SONIC Speedway has had to cancel tomorrow night’s meeting due to a lack of nominations as the meeting was clashing with various other events.
A short turnaround time for several damaged cars from last Thursday’s meeting also limited entries.
Last Thursday, however, gave the crowd plenty of action with three rollovers, plenty of sideways driving and some very fast, close action for the first meeting of the new season.
Almost 30 sports sedans faced the starter for the first round of their series, with all drivers competing in three heats being before the final.
Jai Nicholaison looked to be the hot favourite heading into the final notching up two heat wins and a second place finish, however Dale Smith (two heat wins), Troy Glassborow (one heat win, 3rd and 4th) and Jaime Paull (one heat win, 3rd and 2nd) would not make his job easy, and were hot on his heels.
In the end, Jai Nicholaison continued his hot form to take the win in the final with Dillon Taylor, Robert Garlic, Troy Glassborow and Nathan Fawns rounding out the top five.
Thanks to the Sporties for producing an entertaining round of racing, and good luck for the rest of your series.
A dozen Street Stocks clashed for the Mallee Masters Title, with drivers having changeable luck throughout the night, with many drivers failing to finish all of their heats, however they all lined up for the final.
Morris Ahern failed to finish the first heat, however bounced back to win the next two heats, AJ Lawrence also had a win and a second place finish, whilst Jayden Blomley (5th and 2nd), Paul Domburg (two 3rds) and Bradley Dixon (8th, 5th and 6th) were all strong chances for the win in the final.
However, Morris Ahern drove away with the win and greeted the chequered flag first ahead of Jayden Blomeley and Paul Domburg with Wade Fell and Mitch Viney rounding out the top five.
The next generation of drivers were able to show off their potential, with seven junior drivers hitting the track with all of them showing great examples of good solid racing throughout the night.
Connor Claridge who had notched up a win and a second place finish was looking competitive, but he then had to pass the car back to a more senior family member so they could compete in the Sporties.
Rhys Meakins, who was a pre-meeting favourite to dominate, had some trouble early on, with him failing to finish the first heat, which gave Hunter Carey and Riley Balins plenty of incentive to force him into a mistake in the final.
But Meakins experience led him to the win in the final ahead of Hunter Carey and Riley Balins, with Blake Adam and Kalani Garlick finishing fourth and fifth following a great scrap throughout the race.
Well done to Rebecca Johnstone who drove carefully and held her line all night to come home sixth in the final.
After bad luck plagued a lot of our local drivers in Standard Saloons last year, they were hoping for a reverse of fortune, however it seemed that it still lingered striking a few drivers on the night.
Josh Campbell did not finish the first heat but was able to line up for the final, but Clude Pearson was not as lucky after he remodelled the front end of his car and subsequently missed the final.
Tom Lambert, Kiel Tripconey and adopted local Trevor Evans all posted a heat win, so the final was wide open for the taking.
In the end, Trevor Evans crossed the line first ahead of Kiel Tripconey, Tom Lambert and Josh Campbell.
Sporting a bright pink helmet, Jess Bedggood started her Formula 500 season with a heat win ahead of her father Neil who blew a motor.
The mechanical problems also struck down Chris Conlon who had been looking strong with a win and third place finish before he also found issues.
Damien McKenzie overcame a bad first heat to notch up a third place finish as well as a heat win whilst Jamie Crabbe also bounced back from a bad start finishing second heading into the final.
In the final, Jamie Crabbe suffered a roll-over which ended his chances of victory, with Damien McKenzie taking the win ahead of Jess Bedggood.
With another six cars in all states of readiness, the future of this class is very interested with entertaining racing sure to continue in the future.
Racing returns on February 12 with Super Sedans.
