Edition 24 by Brett Swanson

ISSUE

24 2019

SUPER SEDANS SPRINTCARS SPEEDCARS

152

Pages

Who is Highline Magazine Editor: Brett Swanson Artist/Layout; Andy Ticehurst Contributors; Kaylene Oliver, Grant Woodhams, Andy Ticehurst. Photographers: Brett Swanson – Pirate Media Kieran Swanson – Pirate Media Andy Ticehurst – Andy Ticehurst Media Brett Williams – Lone Wolf Photography Rachel Cooper - Inaction Photos Leigh Reynolds - Inaction Photos Geoff Gracie (SA) Wayne Martin (WA)

www.HighlineMagazine.com.au

Cover – Main. It’s an old shot but worth a run – Harley Bishop in the Ray Maloney V17 is a blur of speed down the front straight of Heartland Raceway, Moama from 2008. Pirate Media Group photo. Cover Bottom – A selection of Picko‘s photos from Murray Bridge featuring Late model action, Robbie Farr in the Sprintcar and Clayton Pyne celebrating the Late Model feature win. 2

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Kurt Kranitis’ destroyed Super Sedan sits

s forlornly on the Heartland Infield while the race goes on around it. Shayne Wright Photo.

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Editorial Welcome to edition 24. The Art of Speedway As a largely photo based publication, Highline magazine would like to congratulate Sydney photographer Gavin Skene for winning the Speedway Australia (SA) Photographer of the year. Gavin is a truly “Artistic” photographer who’s always looking for that different angle or light scenario rather than just the pure “racing” photos and thoroughly deserves the award. Some of his stunning work can be viewed at www.theartofspeedway.com (p.s. a free plug’s got to be worth a pic or two for use in Highline doesn’t it Gav?) While on the subject of SA, apparently Highline Magazine was nominated for an award but we have no idea what category it was for or how we fared and we don’t ever really expect to win anything due to our, at times, controversial reporting of issues that may embarrass or annoy some of the decision makers at SA, stories such as the Australian residency for Sprintcar Titles or Traction control issues for example. Speaking of award winning photographers, once again we have some beautiful, creative shots from Murray Bridge master snapper Steven “Picko” Pickering, Kiwi James Selwyn and a photographers’ insight and view of shooting a national title courtesy of Shayne Wright.

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PIRATES POINT OF VIEW

Classic Sponsor locks in. We’ve also had a recent illuminating conversation with Premier Speedway General Manager David Mills about a positing we had on the 50th Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic that is still a few years away. Mills highlighted the behind the scenes efforts that it takes to put up extra prize-money for anniversary or land-mark events. Let’s just says it goes way beyond the title sponsor throwing in some extra dollars to the winner as the club then has to work hard to find the cash to pad out the prize money right through the pay-out structure.

Win the race, own the speedway. The former Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota has had a troubled history recently since the change of ownership and name to Badlands Speedway. A legislative change to pay day lending in the state of South Dakota had a severe impact on new owner Chuck Brennan’s core businesses and his grand dreams for Badlands were suddenly inadvertently affected after already spending a large amount of money on venue improvements.

Brennan has tried to sell the 70 acre facility but based on his funds injection has asked a price beyond that which anybody was Mills was also quick to gratefully confirm that South West Convey- willing to pay. The track officially ancing have signed on to contin- closed its gates on May 18, 2017 ue the title sponsorship of Austral- and has remained for sale ever since. ia’s premier Sprintcar event, the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic, At the end of 2018, Brennan said until at least 2022. that if the track was not sold then he would demolish the speedIn a most exciting development way. (Really! And then how would for the club, South West Conveyancing Owner Operator Tania he recoup his investment for 70 acres of farm land? - ED) Jasper has put pen to paper to confirm her involvement until Former dirt track owner, Steve 2022, which will include the 50th Rubin stepped in to save the running of the time honoured track. Brennan delayed the event. demolition while Rubin gathered financing. There was a deadline

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in place, that was extended. Then, the extended deadline also passed. After several months, Brennan did not hear from Rubin. Now, Brennan has a brand new bold plan to unload the speedway… ‘The Race’ at Huset’s Speedway In an interesting twist, the track will now be handed to the sprint car driver that wins ‘The Race’. That victory will include the 70+ acres of land, the track, the buildings, the lights, the name, the website and the billboards. If the winner does not want the track, they will be given the option of a $3,600,000 cash bounty. “The most epic race in US Dirt Racing History is happening in Brandon, SD right after the Knoxville Nationals! The Legendary Huset’s Speedway is hosting THE Race which boasts most likely the largest racing purse ever in the history of United States Racing,” the website reads. The entry fee for the event will sit at $200,000 (per car). On Tuesday, August 13, 2019 THE Race will take place at the Legendary Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, SD. The race will feature 410 Winged Sprint Cars from all across the country. 6

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There will be a minimum of 18 cars and a maximum of 36 cars. The race will follow the standard World of Outlaws rules for specs and technical inspection. The entry fee for each car will be a non-refundable $200,000.

PIRATES POINT OF VIEW

time. This race will happen if we get to a minimum of 18 cars,” Brennan concluded. This will be done on a first-comefirst-serve basis only! In the unlikely circumstance we do not hit the 18 participant number, then the race will simply not happen and the funds will be immediately returned. Anyone entering AFTER the registration deadline would have to pay a $75,000 late entry fee if there are still any slots left. The first 12 teams to sign up will also receive a VIP suite for their guests at the race with a retail value of $20,000 to include 20 tickets, the suite, food and beverages. “I’ve had the 70+ acre venue on the market for over a year at $9,450,000 and it’s not sold yet,” said track owner Chuck Brennan. “We thought this would be an amazing way to find a new owner for the track and hold the biggest Sprint Car race ever at the same

The winner of the race will win the track OR the $3,600,000 cash bounty. Second place wins $200,000. Third & Fourth place both win $100,000

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The winner will have the option to keep the track or take the $3,600,000 cash bounty. It’s completely up to them! Before you reach for the calculator, 18 cars by $200,000 equals the first place prize money of $3.6 million. If the event does in fact happen and draws more than 18 cars, then the rest, apart from the $300,000 for 2nd, 3rd and 4th is profit not counting ticket sales, concessions etc. All this suggests that in reality the entire venue is probably worth around $3.6 million, not the $9.5 million Brennan has been asking. No matter what it’s a unique concept. Whether it actually gets off the ground is yet to be seen. Scott Bugucki’s double. Still in South Dakota, Aussie racer Scott Bogucki has scored his second ASCS National Championship win of the season recently.

the path of Hafertepe who rolled. John Carney II later stuck his nose in front briefly but the South Australian was able to momentum his way back to the lead and the win. Bogucki had also won the previous night at Brown County Speedway and was sitting 3rd in the Championship chase after the weekend. All Star Ohio Speedweek No-one could ever say the Tony Stewart owned All Star Circuit of Champions don’t do their utmost to give the fans the annual Ohio Speedweek.

Weather has wreaked havoc in the Buckeye State, but the All Stars and the track promoters have gone above Bogucki swept the Black Hills and beyond to Speedway event, and the weekend, give the fans a in his Sawblade.com #28 after tak- series. ing the lead from the start. Triple and defending series champion The freak Kyle Sam Hafertepe Jr launched an atLarson got tempt at the lead which saw Bothings started gucki tangle with the lapped car of off with the win Ryan Bickett in his desperation to at Attica Raceway, an event that hold the lead. Bickett was bumped also included Aussies Allan Woods, up track by the Aussie, straight into Stuart Williams and Darren Molle8

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PIRATES POINT OF VIEW

noyux. The next event at Eldora was brought forward to an earlier afternoon starting time but the rain arrived ahead of the earlier start time.

Atomic speedway was the next scheduled stop but when that was cancelled early, you guessed it, Wayne County jumped in and it was defending series champion Aaron Reutzel who scored the win.

Off to Muskingham and Dale Blaney The recently returned to dirt Mansscored his first speedweek win for field was the next event not to hapthree years. pen and then Limaland also cancelled the following night. The next event was scheduled for Wayne County but was called off Atomic, who’d missed their show a early. few days previously took over for Limaland and while they didn’t get Sharon was up next but if that was rained out they only got two heats in before the meeting was cancelled due to a frightening incident that saw Brinton Marvels car leave the track and hit the grandstand injuring a spectator. Vision of the wreck can be found on Facebook.

cancelled Wayne County were willing to jump in. Neither happened.

The final event was back at Wayne County and here young Californian and former Aussie Tourist Buddy Kofoid took the win and the bonus $10,000. Blaney’s podium finish saw him win his sixth speedweek championship equalling the number of All Stars Championships he’s won. Rusty Hickman was also in action but didn’t get beyond the C-Main. Until next time..

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Walters finally realises full potential in N

ictorian Kye Walters won the Speedway Sedans Australia, Ian Boettcher Race Parts, Adam Holt Industries, National Modified Sedan Title at the IBRP Kingaroy Speedway.

In a great race which had only two stoppages, defending champion, Cameron Waters would start on the front row with Brodie Boss, while Aidan Raymont and Brock Atkins would start on the second row. Waters got the best of the start, before Boss took the lead on lap three, 10

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National Modified Production Sedan Title. with the pair joined by Aidan Raymont in a three way battle. Raymont moved to second on lap four, as the trio continued the battle for the lead in a great battle as Kye Walters joined Brock Atkins in the battle for fourth. Boss and Raymont started to move away from Waters, who then was joined by Atkins and Walters. For the next ten laps Boss and Raymont /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

were separated by a car length in a classic race, as Boss suffered an issue with a spark plug, but Boss was not slowing down, with Aidan Raymont trying everything to pass Boss. A stoppage on lap seventeen saw the demise of Tim Weir and Brett Barron, as the field regrouped. The stoppage allowed Walters to immediately pounce, moving to second place, as the defending champion retired on lap seventeen.

out, to go on and win his first National Title, after finishing second last year. Aidan Raymont who was third last season would finish a gallant second while Mark Raymont would finish on the podium for the first time, a distant third, just ahead of Brodie Boss who did not put a foot wrong all weekend. Josh Crang, in just his second National Modified Sedan Title would finish fifth, while David Smith, who won the event in 2012 would finish sixth.

Walters ascension to the lead was complete on lap twenty-one, as Boss succumbed to Aidan Raymonts continual attempts to pass in a thrilling race for the lead. Walters had a lead of 2.108 seconds with fourteen laps remaining, while Raymont, Boss, Mark Raymont and Brock Atkins were separated by just 0.387, as the race was brought under caution for the second and final time, which saw the demise of Brody Chrystie.

Earlier, one of the best B Mains in history was conducted with nine drivers fighting for the lead throughout the twenty lap event. Just 1.293 seconds separated the top eight, with Tim Weir passing numerous cars on the outside in the concluding stages to win from Kent Shelford, Rodney Burr and David Smith, while Adam Jorgensen and Jamie OMeara advanced to the B Main, after finishing first and second respectively in the C Main.

On the resultant restart, Aidan Raymont did not allow Kye Walters to get away, as the pair opened a gap on the remainder of the field as Mark Raymont moved to third place at the expense of Brodie Boss.

The event was witnessed by a near capacity crowd at the showground venue, while a new record audience watch the live streaming coverage. A Main, 40 Laps: Unofficial Result 1. V86 Kye Walters, 2. Q38 Aidan Walters would be hounded by Aidan Raymont, 3. Q27 Mark Raymont, Raymont throughout the final ten 4. Q82 Brodie Boss, 5. Q23 Josh laps, but Walters was able to hold a Crang, 6. V29 David Smith, 7. V57 two car length advantage through- Ashley Parkinson, 8. N37 Greg 12

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Worling, 9. N36 David Jacobi, 10. Q121 Johnno Collins, 11. V172 Martin Hawson, 12. V81 Rodney Burr, 13. Q21 Kent Shelford (39 laps), 14. Q33 Glenn Pagel (39), 15. V43 Brock Atkins (36), 16. V92 Brody Chrystie (26), 17. A1 Cameron Waters (18), 18. Q58 Tim Weir (17), 19. Q48 Brett Barron (16), 20. V83 Bryan Galley (9). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.931, Fastest Lap: 16.730 Q38 Aidan Raymont B Main, 20 Laps: 1. Q58 Tim Weir, 2. Q21 Kent Shelford, 3. V81 Rodney Burr, 4. V29 David Smith, 5. Q19 Wayne Gilroy, 6. V64 Wade McCarthy, 7. Q51 Tony Coomber, 8. Q54 Michael Shelford, 9. Q55 Josh Harm, 10. Q72 Shane Langton, 11. W132 Mick Johnson, 12. Q26 Jamie OMeara, 13. Q35 Kent Menzies (5 laps), 14. Q9 Rodney Pammenter (5), 15. Q44 Ashley Barron (5), 16. Q25 Adam Jorgensen, 17. V41 Brad Warren (3). DNS: Q93 Jason Beer. Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.177, Fastest Lap: 16.725 Q51 Tony Coomber. C Main, 19 Laps: 1. Q25 Adam Jorgensen, 2. Q26 Jamie OMeara, 3. W74 Allan Mortimer, 4. Q84 David Head, 5. Q16 Jim Cowley, 6. Q71 Steve Jordan, 7. Q75 Myles Gilroy, 8. Q5 Corey Stein (16 laps), 9. Q22 Jack Cameron (15), 10. Q28 Hayden Stephensen (14), 11. Q62 Mark Carlin (9), 12. Q99 Sean Black (3), 13. Q78 Peter Gray, 14. Q2 Shannon Blackburn (3), 15. Q89 TJ Horne (3), 16. Q111 Peter White (2), 17. ACT3 Greg Stevenson (0), 18. Q68 Gary Pagel (0). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 2.768, Fastest Lap: 16.488 Q62 Mark Carlin.

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SYDNEY CITY 50-LAPPER

PICKENS WINS BUT SMEE STEALS SHOW...

PICKENS BECOMES MOST SUCCESSFUL SYDNEY CITY 50-LAPPER DRIVER WITH HISTORIC 6TH CAREER WIN

superstar Michael Pickens and the Sirrom Racing #71 team were jubilant victors in the Seamount Racing Sydney City Speedcar 50-lapper, the unofficial Tran-Tasman competition, at Valvoline Raceway.

he’d never be caught.

Pickens pocketed a cool $13,200 for the Sirrom Racing #71 King chassis counting the bonus lap leader monies and along the way became the most successful driver in the Valvoline Raceway 50-lapper with an unmatched six career victories.

He moved the Wollongong Spares GRD remarkably into the lead on lap 39 after an outside pass on Pickens that ignited the partisan Aussie crowd but a perfectly executed slide job in turn one on lap 47 by Pickens re-established his ascendency. Smee desperately tried to reclaim the lead spot in turn one shortly after but slipped over the cushion and dropped out of podium contention after a truly herculean drive for the five-times winner.

The superstar Kiwi began the main event from the ninth row of the 12 row grid and quickly established a lead after taking over from early leaders Jayden Worthington, Adam Wallis then Seamount Racing’s Scott Farmer. Farmer led from laps six to eleven before Pickens took over on lap 12 and looked like 14

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Sydney’s Nathan Smee had other ideas however after coming from the back of the B-Main, then starting from the very last position in the AMain.

“We were tied on five wins each and I wanted to be the first to get six,” Smee told a Highline magazine representative after his storming run.

Pickens flashed across the line to win from the man who started alongside him - Newcastle’s Matt Smith - in second place and flying Kiwi Leon Burgess in third.

Official A-Main placings were: 1. Michael Pickens NZ (started 18) 2. Matt Brown AUS(started 17) 3. Leon Burgess NZ (started 9) 4. Hayden Williams NZ (started 14) 5. Nathan Smee AUS (started 24 - back “What a way to finish the season,” Pick- of B) ens grinned, “I can’t thank Brett and 6. Dayne Kingshott AUS (started 12) Chris Morris enough for the opportunity 7. Peter Hunnibell NZ (started 4) to run their car, crew chief Justin Ins8. Kaidon Brown AUS (started 19) ley and Steve Warrington for lending a 9. Tom Payet AUS (started 5 - came back hand, we had an absolute rocket ship in from ROF) the A-Main tonight. We started from grid 10. Adam Clarke AUS (started 13) 18 and hit the front reasonably quickly, 11. Alex Bright USA (started 16) then led most of the race. Things got 12. Scott Farmer NZ (started 8) exciting towards the end with Nathan 13. Michael Stewart AUS (started 15) Smee passing us for the lead but we 14. Adam Wallis AUS (started 6) got the lead back with a few laps to go, 15. Hayden Guptill NZ (started 11) what a finish!” 16. Dean Meadows AUS (started 2) 17. Braydan Willmington AUS (started Kiwi Hayden Williams was fourth with 22) Smee finishing fifth ahead of Australian 18. Robert Heard AUS (started 7) champion Dayne Kingshott in sixth, Pe- 19. Taylor Clarke NZ (started 20) ter Hunnibell in seventh, Kaidon Brown 20. Jayden Worthington NZ (started 1) eighth, Tom Payet in ninth and Adam 21. Troy Jenkins AUS (started 23) Clarke rounding out the ten. 22. Harley Smee AUS (started 21) 23. Dan Biner AUS (first reserve) 24. Matt Jackson AUS (started 10) /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Steven Lines in the Brian Hall WA3 was a surprise winner of the USC round at Warrnambool recently. What’s so surprising about Lines winning, right? The reason it was surprising was that James McFadden in the Monte WA17 was lead o

Kiwi James Earl in the borrowed Gary Hudson Speedcar after he blew up his o 16ship. James Selwyn Photo. HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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ding all feature long until inexplicable spinning out of the lead a short distance from the chequered flag handing the win to Lines. Lines luck however, deserted him at the same venue a couple of weeks later in the Victorian Champi-

own engine during hot laps the week prior for the NSW Speedcar Champion/HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wreck.

Steven Lines in the Brian Hall WA3 was a surprise winner of the USC round at Warrnambool recently. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so surprising about Lines winning, right? The reason it was surprising was that James McFadden in the Monte WA17 was lead o

The Devlins from Dream Media use some well-worn technology to snap a selfi

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fie with American Ace Alex Bright. James Selwyn Photo.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wreck.

Legendary talking head Brian Van Der Wakka works away totally oblivious to th

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he cars being push started over his shoulder. James Selwyn Photo.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wreck.

5 of the best, well 5 of the Kiwi cars at least, take advantage of the on-site gara

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ing all feature long until inexplicable spinning out of the lead a short distance from the chequered flag handing the win to Lines. Lines luck however, deserted him at the same venue a couple of weeks later in the Victorian Champi-

ages, James Selwyn Photo.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

You need a big lead foot to drive a midget/speedcar fast and it seems that you 24speedway family. James Selwyn Photo. HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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ung Harley Smee has all those attributes that seem to run so deep through this /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

American Alex Bright looks on as Selwyn snaps this great shot of Bright’s car ow 26 HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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wner â&#x20AC;&#x153;Graham Jonesâ&#x20AC;? tribute helmet. Nice touch Brighty. James Selwyn Photo.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Typical top shelf Trans-Tasman speedcar racing. James Selwyn Photo.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wreck.

Eventual winner Michael Pickens put huge pressure on Robert Heard in Norm

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Mooreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s SA57 and Kiwi Scott Farmer. James Selwyn Photo.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wreck.

This is part of the reason Nathan Smee (14) had to come through from the B-M 32racing. James Selwyn Photo. HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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Main to the temporary lead â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an accident with Brad Mosen in the NZ2 in heat /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

It doesn’t look too good for Bradley Harrison who would score zero points. Jam

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mes Selwyn Photo.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Matt Jackson cant beleive what he just saw. James Selwyn Photo.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wreck.

Plenty of action going on in this shot, both on the ground and in the sky. Jame

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es Selwyn Photo.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wreck.

A proud bunch of New Zealanders stand while just out of shot the Hakka is per

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rformed. James Selwyn Photo.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

How’s this for a talented bunch of International stars. Michael Stewart (51), Am 42close proximity. James Selwyn Photo. HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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merican Alex Bright (WA4), Kaidon Brown (V97) and Braydan Willmington all in /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wreck.

Matt Smith (Aus), Michael Pickens (NZ) and Leon Burgess (NZ) are all smiles 44James Selwyn Photo. HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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as they consider what theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll spend their share of the winnings on. /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

PHOTOGRAPHY LESSION 101

T H RO UG H T H E LEN SE Article by Shayne Wright

A father brings his young teen to a regional speedway for the first time. As they enter the Wagga arena side-by-side, the roar of V8s and the smell of methanol assault the teen’s senses; forever burning a lasting memory into his psyche. Fast forward ~30 years…

That same father & son, the teen now grown into a father

Camera Gear: Pre-race in the pits • Canon 6d Mk1 • 24-105mm F4 • 70-200mm F4 Mk1 Racing • Canon 6d Mk1 • 70-200mm F4 Mk1 Post- race awards • Canon 6d Mk1 • 24-105mm F4 • 430 EXII Speedlite Back up gear • Canon 600D • 55-250mm F4-5.6

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himself, steps into another regional speedway. Heartland opens her doors, unlocking old memories whilst making new ones. The father takes a seat at the top of turn one, the location recommended by his son as the place he takes his own family now. Picking up a camera, the son bids a fond farewell before stepping across the safety barriers and onto the

track to photograph his first ever Super Sedan National title. In a step away from the race blow-by-blow format, we are going to have a look behind the action from behind the lens. Come with me and get a feel for what hap-

pens not only for a title race but for every speedway photograph you see. Day 1 – Practice (Thu) The 3-day festival of racing kicks off with all the formalities normally hidden from

the public. A major scrutineering effort by the official Speedway inspection teams runs through most of the afternoon. With the national title at stake, checks are by the book and a large number of cars are returned to the teams

with modification notices. A regular race night is normally compacted with multiple activities occurring simultaneously. This restricts photographers to capturing the ‘sweet spot moments’ but on a three-day

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event, the schedule opens right up.

need.

The scrutineering is held within a service shed were the roar of race engines in confined spaces

The atmosphere is upbeat and social. People are smiling as the checks are run and you can feel the excitement building.

forces the officials to scream to each other or wait for shut down. With the change in lighting and range, I set up shop in a corner to change lenses; a short 24~105mm provides the width of angle I

Later in the day, all the checks are complete and the teams hit the track for a 2 hour window. A rare opportunity, a chance to try different photography techniques

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is just too good to pass up. Having eyed off the flag tower for the last few races, I take the chance to try out a new vantage point. With race lens on, a 70~200mm, I perch myself above the start/finish line and hang out the side in search of a new angle. Tracking cars as they remain perpendicular to the camera is the key to producing shots that provide the illusion of speed. Shots at 1/100s freeze the chassis whilst tyres and background blur in motion. Super Sedans, at full tilt, hit the Heartland turns at up to 130~140km/hr before rapidly decelerating into a bone jarring power slide of about 80~90 km/ hr. Tracking cars from right to left over a typical night, results in close to a 1000 twists; a great work out but extremely tiring. Up in the flag box, the cars are powering out of turn 4 and laying on the gas, accelerating rapidly up the straight. My photographic window is about two seconds to

either prepare a focus trap, a preset focal point that is burst captured as a car moves through the position, or try a track and find out if my AI auto-focus is fast enough. The focus trap does work but it restricts me to a pre-set position on the track where as the AI focus allows my shot to vary under acceleration restrictions; if the car is moving to fast towards me, the camera canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t keep up. With the technique testing completed pending results checks that night, I move back into my favourite location of turn 3 / 4 and settle in for some twisting, pan shots. With everyone shaking out the bugs, a swath of threewheeled action ensues for the next 45 minutes. With 600 shots on my card for the afternoon, I head home to begin post-processing for the evening social media releases. After

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an hourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drive from Echuca back to Bendigo and a quick two hours of post processing, a limited release of around 20 shots hit the media circuit.

ily centred teams and everyone has a story or two behind the car. Adding colour to their per-

Day 2 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Heats Back in the saddle, we hit the pits around 3pm for a 6pm race start. With a large selection of close up pit shots completed the day before, it is straight on with the long racing lens. The hunt for candid shots from a distance is on. The key being to capture crew and spectators having a good time whilst being close enough to produce a shot that captures every emotion but not so close as to intrude on their activities unless invited in. The Stock Production Sedans are the support class for the entire event. A lot of them are fam-

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sonal racing history, the ups and downs of being involved in a national title fills a few more pages within their collective story book. Whether it be that lost nut a whole family spends 30 minutes looking for, the huge roll over

or the thrill of a big crowd; they will all walk away saying ‘I was there…at the 2019 National title

and I raced!’. The drivers brief gets called over the pit speakers and I shift gears from out-door vehicles to indoor candid portraitures. A totally different photography skills-set but

time restrictions are in place so the same hardware must be repurposed. A quick check of lighting conditions and I flick through some manual camera adjustments before hitting the driver’s throng. Ducking out to the in-field, the crowd has filled in the venue and it looks like a good crowd; bigger than usual. Keeping in mind that the majority of spectators probably travel 100~150km one way on average, it is a fair haul of attendees. With such a big event, another photographer is joining me inside the dirt circle. Being Louise (Lou) Napiers’ first time at Heartland, I spend some time bringing her up to speed with how the track runs, safety and the better locations for shooting conditions once the sun goes down. During the pre-race, we quickly thrash out a plan to maximise coverage

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whilst working in with the Ash media crew whom are broadcasting video coverage live across the web.

500. I will go higher ISO later in the evening, but I am looking for

With the Ambulance on station and safety crew mobilised in the middle, you can feel the ground beginning to buzz. My recon during practice revealed that the full field parade will require a short, wide lens to capture the entire straight. So I change over lenses again, not wanting to pull out a back up camera unless something breaks. With the trusty 24~105mm on, I leg it up to turn 1 to capture the field. Callum Harper leads the pack as defending champion; with diminishing light, my camera options are limited and closing out pretty quickly. I opt to focus on the lead car and forced to trade off a large aperture of F4 to keep my ISO down below

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a smooth, wide view and with limited time I grab some trusted settings. With the pack captured, both Lou and I reset our gear and head for our respective first locations. Lou

heads for the flag tower I experimented with yesterday whilst I

set up on turn 3 / 4. Whilst the sun is out, even fading at dusk, this corner produces a strong light for clean shooting unlike turn 1 which is straight into the sun.

The support class, production sedans, are first out to help pack the track. Revelling in the wide track, they get to, sliding their way through the loose turns. They put on a great warm up heat or two, the camera loves the loose mud action and it gives me a chance to warm up my core for a night of panning. By the time they finish their opening heats, the track is packed at least three lanes wide for their bigger brethren. With the light dimming, the ISO starts to climb, quickly hitting ISO 3200. just as the fantastic track lighting starts to kick in to produce sweet spots that bring it back down to 1600. Despite the field of seasoned drivers, the action starts early! Perhaps the adrenalin of a National title even overwhelms the most experienced of drivers?

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The track is fast and gets wider by the lap. Drivers hustle hard and it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take long for the nudges to become full blown shoves. Cars start coming off the track left, right, and centre. It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take long until one comes flying infield, causing me to back up quickly. The rest of the night, I am compelled to photograph with one eye on the eye piece and the other on the track lest I become a hood ornament. Talk amongst the ground crew located in the centre, drifts towards the quality of racing and how the track looks to be holding up as the night continues with ferocious racing. The final heat of the evening is held for the Super Sedans as the finale is handled by the Stock Productions. Following the aggressive form to the fatal complete, the last race has a competitor showing signs of high

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intestinal fortitude for a heat win. All the signs are there, the

car will either grab that position or come-a-gutsa trying; I reset my camera for faster action and accept the increase in ISO will produce a grainer photo. I track the red #5 for four consecutive laps before lucky number

five strikes home. As the front right digs in, I start my pan and

Â˝ rotations then slamming back onto the track. Simultaneously, the car expends all her energy as my camera shutter falls silent with a full buffer of a dozen shots. Safety crew race in to check the driver, ambo in close follow up. In quick time, the driver emerges shaken but walking away to a round of cheers of relief from the crowd.

hit the burst fire. Momentum is transferred from horizontal to vertical as the car flips sideways. The crunching impact further translates the car up onto her nose, ripping the right tyre assembly free in the transition before pirouetting on its nose for 1

With the first night of racing captured, the lights dim and shut down around the track. Back into the car, I head for home. For an hour, the aches start to set in as we cool down. It may be approaching midnight, but a speedway photographersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; night is not over yet. Firing up the PC, I upload around 1500 photographs. Cherry pick a handful, process them and push them out into the internet for the track publicity campaign. Some are reposted immediately whilst

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others will be picked up in the morning, all pushing both race team and public energy levels higher for the coming final event. Finally, I shut everything down and hit bed around 1am. Day 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The title The big day arrives with a predeparture check of the gear. As expected, the lenses are filthy with dust and track grime; a deep clean and polish chews up 30 minutes. Once completed, my camera backpack is re-assembled with new hearing protection buds thrown in for good measure. Around lunch we hit the Bendigo â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Echuca highway for the 75min run up to Heartland. The previously carnival atmosphere of yesterday has been tempered with the crew realisation of just how much damage was sustained to cars. The

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subsequent late night repairs, including at least one team that worked right through the night to complete an engine change-over! Lou and I meet in the pits around 3pm to discuss the days plan of attack. Another two photographers and a drone operations team have come out of the woodwork for the final day. We soon establish that it looks like they will be doing their own things so we swap lessons learnt from the previous day; angles that work,

lighting gaps, public engagement and working in with the video crew. Lou darts down the pits, looking for more candid team shots whilst I get a nod from David Roberts, the facility owner. He hauls me aside to the scrutineering shed and quietly reveals the title trophies; a grin from ear to ear. We grab some â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;behind the scenesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; shots before throwing them back under wraps to await the big reveal. The clock speeds towards the 5pm drivers brief and the call goes out. The riot act is read to the drivers and discussions held over the previous days driving

tactics. Some mumble whilst others chuckle however overall, everyone listens. At the closure of the brief, including the unveiling of the mega-trophies up for grabs plus a healthy reminder of the prestige and prize purse, I dropped to a knee in order to refit my race lens before heading onto the track. As I pass through the pit lane and start down the slippery slope that forms the track, the crowd noise starts to strike home. With an hour to go till racing starts, the crowd is already at least double the size of a regular event. With the final preparations in hand, the pit noise is rising to compete with the crowd. The random rumble of V8s firing up for a revving before shutting down becomes the normal background noise. Keeping an eye open for unique pre-race opportunities, I note that a crowd of drivers are starting to inspect the edge of

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the track. A pit portrait in the making, I pause to take a series of shots capturing a jovial moment between competitors. With the start of the nightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s formalities pushed through at 6pm, the super sedans form up for a four wide parade. The sight is just fantastic! From turn 1 back to turn 4, the entire straight is wallto-wall race cars from all across the country. Using a wide lens, I capture the scene. From directly beside me, all the way back down the straight and the far corner is full of cars and a handful are still up in turn 3. With the crowd cheering their enthusiasm, I shoot over to the top of turn 1 / 2 for a set of unique shots. Before racing begins, a few announcements are to be made so I dart over to my gear and fit a flash. The twilight time can play havoc with a rapid drop in lighting over a 10 minute window, shots can become unusable. Acknowledgments and awards are

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handed out; including Victorian Super Sedan sponsorship of the event and Juryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Motorsport gets best presented car. With formalities over, another lens change and the night begins in earnest. For the next 4 hours, an infield ballet is conducted between the media in all their forms. Taking preferred positions whilst avoiding obstruction of each other. The racing is not quiet as aggressive as the previous night and the track has sustained form; a credit to Bill Elvey and his team of track maintainers. Very quickly, the field widens out to four lanes and solid racing takes off. The night progress with substantially less incidents than Day 1 and the final race is on before I know it. With the major feature, the extra race length and field size means I very quickly loose track of the leaders. The roar of the V8s muffled through my hearing protection, drown out the

commentary. I track the field for position battles, seeking to capture the emotion of the event for both driver and spectator alike. The flag falls white then chequered, a new Australian champion is crowned. A few shots of Matty Pascoe holding the flag aloft during a victory lap and it is time to grab a flash for the presentations. The media jostle a bit for a few key shots but for the most part everyone plays nicely; all the drivers are happy to work with me to capture the closing moments. Close up, you can see that all the teams are excited and exhausted after three daysâ&#x20AC;Ś Formal duties over, the crowd starts to exit, cars leave the field and I round up my gear. As I start to leave the infield, track lights being turned out behind me by

the crew as I leave, the physicality of the past three days sinks in; 42K steps or around 31km walked (thanks fitbit), probably in excess of 2000 torso twists during panning, 600km of driving and an additional 40 hours of postprocessing of photographs all in the pursuit of capturing ~3400 photographs of one of the best speedway title race meetings in Australia! Overall, a hugely rewarding three days full of both personal and professional memories. Thanks to all involved; be it track crew, management, racing teams, media and even the anonymous faces in the crowd but my biggest thanks is reserved for my father, taking time for that first race, building inter-generational memories and instilling in me a love of speedway.

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Fire Suppressio n Systems for Di n o i t c e t o r P d e t a v i t c A r Driv e

Engine Bay, Fuel Ta

Cal l Tony Dun n: 0404 60

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007 768

irt Late Model & Dirt Modifieds

ank & Driver Cabinn ce

Al l At O

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Broken Hill’s Brendan Guerin (96) runs under Brendan Quinn in the annual Alls Photo by Snapperific. 62 HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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star Sprintcars Tyson Perez Memorial at Mt Gambierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Borderline Speedway. /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wreck.

Ben Gartner runs his 360 through turn 1-2 in the Perez Memorial. Photo by Sn

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napperific.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wreck.

Local lad Scott Enderl came up short of a podium in the Perez Memorial on his

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s home track. Photo by Snapperific.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Adelaide’s Brad Keller was subbed into the Sa16 of Jack Gartner and clearly w 68the track. Photo by Snapperific. HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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was paying for the tyres he used as he tries his best to keep most of them off /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Perez podium – L-R Brendan Guerin (2nd), Luke Dillon (1st) and Daniel Evans 70Photo by Snapperific. HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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s (3rd) and winner of the best presented podium placegetter. /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Nigel Reichstein (14) and Scott Mason go at it in the MJS Street Stock Series G

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Grand Final at Murray Bridge Speedway (MBS). Pickoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Photos.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

More MJS finals action with Haydon Jolly (59), James Jamieson (11) and Ben

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Whithead three wide through pits bend. Pickoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Photos.

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

‘ 76Mt Gambier’s Anthony Beare basks in the glory of yet another Street Stock fea HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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ature win. Pickoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Photos.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Fiona Verhoeven peddles her Late Model around MBS in the late afternoon sun

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nshine. Pickoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Photos.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Our youngest ever National Speedcar Champion Kaidon Brown backs the fam

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mily owned V97 into the MBS turn. Pickoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Photos.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Take a close look at the photo and you’ll notice that even driver Luke Dillon is k this great Picko photo. 82 HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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keeping a close eye on a possible meeting with the unyielding concrete wall in /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Newcastle’s (NSW) race Nathan Disney doesn’t travel too far from home gene 84Oliver (S31) in the clearly ex Paul Stubber Late Model. Picko’s Photos. HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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erally but he made this long trek south west to MBS as he runs inside Roger /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

A couple of interstaters in Speedcar action with New South Wales’ Matt Jackso 86Jack Berry Q29. Picko’s Photo’s. HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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on driving the Tim Fisher owned V23 and Novacastrian Adam Clarke in the /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

According to the green light in the background, shouldn’t Darryl Grimson (12), 88Picko’s Photo’s. HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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Ryan Alexander (36) and David Doherty (N25) be gong in the other direction? /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

USC Ultimate Challenge finale class feature winners Matt Egel (SPrintcars), Ka

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aidon Brown (Speedcars) and Clayton Pyne (Late Models). Pickoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Photoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Charity event 65 Roses (for Cystic Fibrosis) for Formula 500’s sees Ross Mille 92Picko’s Photo’s. HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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er (24), Jordan Mansell (12) and Chris Pinchbeck (7) run in close company. /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Eventual winner Jack Bell (4) dices with Hayden Pascoe. Picko’s Photo’s.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

2019 65 Roses winner Jack Bell. Picko’s Photo’s. 96 HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Local Lady Leadfoot Lisa Walker strikes a pose. Picko’s Photo’s 98

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Robbie Farr’s jet fighter helmet and his land based jet fighter await combat at

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

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MBS. Picko’s Photo’s.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Local lad Ryan Jones has won plenty of races at his home track and also has a tory lane. Picko’s Photo’s. 102 HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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a lot of local fan and sponsorship support but tonight wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see him visit vic/HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

Kekke Falland’s crew (78) and Matt Dumesny’s boys busy themselves sin the

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

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MBS pits prior to racing. Pickoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Photoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

A damaged wing and a diff sitting on the ground tell’s us the Falland crew have

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e got a bit of race damage to fix. Pickoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Photoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.

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108couple of South Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best young chargers in action with former Victorian A HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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n Champion Aiden Hall getting tight with Lisa Walker. Picko’s Photo’s.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

A nice shot of the action going on out the back of James McFaddens Luch Mon

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nte owned WA17. Pickoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Photoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

James McFadden, Robbue Farr and Brad Keller share the Sprintcar podium at

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t MMS-MBS. Picko’s Photo’s. /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

F R O M T H E V O LT W I T H G R A N T W O O D H A M S

The greatest race ever? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good question but for the thirty thousand people who packed into the Sydney Showgrounds on Saturday January 7th 1967 it is certainly a night that will stay with them forever. Reports of the day indicate that it was the biggest crowd of the season. It was the night de-

described as the great-

scribed in the Sydney

est ever, it depends on

Showgrounds programme your perspective, but for as the Hot Rod Cham-

the growing number of

pionship of Australia.

people at the time who

Though it does need

thought that Super Modi-

to be kept in mind,

fieds were the best thing

that at the time dif-

to ever happen to speed-

ferent promotional

way, that Sydney night

groups and sanction-

takes some beating.

ing bodies held their own versions of Austra-

Twelve months earlier

lian Championships.

the Showground promotional group who ran

Of course there are many both the Sydney Showraces that have been 114

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bane Exhibition speedways had imported Californian Marshall Sargent. The talented and flamboyant Sargent had wowed the Australian public with his driving skills in a car that quite simply monstered the opposition. Sargent had also done the unthinkable and had lowered the one lap record at the Showgrounds, making him the fastest man in any division to circulate the Five Hundred and Fifty Seven yards track. But Sargent was unavailable in Nineteen Sixty Seven and his place was taken by another Californian, the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Roseville Rocketâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Larry Burton. The thirty three year old Burton from Sacramento was a multi track Champion and had /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

been racing for over ten years. He

had established in the year previous.

was said to be the equal of Sargent. His debut in Australia at the Sydney

Incredible as it might seem the next

Showgrounds was relatively low key

event on the programme was the Super

depending on your point of view be-

Modifieds Twenty Five laps Feature

cause many of us looked for Burton

Race. The programme even suggested

to be anther version of Sargent, who

it was from a standing start, however

verged on out of control as he charged

it was not the case and sixteen cars

through packs from the rear of the field. rolled around to take the green flag. Burton’s first meeting was the week

Burton in the USA 4 car and Warner

before the Australian Championship.

in his orange 26 were in the back row,

In those days the mainstay of summer

four hundred yards behind the start

speedway was speedcars, solos and

line. In front of them were Dick Briton,

sidecars. Super Modifieds (or Hot Rods

Gary Rush, George Tatnell, Bill Booth

as some obviously still called them)

and Arthur Seymour all also handi-

were not regulars at the Showgrounds.

capped. A group of eight occupied the first four rows of the field. In order they

His first public appearance at Show-

were Ralph Grant, Bob Tunks, Ray Brett,

grounds was an attempt on Sargent’s

Gordon Rundle, Jim Powick, Keith Ke-

one lap record of 18.9 seconds. Burton

ating, Alan Keating and John Mack.

could only manage a 20.5 and then immediately after he was set to take on

At the drop of the green Warner took

local hero Big Bill Warner in a three

off and was travelling like a man pos-

lap match race. Warner scratched and

sessed. His run unfortunately came to

his place was taken by the equally

an end when he spun his car to avoid

talented Dick Briton. However Burton

a crash and was collected from behind.

prevailed and came home in 62.4 sec-

It wasn’t long after Warner’s demise

onds, which was just under five sec-

that Burton suffered a similar fate.

onds slower than the time that Sargent

His car was badly damaged and a sub-

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stantial rebuild would be required.

was no more generous in terms of the number of Super Modified events.

The big two had gone. Bob Tunks from

However the line up was massively

the front row had cleared out and it

changed. Into the field came Victori-

was now a question of whether Rush

ans Billy Willis V88 and Graeme Mc-

or Briton, both masters of the Show-

Cubbin V13. Willis was the inaugural

grounds could run him down, but it

Australian Champion. McCubbin had

was not to be and Tunks in his OHV

won a stack of races in Victoria. Well

Ford #54 took the win with Rush in his

credentialed Queenslanders Dut-

179 ci Holden #73 in second and Dick

ton Stibbard Q22 and Reece Jack-

Briton in his Corvette V8 #6 in third.

son Q33 were also in the field.

The following week the programme

The first race was another match race, /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

again over three laps and again between Burton and Warner. This time Warner was able to front. It mattered not though as Burton won in the very slow time of 65.4 seconds, almost eight seconds behind the Sargent record. However the race did give the massive crowd a taste of what was to come. Burton and Warner almost seemed at war with each other, the roar of the spectators enormous. With a big field of nominations an eight laps qualifying race was held. Twelve started with top five going through to the Championship Feature. The qualifier was won by the previous week’s feature winner Bob Tunks and along with placegetters Sid Hopping NSW 88, Ralph Grant NSW 3, Maurie Selke NSW 10 and Ray Brett NSW 24 they would find themselves in the first three rows of the Feature. Alongside Brett in row three was Gary Rush NSW 73 and then followed Dutton Stibbard, George Tatnell NSW 25, Dick Briton, Billy Willis, Bill Booth NSW 72, Reece Jackson, Graeme McCubbin, Bill Warner and Larry Burton.

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At the time it was quite probably the classiest line up of Super Modifieds and drivers ever assembled at one location in Australia. And it must be remembered and emphasised that in those halcyon days, the best and the fastest started at the rear of the field. Warner’s drive was simply superb, though in the early stages of the race it was his great local rival, the legendary Dick Briton, who looked to have everyone’s measure. Briton had found his way to the front with relative ease

and was motor-

crowd was cheering itself hoarse.

ing along with

Next up was Dutton Stibbard, who was

a good lead

causing grief to everyone despite being

when his dif-

several laps down. Warner clobbered the

ferential blew

fence trying to get around the outside

thirteen laps

of the Q22. Burton closed again and the

in to the thirty

crowd was in a frenzy. With one lap to

laps journey.

run Warner appeared to have it in the

But even at that bag, but Burton was not to be denied. point everyone’s In a monstrously good last lap he cut focus was on the the distance down to less than a car Warner/Burton

length and as the two drivers roared

battle. The two

into Pit’s Bend they were level pegging.

back markers

Warner’s line was perfect and the sound

had provided

of the crowd louder than the cars on

plenty of excit-

the track. At the finish it was Warner

ing action as

by half a length over Burton with Gary

they advanced towards the front.

Rush another one hundred yards back in third. Completing the race, in which

With Briton on the infield Warner inher- Warner established a Thirty Laps reited the lead but he was soon dealing

cord of 10 mins, 15.4 secs, were Tatnell,

with lapped traffic. This gave Burton,

Tunks, Booth, Jackson, McCubbin, Brett,

who had found a way past Tunks, Tat-

Selke and last but not least Stibbard.

nell, Brett and Booth to get to second place a chance to close on Big Bill.

The greatest race ever? It just might

First Warner and then Burton found

have been, if you were there!

a way past Reece Jackson to put him one lap down. Then it was on to Maurie Selke. Warner did it easily establishing a small break over Burton. The

y d o Wo /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

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Th e O r ig i n

EASTER TRAIL

2019 Geelong Harley-Davidson Sprintcar & Max Dumesny Motorsport Super Rod Easter Trails.. this was the first time that a clean sweep has occurred. The 2019 Easter Trail was record setting for a number of reasons: Firstly, because at last someone(s) had the intelligence to lock the awesome Super Rods in to their own three night supporting Easter Trail presented by Max Dumesny Motorsport, Second, the Saturday night at Mt Gambier’s brilliant Borderline Raceway which so often is rained out or incredibly fogged out was run on a beautiful day with the only requirement being a t-shirt rather than a thick jacket, beanie and gloves and, Third, because one driver won all three nights of the Geelong Harley-Davidson Sprintcar trail. While other drivers have won three events over the Easter trail, these times have been when there were four rounds so 124

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With competing opportunities for Sprintcar racers occurring in Queensland with their Easter trail version and races at Goulburn and after a long domestic Victorian season, competitor numbers were down a little but were still impressive ranging between 40 and 50 cars per night.

Avalon The Good Friday curtain raiser at Avalon Raceway was a stellar night with a full house (best of the season) in attendance. Some great racing was provided from both the Sprintcars and Super Rods and the tracks season ending fireworks were brilliant with many passing motorists stopping on the nearby Prince’s Freeway to watch the show. (Incidentally, this was a better viewing angle as the fireworks lit up above the venue with a broader view).

With the numerically highest car count for the weekend there were five time trial groups with some surprises amongst them including Jordyn Charge and Mike Van Bremen being fastest of their groups while Jamie Veal, Corey McCullagh and Luke Walker topped the other groups. Overall McCullagh was quickest from Veal, Tony Moule (“I was meant to be crewing for Terry (Kelly) but he’s crook”) in the SA37, Mark Carlin and SRA 360 Triple Crown series Champion Michael Tancredi. With the cooler weather the track remained moistened and hooky and the reverse heats were difficult for the guns to make forward progress in as everyone was fast. This was evidenced by the list of heat winners which initially included John Vogels, Tate Frost, Van Bremen, Walker and McCullagh and then in the reverse grids Brenten Farrer, Brayden Parr, Kristy Ellis, Kris Johnson and Travis Millar.

Top - Tasmanian Jock Goodyer had a tough easter with engine malady being just one of his tribulations. Bottom – Look closely and you’ll notice both David Murcott (88) and Andrew Hughes (28) are facing the wrong way as Dennis Jones slides onto the infield with Brayden Parr (72) and Jamie Heyen (89) also part of the show. Pirate Media Group photo.

One highlight of this Easter was the speed of young Luke Walker who has focussed on his burgeoning new business “Engineer It” rather than racing and so has not raced as often as previously. As you will see from the overall results, if not for getting caught in other drivers issue Walker would have had a very solid and consistent Easter. Such was his speed that in heat 4 he was so far in front that he spun out on turn two and re-joined after

/HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

an infield recovery still in the lead. David Murcott also had an unusual ride in heat 4 when at the start he and Andrew Hughes both got turned around with cars all around them and Murcott was lifted atop another car and carried backwards down track while atop the other car. The other big heat action which no photographer caught on camera except Ray Solomon on the tracks video feed, was the huge wheelstand pulled by Bendigo’s Darren Clarke. At the start of heat 8 Clarke gassed up the Mental Transport #50 and the front just lifted off like an f-18 fighter and kept climbing to astonishing height before crashing back to earth with an expensive thud. “Did you get that?” Clarke excitedly asked every photographer who pretty much unanimously replied with “No, I was too busy watching it.” “That’s a great way to cure depression,” Clarke stated before adding that it cost him about $3,000 as it blew out the whole front end – shock absorbers, torsion bars, torsion arms, torsion stops and the front axle when it landed. Farrer, Brett Sullivan, Nicholas Penno and Mitchell Smith graduated from the C-Main to the B-Main which then saw Tim Van Ginneken, Bobby Daly, Jesse Attard and Rusty Hickman join the feature field. Penno and Millar both rode out wild wrecks in separate incidents during the B. In the main event, “the kid” Walker made a great start to lead from the second row and it took almost 10 laps for McCullagh to work his way into the lead. The defending track champion was then only able to repel Veal 126

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for a further five laps who then went on to take the win also securing the coveted $20,000 track championship. Chances are anyone who’s been to an Easter Trail in the last 20 years or attended a “Classic” has seen the largely South West based Super Rods and loves them so this Easter they were in for a treat with three nights of the clockwise back ‘em in V8 beasts. Neville Gange, the ageless Ewan McKenzie, Troy Gleeson and Jamie May won the keenly contested heats and then Gleeson held off McKenzie for the feature race win. 3rd generation racer Shaun Walsh worked from 5th to third ahead of Neville Gange and veteran Darryl Nelson.

Top - Corey McCullagh was back I his own V90 for Easter and was fast but out of luck while the obscured Jamie Veal had a better run. Pirate Media Group photo. Bottom Victoria Wingless Sprint Champion Travis Millar had a fraught night at Avalon in his winged Sprintcar. Pirate Media Group photo.

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Mt Gambier Moving across the border for Saturday the weather was stunning for this time of year and the Borderline club had the venue in its usual pristine condition. Supported by what the locals tell me was a good crowd the action started with 40 cars taking time. Veal, McCullagh, Peter Doukas and Hickman were quickest in their respective groups with young Rusty fastest overall from Veal, Jock Goodyer, McCullagh and Van Bremen. The action started with the first heat as the Downing Brothers car of Matt Egel was added to the roster but sadly would not even complete a heat when a component failure saw him slam the wall while leading the first heat. Veal ended up taking the win as did McCullagh, Murcott, Goodyer, Colin Brooks using a 360ci engine, Penno, Matthew Reed and Grant Stansfield. Bobby Daly, Attard, Stansfield and Johnson progressed from the C-Main to the B-Main where the Dumesny boys, Matt and Marcus book ended the other transferees Daniel Pestka and Walker. Coming off pole Veal led all 30 laps while the battle of the race raged from the green between Grant Anderson and Hallett on a track that had widened out and was producing awesome racing. Goodyerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s night ended when he flipped taking his running mate Walker with him. Shortly after this McCullagh made a huge error while running second when he stopped under yellow thinking it had gone red. Murcott grabbed a satisfying runner up position from veteran Vogels with Hallett and Anderson still swapping positions up to the chequered flag.

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The Super Rods were equally at home on the super-fast track with multiple grooves being used to provide brilliant racing. Peter Duynhoven pushed his “Herbie – Love Bug” to the opening heat win with Gange, Walsh and May scoring the other heat wins. Come final time and there was a change at the top with Gange grabbing the victory from Walsh, McKenzie, Gleeson and Coad who’d put on a show on the highline all night.

Top - The calm before the storm on Borderlines infield. Bottom – A couple of the little teams go at it with Jamie Heyen (Heyen family Racing (89) and David “Race anything” Donegan in his Sprint Pig #75. Pirate Media Group photo.

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Warrnambool To the final night and the car count was back up again, but as in both rounds prior the fast guys were largely the same with McCullagh, Vogels, Veal and Darren Mollenoyux fastest from their respective groups. Overall Veal topped McCullagh, Walker, Mollenoyux and Hickman. Again, due to the cold weather the track held itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s moisture meaning that again no one doubled up on the heat wins which were shared between McCullagh, Doukas, Veal, Mollenoyux, Attard, Anderson, Hickman and Pestka. Van Bremen, Kristy Ellis, Johnson and Sullivan jumped from the C-Main to the B-Main where Pestka, Hallett, Daly and Jack Lee did likewise into the Feature. Mollenoyux had been a welcome addition to the grid and it was hoped that he could deliver the blow to Veal and so it looked as he led the first 21 laps of the feature with Veal throwing out some challenges, one of which forced Mollenoyux into the turn 4 fence and out of the race much to the ire of many fans and some within the Mollenoyux camp. From here Veal led the remainder of the laps to win his 3rd straight feature and to secure the Geelong Harley-Davidson overall prize, his career second. The best action of the night however was reserved for the Super Rods with Howard Stansfield, Coad, Walsh and May all winning heats as McKenzie rode out a wild flip in heat 4 before driving his damaged machine onto the infield. The rods then had a shootout for pole with Adrian Rieck winning the first pass before Paul Verhoeven won a couple. Coad then took up the running but was beaten by

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Stansfield who fell to May who then succumbed to Walsh. With the order settled Walsh made the jump and Coad was soon challenging with the bodyless McKenzie car showing the fans his inimitable highline style as he charged from 14th to third and challenging. Coad was trying everything and came mighty close but in the end Walsh took the win and became the first overall Max Dumesny Motorsport Super Rod Easter Trail Champion. Coads second place netted him 4th overall while McKenzie’s drive snared 3rd overall behind Gange with May fifth overall. Verhoeven and Gange completed the top five feature finishers and happily we can confirm that the Super Rods have already been locked in for next years’ Easter Trail.

Top - Not the sort of Warrnambool sunset we usually get at Easter. Bottom – Rookie Marcus Green did a stellar job in the Skidmore Brothers 360ci engine car, enough to secure him the seat for next season. Pirate Media Group photo.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Something a little different – Limited Sportsman Action from Mt Gambier’s round and Mt Gambier and their big brothers, the Open Sportsmans, were responsible Group photo. 132 HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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d of the Easter Trail. Limited Sportsmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s are something unique to Victoria e for morphing into our most popular division â&#x20AC;&#x201C; wingless Sprints. Pirate Media /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Under the bonnet of a Limited Sporty. Pirate Media Group photo. 134 HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wreck.

Another uniquely Victorian division that races clockwise are the massively popula sprintcar with a small sedan car body. Pirate Media Group photo. 136 HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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ar Super Rods, although these cars are V8 engined. Virtually a wingless V8 /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wreck.

One of the things fans love about the Super Rods is the variety of body styles a tle. Pirate Media Group photo. 138 HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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as can be seen here in Peter “Dutchy” Duynhovens “Herbie” inspired VW Bee/HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

Troy Gleeson’s Easter trail started off well with a feature win at Avalon but ende photo. 140 HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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ed up at the other end of the spectrum just days later. Pirate Media Group /HIGHLINE-MAGAZINE

SUPER SEDAN TITLE 2019

A US T RA LIA N SU PER S ED A N T IT LE Photoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s by Shayne Wright

Matty Pascoe has won one of the best ever National Super Sedan Title A Mains, which went forty laps without a stoppage, in a brilliant spectacle at the Heartland Raceway, Moama.

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ALEXANDER STRIPPED OF 2nd PLACE RESULT

Matty Pascoe has won one of the best ever National Super Sedan Title A Mains, which went forty laps without a stoppage, in a brilliant spectacle at the Heartland Raceway, Moama. The race track lent itself to the occasion, with two, three and sometimes four wide racing through the field, in a great advertisement, not only for the category but for Speedway. Defending Champion, Callum Harper started on the front row with Ash Bergmeier, while Pascoe and Mick Nicola Jnr started on the second row.

Harper immediately took the lead and in the early stages did not get away from Bergmeier or Pascoe. On lap five Harper started to move clear, as Bergmeier and Pascoe were joined by Ryan Alexander in what turned out to be a brilliant three-way battle which lasted for the next fifteen laps. On lap twenty, Harper lapped his first competitor, Gary Higgs, as Pascoe and Alexander both passed Bergmeier, and started the chase after Harper. Harper would hit very heavy lapped traffic, and eventually was caught by Pascoe and Al-

In post-race scrutineering Ryan Alexander was stripped of his 2nd place due to a technical infringement. Speedway Sedans Australia (SSA) advised of the disqualification of Ryan Alexander from the result of the National Super Sedan Title, after post-race checks, revealed that the car did not meet the required specifications. In this particular instance the ballast in Ryan Alexanders car did not meet the compliance, and regrettably this has led to his disqualification. (After speaking with Ryan himself, Highline believes the issue to be more added ballast than what is allowed under the rules). SSA issued an official media release to the final placings of the National Super Sedan Title, held at the Heartland Raceway, Moama, after post-race checks were conducted and verified.

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exander, and at one point the three were fighting for the lead in turn four. Pascoe took the lead on lap twenty-five, with the traffic now Pascoeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s issue, with Harper and Alexander having issues getting through the traffic, with Alexander moving to second with ten laps to run.

Ryan Alexander was a highly credible second, with Callum Harper, the outgoing Champion third. Darren Kane finished fourth, while Peter Nicola stormed home in the concluding stages to finish fifth.

For Matty Pascoe, it would be his seventh feature race win of the season, one All the while, behind fourth placed Berg- he dedicated to his Mother and Father who passed away in the last twelve meier, Michael Nicola Jnr and Darren Kane, ran literally side by side for twenty- months. five laps, in a brilliant spectacle. With traffic playing a part through the field, Peter Nicola, who won the B Main after a horror run in the qualifying heats, had moved into seventh place with five laps remaining. Pascoe meanwhile had a handy lead, a lead he held to the very end, to become a three-time Champion after previous victories in 2013 and 2015.

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Image: An already torn up Darren Anning and Jamie Collins get into it hard. Shayne Wright

OFFICIAL RESULT A Main, 40 Laps: 1. Q15 Matty Pascoe, 2. T22 Callum Harper, 3. Q36 Darren Kane, 4. V2 Peter Nicola, 5. V16 Ash Bergmeier, 6. V23 Mick Nicola Jnr, 7. Q26 Sean Black, 8. T8 Steve Latham, 9. Q4 Leigh Williams (39 laps), 10. V34 Jamie Collins (39), 11. Q44 Trent Wilson (39), 12. V0 Lucas Roberts (39), 13. T41 Adam Beechey (39), 14. V3 Mick Nicola Snr (39), 15. V56 Neil Witnish (39), 16. Q99 Mark Obrien (39), 17. W81 Gary Higgs (39). DNF: 18. Q6 Wayne Randall (35), 19. N21 Darren Anning (34). DISQ: S47 Ryan Alexander (2nd Post Race). Time: 12.45.422, Winning Margin: 1.564, Fastest Lap: 18.129 T22 Callum Harper B Main, 20 Laps: 1. V2 Peter Nicola, 2. V34 Jamie Collins, 3. T41 Adam Beechey, 4. Q4 Leigh Williams, 5. Q12 David Musch, 6. Q41 Kyall Fisher, 7. W8 Chris Pavlovich, 8. T48 Wayne Dillon, 9. Q76 Ian Brims, 10. N7 Wayne Dick, 11. V24 David Mackenzie, 12. N23 Andrew White, 13 S93 Kym Jury, 14. V14 Brent Coleman, 15. Q22 Dale Christensen. DNF: 16. N33 Mark Towers (16 laps), 17. V22 Jason Picone (11), 18. V25 Adam Box (7), 19. N65 Wayne Aylett (0), 20. S22 Paul Blenkiron (0), 21. N56 Kurt Kranitis (0). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.894, Fastest Lap: 17.917 V2 Peter Nicola.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

A right pair of Daves. David MacKenzie leads Dave Gartner in heat race action. 146 HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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. Shayne Wright photo.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

View from the flagstand as Mark Towers leads Kym Jury and Darren Kane durin 148 HIGHLINE MAGAZINE

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ng hot laps Shayne Wright photo.

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nship at the same venue when he was taken out of the event in someone else’s wreck.

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ollowing the recent passing of both of Mattâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parents. Shayne Wright photo.

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