The 44th running of the Scardifield’s Smash Repairs King of Wings was historic in two ways, providing the closest ever finish, while also crowning a three-time consecutive champion for the first time.
It was a patient drive from an in-form Kingshott, with multiple stoppages making it a stop-start affair.
While always in touch with the lead group, it was veteran Kerry Madsen that controlled much of the race and led at each of the many restarts.
But after the last restart, with 12 laps to go, Madsen quickly became vulnerable to Australian Sprintcar champion James McFadden.
They spent several laps locked in battle, before Kingshott snuck up on them both and drove between the two of them to claim the lead with three laps to run.
As Madsen quickly dropped back it became a two-way fight between Kingshott and McFadden, which ultimately boiled down to a drag race to the finish line.
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Kingshott just got there in a photo finish, the margin just 0.01s, to become the first driver to ever win three King of Wings titles on the bounce and bank the $10,000 cheque for victory.
“Honestly, I’m crook as a dog today,” said Kingshott. “I couldn’t even breathe properly, my visor was fogging up.
“I knew I we were ripping, we had a good race car there for the last 10 laps. I was just trying to survive. At some point I realise I was pulling these guys in and I thought we’ll tuck into the side and have a crack here.
“It’s pretty cool, pretty surreal. I’m gobsmacked to just win one race here, let alone three King of Wings in a row.”
Callum Williamson fought back to finish third, his early charge at cruelled by an intermittent misfire, forcing a recovery drive to end up on the podium.
Ryan Newton finished a remarkable fourth after some early issues while Madsen slipped back to fifth, although still banked $3000 for leading at the mid-race mandatory stoppage.
Jy Corbet finished sixth ahead of Daniel Harding, Taylor Milling, Luke Oldfield and Brad Maiolo.
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