stewart, who threw away a top three result with a spin just three laps from home.
Wayne Kirkman won both RSA Sedan heats and was leading the feature until he spun to a halt in turn one on lap nine, taking second-placed Michael Taylor with him to hand the lead, and the win, to Hans Van Der Ryken. With both Michael and Daniel Taylor finishing on the infield, Kirkman was able to salvage a second-place finish ahead of Glen Leslie, Adrian Gorridge-Browne and Wade Baker.
Glenn Willmott outpaced a small field to win the Open Sedan feature race, downing Allan Robertson, Les Eisenmenger and Thomas Hunter.
Daniel Wright survived a Dack attack to win the Ford vs Holden vs Sigma feature, withstanding the advances Maverick Dack and Dallas Dack before evading a spinning Kim Dack in the final corner.
Ryan Newton won the opening heat of Formula 500 Juniors before Jy Corbet relegated Newton to runner-up in the remaining three heats, leaving Kinser Claridge third on each occasion.
The next event at Ausdeck Archerfield Speedway is Saturday, November 2 featuring round three of the East Coast Logistics Sprintcar Track Championship and round two of the American Tire and Racing Midget Series, plus Formula 500s, Modlites, Ford vs Holden vs Sigma sedans and Formula 500 Juniors.
Ausdeck Archerfield Speedway is proudly supported by:
Ausdeck Group
East Coast Logistics
Performance Wholesale
Queensland Speedway Spares
