Becoming only the second driver to score multiple Sprintcar feature race wins at Archerfield Speedway this season, Callum Walker led every lap to take out round eleven of the East Coast Logistics Track Championship on Sunday night (May 2). In what was the second consecutive round shifted to Sunday night because of inclement weather, series leader Lachlan McHugh advanced from row four to finish in second spot, with Ryan McNamara clinching the final podium position in advance of Brent Kratzmann and Richard Morgan.
In the Mainstreme Automotive Queensland Formula 500 Championship, James Kennedy surged around the outside of Liam Williams with just one lap remaining to clinch his maiden title success. Defending champion Kaydon Iverson finished in third spot, with Lachlan Caunt and Brady Argles rounding out the top five.
Steve Potts prevailed in round eight of the Shock Absorber Therapy AMCA Nationals Track Championship over Steve Price and Matt Hardy, while other feature race winners on the night were Jason Rae (Lightning Sprints), Nicholas O’Keefe (Development Sprintcars) and Bailey Leeson (Formula 500 Juniors).
For the second round in succession, Dave Fanning would emerge from qualifying with KRE Fast Time, stopping the clock at 11.435 to edge out McHugh (11.460), Tim Farrell (11.480), Cody Maroske (11.578), Brad Ayers (11.598) and Dan Murray (11.603). McNamara and Walker were next quickest, with Adam Butler and Kevin Britten rounding out the top ten. Unfortunately for Fanning, he again found himself unable to convert his qualifying speed into a strong result come feature race time.
The opening heat race saw Morgan, making a rare appearance in lieu of son Randy, pounce from the outside front row to lead Woods away and ultimately take the race. Woods remained second at the flag, leaving Andrew Corbet to fend off Butler in securing third.
An early spin from Farrell halted heat two momentarily but had little impact on the outcome with Darren Jensen winning well ahead of Kristy Bonsey and Brent Kratzmann.
Jensen doubled up to win again in heat four, a result that would catapult him into the field for the Dash. Woods and Kratzmann also replicated their earlier results in finishing second and third respectively.
Corbet clinched the final heat to also secure a spot in the Dash, leading home Bonsey and McNamara.
Brant Chandler cruised home to win the opening heat of Petzyo Development Sprintcars over Jason King and Jeremy Gaudry, while heat two produced a popular win for Libby Ellis as she relegated Chandler and King to the minor placings.
Despite offering six transfer positions into the B Main, it seemed as though nobody really wanted to win the Development Series feature race, with Chandler the first to surrender when he stopped in turn two on the opening lap and retreated to the infield, leaving King to lead the field from the restart. However, King’s victory aspirations vanished when he spun to a halt in turn four on lap four, elevating Jeremy Gaudry into the top spot upon resumption. When Gaudry emulated King and also threw away his lead with a spin in turn four on lap eight, Nicholas O’Keefe found himself in front. O’Keefe would hold steady at the front to emerge victorious over Ellis, Brad Keilar and Zac Howell, with King climbing back to be fifth at the flag and ahead of John White, James Matthews and Erin Vanderreyden, who made it back on track after a heat race crash.
Kevin Britten seemed on track for a win in the B Main, only to find himself stranded in turn four and, unable to refire the #34, forced to watch the final laps from the grass as Aaron Kelly assumed control and took the race. Having suffered an engine misfire in qualifying, Kelly struggled to make much progress from the back of the grid in the heats and subsequently found himself in no position to repeat his feature race heroics from the previous weekend. Behind Kelly came Jy Corbet and Murray, with Campbell completing the quartet of transferees into the main event.
As the top qualifier at the completion of the heats, McHugh selected an eight-car invert for the Dash, putting Walker and Maroske on the front row. The first attempted start was halted because Maroske jumped the gun and was promptly relegated to the second row for the restart. Unfortunately, Maroske got it wrong again and this time found himself out of shape at the drop of the green, leaving McHugh with nowhere go as the field scattered, putting both cars out of action. McNamara would take the race ahead of Walker, Kratzmann, Jensen, Fanning and Corbet.
Launching from the outside front row, Walker outpaced McNamara to lead the feature race from the outset, with Kratzmann slotting into third ahead of Jensen. Fanning became the first retiree when he headed infield as early as lap three. As expected, McHugh was quickly on the move and had moved to fourth when the race was halted for the first time following a spin from Jy Corbet in turn one on lap 11. With 16 laps to run, McHugh moved into third ahead of Kratzmann and was looming large behind McNamara when a tangle between Murray and Kelly in turn two halted proceedings. Murray exited the contest while Kelly, who had earlier executed a massive wheelstand along the main straight, soldiered on with a dislodged front wing. McHugh pounced immediately after the restart to depose McNamara from second and, when young Corbet spun again with nine laps remaining, there was much expectation that McHugh would continue his advance. However, Walker was not going to be denied, delivering a faultless drive to clinch his second win for the season and move into second overall in the championship standings. McNamara remained third ahead of Kratzmann, with Morgan moving ahead of Jensen to finagle fifth. Woods and Ayers were next in line ahead of Andrew Corbet, Farrell, Butler, Bonsey and Andrew Baumber, leaving Maroske and the ailing Kelly as the remaining finishers.
The opening heat in the Queensland Formula 500 Championship saw the only interstater in the field outpace the field, with NSW titleholder Lachlan Caunt leading home Kurt Wilson and defending champ Kaydon Iverson.
A terrific drive from recent Junior graduate Taylor Morgan saw her withstand the best efforts of Josh Pokarier, Kennedy and Williams to win heat two.
Williams would prevail in heat three over Iverson, with another youngster in Jared Boys finishing in third spot.
With a broken top wing bringing an early end for pole starter Boyd Chaffey in heat four, Wilson would take full advantage to secure a win over Pokarier and Brady Argles.
In a preview of what was to come in the final, Kennedy outpaced Williams to win heat five, with Iverson home in third spot.
The final heat of the night would see Ryan Newton blitz the field to finish more than four seconds clear of Nathan Mills and Bryn Upshall.
A 19-car field faced the starter for the 20-lap championship feature race and the pack had only made it as far as turn one on the opening lap when Newton spun to trigger a restart. Williams led the field away with Kennedy, Iverson and Argles in pursuit. With Williams continuing to lead Kennedy, things were getting physical back in the pack with some argy bargy involving Upshall, Wilson and Brodie Davis through turn four on lap six. A spin from Adrian Farrell with eight laps to run bunched the field to set up a grandstand finish as Kennedy closed in and launched several raids on the lead, only to be denied each time. A final stoppage came with four laps remaining when Upshall and Davis ended their scrap, and their race, with a crash in turn two that saw both cars tip over, elevating Wilson to sixth for the final sprint to the chequer. Having been squeezed for room on several previous attempts to wrest the lead, Kennedy was ultimately rewarded for his patience and perseverance when he rounded up Williams around the outside with only one lap remaining to clinch the championship, clocking the fastest lap of the race in the process. Iverson ran a lonely race in finishing third, with Caunt and Argles rounding out the first five ahead of Wilson, Newton, Chaffey and Mitchell Whittaker. The remaining finishers were Boys, Morgan, Kacy-Lee Black and Farrell, with Nathan Mills, Adrian Josefski and Joel Josefski failing to go the distance.
Steve Price was the standout in the AMCA Nationals heat races, winning the first encounter from Steve Potts and Matt Hardy before backing up to win heat two in advance of Graeme Holland and Brett Robotham to secure pole position for the feature.
The final heat saw Nathan Tomkins keep Bruce Marshall at bay to secure a win, with Michael Denning third home ahead of Hardy.
In the 20-lap Shock Absorber Therapy feature race, Potts went to the front early and remained in control through to the chequer for his fourth win of the season. Having been plagued by misfortunes in recent outings, Price finally enjoyed a night devoid of drama to secure a runner-up result, with Hardy home third in his first local outing since winning the Victorian Championship. Tomkins filled fourth ahead of Troy Price, Holland, Kevin Stow and Marshall, who was hampered by a flat left front tyre. With neither Denning nor Robotham going the distance, Rob Turner and Shane Stacey were the remaining finishers.
Scott Genrich and Tyler Stralow shared the spoils in the opening two heats of Lightning Sprint action before Jason Rae, who had really struggled to find any kind of form at Archerfield so far this season and finished more than 11 seconds off the pace in heat two, stumbled upon a winning formula that would carry him to victory in the final heat and the feature race. Stralow closed in over the closing stages in pursuit of his fourth feature race win for the season, but ultimately fell less than half a second short as Rae held on to record a result that seemed so unlikely earlier in the evening. Wayne Iacono finished a distant third, with Genrich, Scott Jukes and Wayne Jukes the best of the rest.
Heat wins in Formula 500 Juniors were shared between Tim Devine, Bailey Leeson and Chay Corbet, with the latter pair involved in a close scrap throughout the feature that ultimately fell in favour of Leeson. Charlie Bowen finished third behind Corbet, with Devine and Kinser Claridge completing the first five.
The next event at Archerfield Speedway is Saturday, May 15 featuring the Super Sedan GP53 supported by Wingless Sprints, AMCA Nationals, Compact Speedcars, Open Sedans, Modlites and Ford v Holden v Sigma sedans.
