In a spectacular finale played out before a sold out Australia Day crowd of close to 13,000 fans, McFadden reigned supreme in an absorbing 40-lap, four-way feud to claim Australian speedway racing’s most prestigious title.
McFadden, polesitter Jock Goodyer, and veteran Jamie Veal all took turns leading before American Corey Eliason made a late play for the title.
In the end, McFadden beat home Eliason and Veal, with 2023 Classic winner Brock Hallett fourth and Goodyer shuffled late to finish fifth.
McFadden celebrated his third Classic crown with a series of wild donuts, before his trademark shoey went pear-shaped in spectacular fashion.
The likeable 35-year-old was midway through drinking a beer from his race boot atop the wing, before slipping and crashing awkwardly to the ground – as the capacity crowd cheered wildly.
McFadden now joins an elite group to have won three or more Classic titles including Garry Rush, Danny Smith, Max Dumesny, Brooke Tatnell and Kerry Madsen.
“I grew up sitting over there on the hill falling in love with this race – and now to be a three-time winner I honestly can’t quite believe it,” an emotional McFadden said post-race.
“What a night for the sport, what a race. It was so intense, it was honestly wild behind the wheel. It must have been awesome to watch.
“The Classic is 52 years old and I can’t imagine a better feature than that one in the history of the event.”
Western Australian race teams took the opening two spots on the podium, with McFadden’s new Brady Racing team beating home Eliason’s Monte Motorsport.
“I needed the race to be fifty laps – ten more laps and I would have got James – we were rocketing at the end,” said World of Outlaws star Eliason.
After winning the opening night on Friday, Jamie Veal perhaps summed it up best – praising the much-maligned Premier Speedway surface.
“Hats off to the guys who put this race track together. It was awesome. There was shit going on everywhere,” Veal laughed.
The hard luck story of the race went to pre-event favourite, defending national champion Lockie McHugh.
Starting third on the grid, a steering pump failure rendered McHugh’s night over within moments of the race starting.
McHugh will defend his national crown as his focus now turns to next weekend’s Australian championships at Murray Bridge in South Australia.
Supercars star Cam Waters had an uneventful final. He started and finished 11th for Chief Racing. Waters heads for the Bathurst 12 Hour on January 31-February 2, which clashes with the national Sprintcar title.
𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 📹 The Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic finale at @SungoldStadium lived up to the hype. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/DbDXDvnqFW
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 26, 2025
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