SEASON OPENING SPRINTCARS AT AVALON RACEWAY

MEDIA RELEASE – AVALON RACEWAY, 11/10/08 

Sprint car action returns to Avalon Raceway this Saturday night. Photo © Corey Gibson

The long wait is over this Saturday night, October 11 when Avalon Raceway kick starts another action packed speedway season. Defending SRA Sprintcar Series and Avalon Raceway track champion Matthew Reed will be eager to continue his great form from when he was victorious during a racing stint in America during the winter. An increase in events at Avalon Raceway plus the wide spread variety at the venue will ensure Avalon Raceway will be a popular destination for both fans and racers alike this summer.

All the Victorian Sprintcar stars will be in action as Routleys Bakery proudly presents round 1 of the SRA Eureka Sprintcar Series. Eureka Garages and Sheds have increased their support ensuring the series winner will enjoy a $10,000 bonus at season end. Established stars such as Matthew Reed, Johnny Vogels and Mike Van Bremen will be hard pressed by young hard chargers Brett Milburn, Domain Ramsay, Brett Smith, Darren Mollenoyux, Harley Bishop and Tim Rankin who are all among a strong lineup.

Regulars such as Simon Amato, Rod Mathews, Charles Hunter and Carl Ludeman are also locked in for Saturday night as they prepare for a tilt at the SRA Sprintcar Series. Apart from the increase in prize money, V Moto have also come to the party this season with a brand new quad bike up for grabs to one lucky driver who finishes inside the series top 10. The format for this year’s series has also been tweaked with the most obvious adjustment being the features being extended to a lengthy 30 laps!

Standing room only crowds late last season forced the management at Avalon Raceway to expand the spectator mounds to cater for fans eager to witness a piece of the action at the popular venue. A bonus for fans this summer is the season calendar has been expanded to cater for the increased interest from divisions all wanting to compete at the 390m clay oval as Avalon Raceway’s Jeff Drew explained. 

"We have scheduled two more nights of racing for the season bringing the total number of events to seventeen and with headline events for Sprintcars, Speedcars, Super Sedans, V8 Dirt Modifieds and the newly formed Wingless Sprints throughout the year. Street Stocks, Super Rods, Modified Production Sedans, Junior Sedans, AMCA Nationals and Formula 500’s will also get multiple rounds at Avalon Raceway throughout the summer in what we think is one of the best looking schedules we have ever had." 

Drew was also quick to confirm popular events such as the Great Aussie Dunny Derby, Figure 8 racing and the Demolition Derby will all be back at various stages throughout the year. Last season Avalon Raceway boasted celebrities such as former Australian Cricket hero Merv Hughes along with plumbing funny man ‘Kenny’.
Opening night at Avalon Raceway will see the public gates open from 3pm while engine starts and hot laps will be at 6pm and as always the racing action gets underway at 7pm this Saturday night, October 11.

Admission:
Adults $25
Concession $15
Child 12-16 $10
Child 5-11 $5
Child Under 5 Free

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Wingless Sprints Race Dates Released

The interest in the 410 cubic inch V8 powered non-wing Wingless Sprints Australia (WSA) Sprintcar class continues to grow with more and more drivers committing to the class as the season approaches faster than Max Dumesny down the Warrnambool back straight.

With that in mind WSA has drawn up a ten meeting schedule with a combination of demonstration events leading up to full-on race meetings post Christmas as the anticipated car numbers continue to grow.

With the expected lead time for new entrants to build new cars for the class, which is an all new to category for Australian speedway, division owner and creator Dale Matthews has programmed a series of early demonstration runs in order to build the awareness and excitement and to allow new drivers time to become enthused and infected and to get on track.

“We know we need to allow time for teams to take to the new class and build new cars so the early events will really only be demonstration runs until the numbers start to build, hopefully by around Christmas time, and then we’ll kick off the ‘real’ race meetings.” Matthews explained after watching the WSA house car cut some more laps at Avalon with Simon Amato at the wheel.

Avalon International Raceway will be the mainstay and “home-track” of the division with four meetings programmed including the groups initial run on November 8.

Rolling Thunder Raceway will host the cars on November 15 and then in a huge contrast the teams will travel to the tight and tiny Nyora Raceway on December 27.

With the New Year will come a new attitude on January 3rd at Avalon when the action will start to become really serious.

Hamilton’s hooky quarter mile has been pencilled in for January 24th but is still to be confirmed.

Avalon will host the next pair of events on February 7th and March 27th as the momentum continues to build.

Horshams’ Blue Ribbon Raceway will play host on April 4th and the historic new class will venture to the historic old Redline Raceway Ballarat for their penultimate show on April 18th.

The final show for the inaugural season will be back at the exciting Nyora venue where the tight turns and the hooky track is sure to guarantee plenty of wheel lifting, power-down acceleration as the teams fight gravity, traction and each other in the rush towards an exciting conclusion to the first ever season of Wingless Sprints racing.

In other news for the class, the man behind the first ever Non-Wing Nationals at Laang speedway - the nationally rated Stephen Bell – has expressed a serious interest in the class and is busily looking for some support to get a full blown attempt on the track.

Additionally, former AMCA Nationals racer Mark Skidmore has sold his AMCA and purchased an ex VSC Sprintcar for his assault on the Wingless trail. Skidmore’s machine should be up and running by Christmas.

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Top-3 from Sept. 28: Jac Dolman Jr. centre (winner) flanked by second (L) Daryl Clayden and third (R)Trevor Jolly. 

NOS Sprintcars Results
28 September 2008
Ellenbrook Speedway, AU

A Main Feature Race: 1st Jac Dolman Jr,. 2nd Daryl Clayden, 3rd Trevor Jolly, 4th Gary Walsh, 5th Ryan Condren, 6th Tom Bovell, DNF: Justin Clayden, Merv Lowther, Craig Bottrell, Ben Migro. 

Farr Wins Comp Cams Season Opener
Sunday September 28, 2008.

NSW driver Robbie Farr outpaced a strong Qld contingent to win the opening Round of the 2008/09 Comp Cams Series at Titan Garages Brisbane International Speedway on September 27, leading all thirty laps of the Feature event to take the chequers ahead of Bryan Mann and Andrew Scheuerle. James McFadden and Tony Wynne completed the top five finishers.

In front of a big crowd on hand for the traditional season opening event, Farr was in a class of his own in the Feature, winning the start over Mann and quickly settling into his rhythm before posting the fastest lap of the race mid-way through the race on lap fifteen. With Farr in front and opening a sizeable lead on the field, the battle for the minors between Mann, Scheuerle, James McFadden and Todd Wanless became the focus of the race. 

Firstly McFadden and then Scheuerle did their best to unseat Mann from the second spot with Wanless just behind, McFadden getting back to third on lap twelve and falling to fifth four laps later. McFadden passed Wanless back for fourth on lap twenty-three with Wanless falling out of contention and dropping a number of spots a few laps later after nearly spinning in turn three, the former Series Champion clawing his way back to sixth at the flag. 

Peter Lack, Pete Thorley, Allan Woods and Dan Murray rounded out the top ten at the flag, with Kevin Titman and Wayne Lemon the only other drivers to complete the thirty laps. Stewart Craig, Darrell Hodges and Bruce Marshall all failed to finish, as did Richard Morgan who flipped on lap eleven to bring out the only red light of the race.

Andrew Scheuerle opened the night with a stunning 11.214 second lap of the 1/4 mile Speedway to set Fast Time, just edging out Todd Wanless who posted a just as impressive 11.262 second lap. Scheuerle's time is a new track record and has him in the box seat already for the J&L Hardie Enterprises $1500 Contingency Award for the fastest lap of the Series this season. Ben Wright, subbing once again for Garry Brazier in the #95 Motorguard Maxim, was third quick with 11.356 seconds before his night came to a premature end after steering failure got him into the turn three wall on his final lap of the session.

In other racing on the night, Mark Robinson made it a NSW double with victory in the Dirt Modified Feature event. Robinson won easily from Darren Latimer and Simon Jupe, Lattimer getting the upper hand after a race long battle between these two drivers. Pre-race favourite Luke Oldfield finished sixth.

Comp Cams A-Main Top Five: Robbie Farr, Bryan Mann, Andrew Scheuerle, James McFadden, Tony Wynne

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TEO STRIKES IN BRISBANE AS ROBINSON RACES TO VICTORY

Brisbane, Australia – September 27, 2008 – By Ben Graham, Dirt Modifieds Australia Media Liaison

Mark Robinson steered his Valvoline-backed Teo entry to victory in the season opener at the Brisbane International Speedway on Saturday night (Sept 27), a repeat of his opening night victory at the same venue 12 months prior.

With all three major North American chassis manufacturers, Teo, Bicknell & Troyer, now represented in Australia, the battle between these companies ‘down under’ will be one that is watched closely both here and in the North-east corner of the USA.

After two heat race wins, Simon Jupe started his newly imported Troyer entry on pole for the 20-lap Feature event. However it was fellow front-row starter Darren Latimer who got the jump at the drop of the green flag, with a committed outside manoeuvre through turns one and two.

Robinson had his hands full battling with the Bicknell-shod Ray Klarich before securing the third spot, with the Latimer-Jupe-Robinson & Klarich quartet establishing a handy buffer over the field in the early going. Fellow Troyer runner Peter Britten was running strongly in fifth in the early stages, while the Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil-backed Luke Oldfield was battling mid-pack after starting the main event from the fourth row.

Jupe had his number 49 machine glued to the low line and despite several attempts wasn’t able to sneak past Latimer for the lead. Jupe’s battle with Latimer allowed Robinson to close right in, moving past Jupe and into second midway through the main event.

Latimer’s stranglehold on the lead was erased with a huge bicycle coming out of turn three, with Robinson surging underneath the temporarily two-wheeled Latimer. Once into the race lead, Robinson drove away from the field, racing to a commanding victory.

With Robinson racing away, the battle was for the minors, with Latimer & Jupe engaged in a torrid battle for the remaining podium positions.  Klarich appeared comfortable in fourth, with Britten, Oldfield & Muller all vying for a top-five spot.

Oldfield & Muller moved past Britten in the closing stages, but it was too little, too late, with Robinson recording a strong victory over the hard charging Latimer and Jupe. Ray Klarich & Luke Oldfield rounded out the top five.

It was a solid first event of the season for the Queensland V8 Dirt Modified contingent, with the feature event and four preliminary heat races all running uninterrupted, with not a single stoppage the entire night.

Also of note were the new drivers in attendance, with Murray Walker taking the wheel of the ex-Bruce Kiehne owned entry, while Rob Hamilton had his first competitive outing aboard the former TMI Engineering entry of reigning Australian Champ Tim Morse. Congratulations also to Lance Towns, who wheeled out a spectacular looking entry backed by Krispy Kreme Donuts.

V8 Dirt Modifieds return to the Brisbane International Speedway on October 18.

Feature Event- 20 Laps: 1st Mark Robinson, 2nd Darren Latimer, 3rd Simon Jupe, 4th Ray Klarich, 5th Luke Oldfield, 6th Keith Muller, 7th Peter Britten, 8th David Clark, 9th Rob Hamilton, 10th Murray Walker, DNF: Lance Towns, Ricka Groom.

For more information on V8 Dirt Modified racing in Australia, visit http://www.v8dirtmodifieds.com.au/

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Stellar Field Of Nominations For Comp Cams 1
Thursday September 25, 2008.

The 2008/09 Comp Cams Series gets underway this Saturday night September 27 at Titan Garages Brisbane International Speedway (BIS), and has attracted a stellar field of thirty-two drivers all looking for victory in the opening Round.

The list of nominations is headed by Robbie Farr from NSW, now in his second year with the East Coast Pipelines team and just back from racing in the USA, and 2008 Qld Champion Pete Thorley who will be looking to go one better in the Series this time around after finishing runner-up to Cameron Gessner last season. 

It is arguably one of the toughest fields ever assembled for a Comp Cams Round in Brisbane with Andew Scheuerle, Todd Wanless, Darrell Hodges, James McFadden, Peter Lack, Terry Bracken, Darren Jensen, Bryan Mann, Ben Wright and Allan Woods also listed among the nominations. Lack, Mann and Bracken have all tasted victory already this season with wins in Cairns, Mackay and Rockhampton respectively, while McFadden won the Pre-liminary Feature on the first night of the Mackay event.

Comp Cams Round 1 Nominations: 

Adrian O'Connell, Allan Woods, Andrew Scheuerle, Anthony Lambert, Ben Wright, Bruce Marshall, Bryan Mann, Clem Hoffman, Cory Gay, Dan Murray, Darrell Hodges, Darren Jensen, Darren Silcock, James McFadden, Jason Bottin, Kevin Titman, Mark Pholi, Pete Thorley, Peter Lack, Richard Morgan, Robbie Farr, Scott Baker, Shane Heathcote, Steve Wright, Steven White, Stewart Craig, Terry Bracken, Tim Garrett, Todd Wanless, Tony Wynne, Troy Coomber, Wayne Lemon.

Event Information:

Date: Saturday September 27 2008
Venue: Titan Garages Brisbane International Speedway (BIS)
Location: 63 Colebard Street West, Archerfield, Queensland

Adults: $27.00
Students & Pensioners (with Photo ID): $22.00
Kids: 13 - 15 yrs: $15.00, Kids: 3 - 12 yrs: $10.00
Family Passes: $65.00 (2 adults + 2 kids 12yrs or under) 

Pit gates open 2:30pm, main gates 3:30pm.
Early racing from approx. 4:45pm, main program from 6:00pm.
Parking is available at the track for $3.00. Racing finishes by 10.30pm.

Programmed events include: Monster Trucks, Fireworks, Rollover Cars, 410ci Sprintcars, V8 Dirt Modifieds, ASCF Junior Sedans, Ford v Holden Sedans and Brisbane Sedans.

Event general admission and pit gate tickets for the event are only available at the Speedway on race day. Race day information, including track weather updates, is available by calling the Speedway Infoline on (07) 3277 7745. 

Preferred accommodation packages for this event are available at Robertson Gardens Comfort Inn and Suites - robertsongardens.com.au.

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Max Dumesny Takes NSW Sprintcar Title
Saturday, 20 September 2008
By Dennis Newlyn 

Max Dumesny took out the 51st running of the New South Wales Sprintcar Championship, 24 years after scoring his only previous state title victory.

Max led flag-to-flag on a dry, slick track despite a number of yellow light periods throughout the event.

Trevor Green took second placing for the third consecutive title and the fourth time in his career. West Aussie Ryan Farrell drove a great race into third placing after battling his way through the field. Farrell figured in exciting dices with Garry Brazier and fellow West Aussie Ken Sartori before he claimed third spot on the podium.

The win by Dumesny was meritorious after a dramatic incident last week at Mackay Speedway, Queensland, almost completely destroyed a brand new car. Crew chief “Mouse” Green worked around the clock repairing the extensive damage sustained to Dumesny’s brand new Valvoline Maxim. 

Midway through last week the car was “in a million pieces” after Max’s #5 car was hit from behind when the throttle on another competitor’s sprintcar stuck open. Dumesny took the full brunt of the impact that meant many hours work in the garage during the following week.

“It was an endurance event with all the yellows and it was not until the last six laps of the race that I thought I had it won,” Max said moments after his NSW Champinoship victory. 

“I knew then that we would not get into lapped traffic and the other guys could not get an advantage,” he added.

The early laps were hectic and exciting after Dumesny blasted to a 15-car length lead in the opening three circuits. Green followed in second, while Sartori was third and Brazier commanded fourth.

Brazier tried the high line early, but this manoeuvre momentarily cost him a position as Lawes slipped through on the inside. 

The first yellow light of the race came out when Allan Woods spun in turn three after four laps. At the time of the yellow Green was right on Dumesny’s tail and hounded the triple national champion.

The green came out, but was immediately followed by another yellow after Todd Wanless spun in turns one and two and also brought down David Doherty and James Thompson. Brazier was impressive before the Wanless spin as he raced straight to the top of the track and challenged Green and Sartori before the yellow appeared. He had to do it all again at the next restart which lasted less than a lap after Ian Madsen was left stranded off turn two and another yellow was thrown with 28 laps remaining.

With 15 of the 35 laps completed another yellow light occurred after Mark Blyton came to a halt. At this point in the race officials called for a fuel-stop in view of the number of laps run under the yellow caution light.

The top ten standings were: Max Dumesny, Trevor Green, Ken Sartori, Garry Brazier, Ryan Farrell, Ian Loudoun, Martin Lawes, Grant Tunks, Kelly Linigen and Damian Abbott. 

Brazier made the best of the restart and, on the high line, raced up beside Sartori. The two ran wheel-to-wheel before Brazier gained the advantage and moved into third. At this point another yellow was thrown courtesy of a spin by Doherty.

When the race returned to green again Sartori and Farrell continued their battle and this time Farrell got the advantage and moved underneath his fellow statesman and took over fourth before another yellow was thrown after a Loudoun spin. 

The green light was thrown again and Brazier made a lung at Green but could not pull off a pass. This allowed Farrell up on the inside of both Green and Brazier. The trio ran in close formation in a great battle for the minor placings as Dumesny ran untroubled out front, while Abbott brought out the yellow.

Farrell moved into third at the restart before the yellow light appeared again for a spin in turn two by Abbott. 

Dumesny maintained his advantage in the last six laps of the race and crossed the line a worthy winner of the time-honoured state title. Green picked up yet another runner-up finish, while Farrell was third. The top ten were rounded out by Sartori, Brazier, Martin Lawes, Grant Tunks, Mitchell Dumesny, Todd Wanless and Dave Lambert.

Tunks took out the opening sprintcar heat of the night. Tunks went straight to the lead at the drop of the flag and despite strong pressure from Lawes, held on for a good win.

Brazier was the big mover in this heat as he came from the back of the field with an impressive drive into third position at the chequered flag.

Ian Madsen was a flag-to-flag winner in the second heat, though most impressive in the early laps was WA’s Farrell commanded second placing after a big dive under Mick Turner coming out of turn four in the early laps.

Green was also on the pace early and moved into third as the top three – Madsen, Farrell, Green – remained unchanged over the eight lap distance. Turner was shown the noise flag in the latter stages of the race.

Loudoun was a clear cut winner of the third heat after he trailed Queenslander Allan Woods in the early stages of the race. Loudoun, fresh from a racing stint in Darwin and America, was in superb touch in his first competitive outing back at TPCR and never gave the opposition a look-in. Woods was an impressive second, while Damian Abbott was third. 

Sammy Walsh was shown the noise flag while holding down fifth.

Kelly Linigen scored a first up win driving for her new team – the Aussie Fork Lift Repairs outfit – when she took out heat four.

Linigen ran down race leader Jeremy Cross in the first half of the race. She made her winning move coming off turn four and took a superb inside pass on the main straight for the race lead. Cross held on for second, while former National Champion Todd Wanless drove strongly from the back into third placing.

Max Dumesny earned pole position in the 35-lap NSW Sprintcar Championship after a good win in the first dash. At the start of the race it was Sartori and Brazier who battled for the lead through turns one and two as they moved to the high line. Dumesny took advantage of the opening on the inside and raced into the lead.
Sartori held on for second, while Brazier took third at the flag.

Ian Madsen brought on the yellow lights after only one lap of the second dash when he slid off the lip of the circuit and came to a half in the main straight. At the complete restart Green made light work of his upfront starting spot and led throughout the event, however interest in this race centred on the battle between Wanless and Mitchell Dumesny for fourth and fifth positions.

Dumesny ran the high line and Wanless the low as they raced side-by-side for much of the distance. Meanwhile Green was followed to the chequered flag by Lawes and Farrell. 

Gavin Black was an early casualty of the B-Main after he tangled with Jeff Lawler on the back straight.

When the race settled down, Wayne Skipper established a comfortable lead over David Doherty and Mark Blyton before Peter Gordon brought on the yellow lights after he spun coming of turn two. 

When the race returned to green, Skipper maintained his advantage, however attention turned to Doherty and Blyton who were locked in a thrilling battle for the minor placings.

On several occasions Blyton moved up on the inside of Doherty but could not pull off a pass. Their battle was interrupted when the yellow light was displayed following a noise violation by Walsh. 

At the resumption, Skipper kept up the pace and ultimately took out the event from Doherty and Blyton, while Ian Burrows was the fourth qualifier to the main event after he finished fourth in the B-Main

Daniel Gaudry dominated the fender bender events with heat and main event wins.

Laurence Chant took full advantage of starting from the pole position and raced to victory in the AMCA main event.

He was chased throughout the race by Stu Robinson who at one point almost took over the front running from Chant in an enthralling dice at the head of the field.

Lapped traffic played a vital part late in the event, however Chant negotiated his way through the traffic and raced to the chequered flag ahead of Robinson and John Upston who held down the third position throughout the event. 

Nathan Disney scored a good win in the opening heat. Meanwhile, Scott McPherson figured in an exciting battle in the second late model sedan heat. The two ran in close formation throughout the race before McPherson took the win. McPherson led all the way in a strong performance. 

An uneventful late model sedan feature was won by Nathan Disney who maintained his advantage at the head of the field throughout the race. 

Darryl Grimson put on a show as he hounded second-placed McPherson. Grimson ran the high line laps after lap before he made a pass stick late in the race to clinch the runner-up finish to Disney, while McPherson was third.

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Strong Field Set Sights On Nsw Title
Friday, 19 September 2008 by Dennis Newlyn

The season-opening 51st running of the NSW Sprintcar Championship at Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway on Saturday, September 20 promises to be one of the most keenly contested titles in years.

A red-hot field has been assembled for the time-honoured event with drivers from Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland set to challenge the awesome Parramatta Posse.

Defending titleholder Garry Brazier will drive his father’s #21 team car as he attempts to win his third consecutive crown and the fifth overall in his career.

Brazier called into the Raceway during the week to check out the track alterations and liked what he saw.

“The extra room makes for a fast racetrack and it will certainly be a tough title to win with such a good field entered,” Brazier said.

Brazier is one of three former national titleholders entered for the state title, with Todd Wanless and Max Dumesny also on hand.

The interstate representation also consists of Trevor Green (South Australia), Ryan Farrell (WA), Ken Sartori (WA), Domain Ramsay (Victoria) plus Todd Wanless and Allan Woods (Queensland).

Ian Loudoun, who on Thursday was special guest on the Fox Sports “Long Lunch” show as part of a preview of the championship, returns to TPCR after a recent racing stint in Darwin and the USA.

He and Bevelite Glass team driver Adrian Maher contested six shows in the Northern Territory and both drivers enter the title race fit.

Marty Perovich has given the all clear following his big crash at the venue during last Saturday night’s practice and has prepared his backup car for the championship.

“I am ok and ready to go. I have always wanted to win the state title, but after what happened last weekend I am more determined than ever to win the race,” Perovich said yesterday.

Kelly Linigen will make her debut driving for the Aussie Fork Lift Repairs team that also includes Damian Abbott.

“We made a few changes to the car after last week’s practice,” she said.

“I am looking forward to running for a new team, but at the same time it also signals the end of an era after driving for my mum and dad since the start of my career.”

Ian Madsen, Grant Tunks, Roddy Bell-Bowen, James Thompson, Mitchell Dumesny, David Doherty, Dave Lambert and Wayne Skipper are also included in the full strength local line-up.

Late Model Sedans, AMCA Nationals and Fender Benders are the supports for TPCR’s season opener.

Public entrance gates open at 4:30PM, Sprintcar qualifying starts at 6PM and first race is set for 7PM.

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Mark Robinson in his TEO Pro Car in Australia. Photo © Ben Graham 

ROOSTERS CUP SCHEDULE SET; TOMKINS & PHELPS TO COMPETE
Brisbane, Australia- September 10, 2008- By Ben Graham, Dirt Modifieds Australia Media Liaison

The hugely successful Roosters Cup V8 Dirt Modified Series returns for its third running this coming season, with a new major sponsor, and not one, but TWO leading Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series drivers set to take part.

This season’s Roosters Cup Series will be contested across three rounds, kicking off at the Maryborough Speedway (QLD) on January 31, followed just two weeks later by Round Two at Charlton Speedway in Toowoomba (QLD), with the grand final to be contested at the Lismore Speedway (NSW) on March 28.

Quantum Racing Industries have stepped up their support of V8 Dirt Modifieds in Queensland by coming on board as major sponsor of the Roosters Cup, joining long-time supporters Golden Cockerel, Super Rooster and Ian Boettcher Race Parts.

“The calendar is pretty packed this season so we’re only running the Roosters Cup across three rounds” confirmed Series organiser Ray Klarich. “I think we have got the formula right with the pointscore, so guys are going to have to be on their game for every lap across the three rounds if they want to be there at the end”.
The biggest news however is that two of the three rounds will see a visiting American driver take on the locals, giving the Roosters Cup somewhat of an international flavour.

“Jimmy Phelps will be racing in Round One at Maryborough and Gary Tomkins will be here for Round Two” confirmed Klarich. “We couldn’t make it work to have both guys here at once, so this is the next best outcome. Gary put on a hell of a show last season when he was out here and I expect both guys will be just as exciting this season”.

2008/09 ROOSTERS CUP SCHEDULE
RD 1 Maryborough Speedway  31 January 2009
RD 2 Charlton Speedway Toowoomba  14 February 2009
RD 3  Lismore Speedway   28 March 2009

http://www.roosterscup.com.au/

For further information on V8 Dirt Modifieds in Australia, please visit:
http://www.v8dirtmodifieds.com.au/

http://www.roosterscup.com.au/
 
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Grafton Speedway unveils 2008-2009 season schedule

The proposed dates have been released for 08-09 Season at Grafton Speedway.

Unless advised differently, gates will open at 3 with racing from 6.

Unless advised differently, prices will be Adults $24, Family $59, Concession $18, Under 5 Free, 5-12 $7, 13-15 $12.

All nights will feature Juniors, 4 Cylinders, Stockers, Streeters, Limited Sedans and Limited Sprinters.

Each night will also have a feature Division/s. These will comprise of V8 Dirt Modifieds, Sprintcars, Speedcars, AMCA's, Formula 500s, and others.

We look forward to bringing you an exciting season.

4th October

8th Nov

3rd Jan

31st Jan

28th Feb

21st Mar

10th April

23rd May

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Wingless Sprints Australia breaks cover

Following a renewed advertising campaign in the speedway industry’s media outlets promoting the long anticipated new class, the Wingless Sprints Australia (WSA) house car finally made its track debut at Avalon International Raceway recently (August 17).

The Dale Matthews owned 410 cubic inch “crate” engined JEI was given a serious shakedown by its “big show” pilot, four times V8 Dirt Modified Australian Champion Tim Morse. Three time Victorian SDAV Hot Rod Champion Shaun Walsh also assisted with driving duties in the cars initial runs.

After Walsh had warmed everything up Morse was strapped in and within half a lap was hard on the gas blasting the V8 beast around the confines of the unprepared track surface in a quickest time of 13.8 seconds. Morse, watched on by his mentor and father John, gave the assembled observers a real taste of what this class will provide in terms of spectacle and entertainment as he inadvertently pulled a huge spectacular wheel-stand coming off turn two at one stage while carrying the left front wheel on numerous occasions.

After making some minor set-up and gearing adjustments Morse put the car through some more testing before handing the machine back to Walsh for some further testing.

Morse was impressed with the new machine stating in his usual laconic style “They’re going to be pretty exciting things to drive.”

“They’re fairly unstable without the wing or opposed to the modified with the body like I’m used to driving. They’re going to make pretty exciting racing I think.” Morse continued. “Given a few meetings and a bit of tweaking there’ll be probably another half a second or more in them yet.”

“The shorter wheel base (than the modified) makes them a little more twitchy but you don’t really notice that because it’s in proportion with the whole car, I think the thing they’ll struggle with will be on a hooky track – there’ll be a few of them on their roofs I think.” Morse said laughingly. “They respond well to changes, you can definitely feel it.”

“I’m really looking forward to getting out there. If you start a heat race with twelve of these things you’ll definitely know what’s going on and if you get a hooky track and get out there on the fence it will be really good.” Morse concluded.

When Morse is not in the cockpit, Triple Victorian SDAV Hot Rod Champion Shaun Walsh and Victorian Street Stock Champion Justin “Chicken Man” Sadler will take care of the driving duties.

“I was very happy with the way the car went for its first time out.” Stated category owner and mastermind Dale Matthews. “To do a 13.8 second lap on a track that hasn’t been prepared at all for us is very good.”

“The response to this concept has been very positive with the phone ringing from all over the country, and if the comments of those here today are anything to go by it’s going to be a great spectacle and the crowd are going to love them.” Mathews continued. “At this stage we will have a definite eight rounds during our inaugural season with four of them right here at Avalon and one at Horsham. There are plenty of other tracks that definitely want to run us but I am being very careful not to do too much too soon.”

The intention of the new class is to have everyone running the restricted “crate” 410ci engines (at a cost of $16,500 including GST) by 2012. however, in the meantime, addressing the needs of many former and current Winged Sprintcar competitors, Matthews has also allowed rev-limited 372ci open engines to compete, boosting both competitor numbers and giving many drivers and car owners a cost effective and competitive venue for their existing cars and engines.

Former Super Rod and Winged Sprintcar racer David Magilton was also at the test session with his hybrid 372 cubic inch car.

“I was never going to buy a 410ci “open” race motor to continue in the winged Sprintcar ranks so we were basically retired, so after some discussions with Dale (Matthews) we were invited to convert our current car to the new specs.” Reasoned Magilton. “We’re now looking forward to going out there and having some fun. These things are a lot more fun than a winged car.”

The conversion was simply a matter of removing the wings, installing the rev limiter and restrictor donuts and bolting on the right compound tyre. It is that easy.

Magilton expects his car to be competitive with the class spec engine and concedes that a similarly compliant 360ci engine could also be a factor.

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