THE Sonic Speedway roars to life this Saturday and Sunday with the running of the Standard Sedans state title, the Jordy Davis hot rod memorial and the return of the popular V8 trucks.
Fifty-three Standard Sedans will contest the state titles, with former VIC 1 titleholders Shane Stewart, Craig Templeton, Glen Pendlebury and Warwick Howie out to claim another title, along with multiple VIC 1 winner Scott Whittle.
Further competition is expected to come from Josh Thomas, Jack Yeomans, Aaron Meakins, Bradley Hill, Paul Domburg and Jake Vuillermin, who have all previously placed at the state titles in the past.
Other contenders for the title include experienced drivers Jeff Blencowe, Robin Randell, Adam Wharton, Mitchell Blencoe, Matt Domburg and local Josh Campbell, who are all expected to be in with a good shot at victory, as well as recent winners Henry Cecil, who won at Swan Hill’s last meeting, Rick Stowe (Hamilton) and Dean Peterson (Daylesford).
SDAV Hot Rods will contest the Jordy Davis Memorial, after Jordy raced in the juniors and hot rods here in Swan Hill.
Shannon Meakins will be hard to beat, although his wife Kali will be out to claim bragging rights and is expected to push him all the way.
Tony Green and Phil Jenkins are experienced drivers and should be there at the finish, while Neil Sixtus hopes to have overcome recent mechanical troubles.
Allan Borrodale will be hoping to beat his cousin Butch, who is having his first start for the season, but is always competitive, with Greg Knight and his son Stewart competing in their first season, with the pair keen to beat each other home.
Brendan Roberts, Andrew Kemp and Daniel Chesterfield round out the field and although all are fairly new to the class, they are also showing rapid improvement and will be pushing the leading drivers.
The V8 trucks also make a welcome return to the track, with Luke James expected to start favourite and should prove hard to beat.
Jaryd Carman and Fletcher Mills are both experienced and competitive, while Dean Thomas returns after a couple of seasons off, with the trio expected to keep James on his game.
Tim Driller is having his first run for the season and with a new engine, could surprise, as could Belinda Taylor, who also has a new engine, while Cody Bell is having his first race in a truck, which will be a bit different to the 3-litre car he used to race.
Divisional two racers will be a mixture of experienced and new racers, with Trent Wilson, who is an ex VIC 2 and SA 3 and also holds the track record at Bairnsdale, the one to beat.
Robert Tatterson is very experienced and looms as Wilson’s main competition, while Aaron Laidlaw ran second at Bairnsdale last week and is capable of an upset.
Jordan Van Dyk, Beau Stuchbery and Chris Greavers are new to this class and will be keen to improve, while junior driver Jack Mills has won here previously, with Libby Ahern also finishing on the podium at our last meeting after her pit crew repaired her car after a big crash earlier in the night.
Good luck to all drivers over the two days of racing, with the action to get underway from 6pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
