AJ Nash will seek to best a thirty-car field in tonight’s 2020 WA Sprintcar Championship at The Perth Motorplex.
The 22-year-old third generation racer faces a tough line-up of cars in his quest to turn around a slow start to the season and claim a title that his family have been chasing for longer than he’s been alive.
Nash’s grandfather, a legendary West Aussie driver from the 70s and 80s, came perilously close to State title honours but was never able to close the deal.
Known to fans and rivals as ‘Des J’ Nash, he placed third on three occasions in the time-honoured affair and came closest in 1987-88 with a runner-up finish.
More than two decades on, grandson AJ will compete in both the 360ci and Open State titles this Saturday night at the Motorplex and hope to go one better than his grandfather.
He’s already claimed a WA 360ci Championship having done so in 2018 but a win or even a top five finish in the Open title has so far eluded him.
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“The best I’ve finished is ninth, we’ll need to improve on that a lot this weekend and I feel that we can do that,” Nash concedes.
Nash will be a busy boy running the Colonial Motorsports #9 in both classes – a challenge that not many of his rivals would attempt to pull off.
Winner of last year’s of the WA Sprintcar Championship, Kerry Madsen, will not be competing as he’s still based in the USA but rookie Dayne Kingshott will be wheeling the Krikke Motorsport #2 as the team attempts a rare hat-trick.
Kingshott has been consistent and improving in his first outings in the car but the pressure won’t be applied for the State title victory this early by KMS team principal Ryan Krikke.
“We’re happy with Dayne’s improvement in the car and he’s learning each time we go out. A top five is possible but we’re not expecting a win from him just yet,” says Krikke.
Pre-race favourites include current season A-Main winners Jason Kendrick, Callum Williamson and current Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series leader James Inglis.
Myalup’s Brad Maiolo has been one of the fastest cars this season but has yet to convert that pace to a main event win.
David Priolo, 2009 WA Champion, has yet to show the potential of his new relationship with the Diamond Bay Motorsport team, Shaun Bradford returns with the potential to win at will and Kris Coyle, Taylor Milling and Daniel Harding are also possible victors.
This weekend also doubles as The General John Day Speedcar Classic that honours the memory of arguably Australian Speedway’s greatest ever flagman and starter.
Odds-on favourite will be Tom Payet, who looks to win an incredible four main events in a row so far in 2020/2021.
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