An American invasion will sweep through Brisbane on Wednesday night (January 11) when five of the best Sprintcar exponents from the United States land at Archerfield Speedway to contest what has, in the wake of the two rounds scheduled for Sydney last week being washed out, become the opening round of the Speedway Australia QLD/NSW States Series. Leading the overseas invasion will be the California-based trio of Justin Sanders and brothers Carson and Cole Macedo, with a couple of Texans in Aaron Reutzel and Chase Randall also slated to take on the Queensland stars and a host of interstate hotshots in what will be the final opportunity for teams to find peak form and fine-tune their preparations for the 25th Australian Sprintcar Open to be contested over two nights on Friday and Saturday.
Both Carson Macedo and Sanders were very impressive in their Archerfield appearances last month and, with both having subsequently enjoyed further feature race success at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Speedway, they have earned the right to favouritism despite the depth of talent amongst the nominations. Of the other Americans, only Reutzel has competed at Archerfield previously, with both Cole Macedo and Randall enjoying their first foray down under. Reutzel, who has encountered some setbacks in his efforts to get to Australia this season but remains determined to make it to Brisbane and compete this week, has been a regular on the World of Outlaws trail in recent seasons and his most recent run of shows with the series netted podium results at Volusia and Bristol. He also won the 360ci Sprintcar Nationals at the famed Knoxville Raceway and scored two feature race wins and a new track record that can never be bettered during the final ever weekend of racing at I-30 Speedway in Arkansas.
Meanwhile, Cole Macedo has come to Australia fresh from winning the AFSC Sprintcar Series in a season that also saw him score his best ever result in World of Outlaws competition with a fourth-place finish on The Dirt Track at Charlotte. For his inaugural Australian campaign, Macedo has teamed up with the Tasmania-based Mozzie Motorsport operation and the team enjoyed instant success with a win at Carrick Speedway. At just 18 years of age, Chase Randall has already established a reputation as a genuine contender at the highest level of the sport. Hailing from Waco in the Lone Star State but with a racing operation based in Knoxville, Randall visited victory lane on 12 occasions during the 2022 season and has teamed with Victorian team owner Danny Mayson for his first Australian tour, a combination that has already netted a top-five result overall in the VIC/SA Speedweek Series.
The Americans will face off against many of Australia’s most accomplished competitors, including three Australian Championship winners in Brooke Tatnell, Jamie Veal and current titleholder Marcus Dumesny, along with Tasmanian gun Jock Goodyer fresh from his victory in the Speedweek Series. Tatnell is a five-time national titleholder, while Veal claimed the title in the 2020/2021 season and then finished runner-up at Archerfield last season behind Dumesny, whose stunning run to victory remains fresh in the minds of those who witnessed it and no doubt the third-generation racer will be desperate to replicate that result on Wednesday night. However, so far this season, Goodyer has been the standout performer on the national scene with consistently outstanding results across a variety of venues and he certainly possesses a strong record of success at Archerfield, including a third-place finish in the title fight behind Dumesny and Veal. Of course, Matthew Dumesny will be hell bent on upstaging his younger brother, while the likes of Steven Lines, Ian Madsen and Brock Hallett are also proven performers on the big stage who share a history of success and must be considered genuine contenders.
Of course, the biggest hurdle the star-studded field will face in their quest for victory might just be overcoming local legend Luke Oldfield, whose mastery of the Archerfield track has been remarkable again this season. For a long time now, Oldfield has been the dominant performer in Archerfield Track Championship competition and, across the five rounds contested so far this season, he has won three times and finished runner-up on the other two occasions, upstaged only by Sanders and Carson Macedo. Having regularly upstaged the best drivers from interstate and overseas, there is little doubt that Oldfield has earned the right to be regarded as one of the pre-race favourites, but he certainly isn’t the only local who will fancy their chances .Having spent his season chasing further interstate success in the wake of his victory in the 2022 Grand Annual Classic in Warrnambool, Lachlan McHugh should certainly relish a return to the track that played such a critical role in his rise through the ranks, while Jy Corbet, Ryan Newton, Randy Morgan and Taylor Prosser will all be confident of a strong showing on the back of their strong performances so far this season.
Wingless Sprint competitors have certainly jumped at the chance to be a part of the big show, with more 30 nominations secured despite the mid-week staging. So far this season, four drivers have dominated the results and all four are in the field again on Wednesday night. Jacob Jolley, Jamie Usher and Maryborough-based brothers Scott and Brody Thomsen have been the benchmark performers, with Tim Harris the only other driver to have featured on the podium so far this season. Whilst the likes of Jayden O’Toole and Andrew Robinson have proven the best of the rest, they will need to find something extra if they hope to upstage the current category hierarchy.
Pit gates open at 2.00pm, with spectator entry for online ticketholders from 3.00pm, with general general admission tickets on sale from 4.00pm Early racing will get underway from 5.00pm and the main program, which will also feature Compact Speedcars, is scheduled for a 6.00pm start.
QLD/NSW Sprintcar States Series round three nominations: Aaron Reutzel, Adam Butler, Anthony Vanderreyden, Brent Kratzmann, Brett Hobson, Brock Hallett, Brooke Tatnell, Carlo Moiola, Carson Macedo, Chase Randall, Cody O’Connell, Cole Macedo, Ian Madsen, Jack Bell, Jackson Delamont, Jamie Veal, Jared Desmares, Jayden Peacock, Jeremy Gaudry, Jock Goodyer, Justin Sanders, Jy Corbet, Karl Hoffmans, Lachlan McHugh, Libby Ellis, Luke Oldfield, Marcus Dumesny, Matthew Dumesny, Nathan Pronger, Peter Doukas, Randy Morgan, Ryan Newton, Sam Walsh, Steven Lines, Tarhlea Apelt, Taylor Prosser, Todd Hobson, Trent Vardy
Wingless Sprint nominations: Adam Hotchkis, Andrew Robinson, Andrew Seery, Anthony Joyce, Bailey Goodwin, Ben Jennings, Ben Manson, Brett Russo, Brody Thomson, Chris Catchpole, Darryl Marshall, David Sansby, Ian Milnes, Jacob Jolley, Jacob Waller, James Barton, James Grady, Jamie Usher, Jayden O’Toole, Jeremy Burt, Lachlan Robertson, Lance Dawson, Matt Brown, Mitchell Allan, Peter Granger, Scott Thomsen, Stuart Jefferies, Tim Harris, Tom Robertson, Zeth Cox
Compact Speedcar nominations: Andrew Parkes, Andrew Rooke, Brock Byrne, Chris Serle-Thrussell, Garry Thorne, Jeremy Ennever, Matt O’Neill, Mick Hunter, Mitchell Rooke, Richard Treanor, Rob Stewart, Steve Smith
Round two of the States Series will double as the 25th Australian Sprintcar Open on Friday and Saturday night (January 12/14), with further rounds at Lismore and Toowoomba respectively.
For further information and event updates, please stay tuned to Facebook or the track website at www.brisbanespeedway.com.
