In what was a dominant performance, Western Australian Lee Nash drove to victory in last night’s iFind Pipes ‘N’ Cables Chariots of Thunder opener, the C&R Constructions Darwin Sprintcar Title, at Darwin’s Roller Door Services NT Northline Speedway.

Despite the fact that Nash has never previously competed at Northline Speedway, it didn’t stop him qualifying on pole position for the 25-lap Darwin Title deciding feature race.

After starting from pole position after highest points man and local Jason McIver elected to start from the outside of the front row, Nash was able to get the jump on McIver. Nash was then able to survive a handful of restarts for stoppages during the race, and then was able to go on to record an impressive victory. For Nash, this was his maiden Sprintcar feature-race victory after five seasons of trying.

McIver, who had topped the point standings heading into the feature race, put in a gallant drive throughout the race, but was unable to get an advantage over Nash and had to settle for second. It was an impressive night for McIver and is no doubt going to buoy well for him
heading into tonight’s Pitlane Liquor and Bullseye Trading Pope 65 Bob Ekins Memorial,which is an event named in honour of his grandfather.

After qualifying for the feature race through the B main, South Australian Glen Sutherlandmanaged to work his way through the field and snare the final spot on the podium in third.

Earlier in the night, Sutherland battled with mechanical issues, which saw him unable to finish either of his heat races and consequently forced him to earn his feature-race starting spot via the B main.

Fresh from his maiden racing trip to America, Western Australian-based teenager Mitch Wormall finished just off the podium in fourth. After some misfortune in an earlier heat race, where he was forced to retire while leading due to a mechanical issue, Wormall had to qualify for the feature race through the B main and went on to work his way forward over the 25-lap distance for a satisfying result.

Behind Wormall in fifth was local Troy David, who ran strongly inside the top five for the majority of the feature race. Following David home were the remaining finishers and fellow locals Jason Gebert, Luke Robinson, Chris Harrison, Keith Phelps, Mark Robinson and David Ling.

The list of non-finishers included Ben Atkinson, Simon Spitzbarth, B-main winner Caleb Gotts, NSW’s Kyle Caunt, Danny Porter, Chace Karpenko, Victorian Rusty Hickman and Nick Halkitis. The likes of Atkinson, Spitzbarth, Caunt, Karpenko, Porter and Hickman were all on
track for strong results up until their fate was decided by misfortune, which included a mixture of mechanical issues and crash damage.

Earlier in the night, the B main saw victory go the way of Gotts ahead of Gebert, Sutherland (who attempted a desperate last-lap pass for the lead on Gotts but was unable to pull it off and was lucky to be able to maintain a top-four transfer spot) and Wormall.

The heat-race wins were shared between Nash, Porter, Ellement and McIver. The night started in ideal fashion for Ellement, who topped the time sheets in qualifying hot laps.

Despite a great run earlier in the night by virtue of topping the time sheets in qualifying hot laps and winning his opening heat race, Ellement had his night brought to a premature end in the second round of heat races, due to a broken universal joint. The damage sustained in
the incident was enough to force him to not take part in the feature race.

In the support class action, the Des J Nash Outlaw Challenge for Wingless Sprints presented by Total Tools in Winnellie resulted in a great night by Western Australian visitor Sam Borlini. After winning all three heat races, Borlini, driving for local car owner Mike Borchardt, started the 20-lap feature race from pole position and was then able to go on and dominate each lap and complete his perfect night. At the fall of the chequered flag in the feature race, Borlini downed local Jarrad Garraway in second and NSW’s best Nathan Dicker in third.

The other support classes resulted in the feature-race wins going the way of Justin Brumfield (Street Stocks) and Darrin Uniacke (Speedway Karts).

The second round of the iFind Pipes ‘N’ Cables Chariots of Thunder is to be fought out tonight at Darwin’s Roller Door Services NT Northline Speedway with the running of the Pitlane Liquor and Bullseye Trading Pope 65 Bob Ekins Memorial. The support classes are going to consist of Formula 500s, AMCA Nationals, Street Stocks and Junior Sedans.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Times:

Gates Open: 4:30pm

Racing from: 6pm

 

Prices:

Adults: $20

Family: $40 (2 Adults and 2 Children between 12 and 15 years)

Children under 12: FREE

Concession Holders: $5

 

Food and beverages:

Northline Speedway has two full-time track canteens and two vendors on each race night.

Two bar facilities available in turn one and in the member’s bar on each race night.

BYO: It is permitted, but strictly NO GLASS. Full bar facilities are available at track.

Track address:

Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex, Hidden Valley Rd, Hidden Valley, NT 0822

For more information about Darwin’s Roller Door Services NT Northline Speedway, visit

their website: www.darwinspeedway.com.au. You can LIKE them on Facebook by searching

Northline Speedway or find them on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat by searching

Northline Speedway.

NOMINATIONS

Open Sprintcars:

ACT 2 Ben Atkinson

6 Troy David

WA 7 Lee Nash

9 Danny Porter

NSW 9 Kyle Caunt

14 David Ling

18 Jason Gebert

SA 20 Glen Sutherland

22 Keith Phelps

32 Steven Ling

38 Luke Robinson

Vic 40 Rusty Hickman

43 Simon Spitzbarth

WA 44 Ben Ellement

55 Nick Halkitis

65 Jason McIver

77 Daniel Taylor

81 Chace Karpenko

83 Mark Robinson

84 Chris Harrison

88 Caleb Gotts

WA 97 Mitch Wormall

Formula 500s:

18 Casey Hills

21 Ellie Hills

51 Daniel White

56 Gavin Jaenke

61 Joseph Baronet

66 Cori Jackson

77 Hayden Brown

80 John Staynoff

AMCA Nationals:

9 Dale Roberts

10 Dave Munro

26 Janet Belcher

27 Jacob Belcher

33 Jim Keane

39 Brendan Kenna

41 Maria Panasewyecz

42 Jeffery Tiedeman

Qld 66 Gavin Wooton

81 Peter Harding

Junior Sedans:

15 Zack Grimshaw

25 Xavier Gotts

27 Aleisha Grimshaw

34 Nicholas Dennis

43 Brodee Everett

45 Daniel Dennis

WA 46 Tia Wormall

65 Isaiah Strong

84 Nathan Downs

88 Lance Carew

Street Stocks:

7 Colin Menzies

46 James Dennis

55 Scott Bradbury

57 Dean Jones

21 Brendan Davison

81 Kevin Dries