In action James McFadden wins the Series Round while Brett Milburn Takes Eureka Series Crown - photo by Corey Gibson Photography

McFadden Cleans Up while Milburn Takes Eureka Series
Author : Ian Vale

James McFadden claimed his third Eureka Garages & Sheds feature win of the 2019-2020 Series after leading every lap of the feature race in the penultimate round but it was Brett Milburn who was another winner on the night warping up his third Eureka Garages Sheds Title Crown at Premier Speedway Warrnambool.

The night started off strong for Milburn who set fast time in his heat group and then won his first heat. Millburn’s nearest challenger for the 20219-2020 Eureka Series Crown Grant Stansfield didn’t quite have the same good fortune after taking fourth best time in his time trail group that saw Stansfield finish in third place in his first heat race to give Milburn a few more points advantage in the Title race.

In the second round of heats Milburn put in a good performance to come from the rear of the field and take third place that would see Brett as the highest points score going into the Main event but luck was out the window for Stansfield when he rolled and didn’t score any points in his second heat to allow Milburn to open the points gap further.

So with the heat races done and the two shootouts for the top six starting places in the Eureka Garages & Sheds A Main it was McFadden that upped the pace to take pole position for the main event but Milburn was on song and lined up alongside of McFadden on the front row. With Milburn’s form on the night he was still in with a chance of another round feature win but if that failed a good finish would give him a third Eureka Series Crown.

So the order was set, row one James McFadden and Brett Milburn, row two Brock Hallett and Jack Lee, row three Grant Anderson and Terry Rankin followed by Jacob Smith, Darren Mollenoyux, Dennis Jones, Jock Goodyer, David Donegan, Mark Carlin, Jye Okeeffe then Jamie Veal who was having a poor night by his standards have to race thru the C & B Main events to make the Main event, the other drivers to make the field were David Murcott, John Vogles, Jordyn Charge and Peter Doukas.

Race Time and McFadden did what he does best and won the race start but the caution lights were quickly on for Veal who spun to a stop in turn one that would see him sent to the rear of the field for the restart.

Green flag once more and McFadden took the race lead once again a position he would not relinquish thru out the thirty lap journey. Now while McFadden had the race lead Milburn was doing a good job and was holding down a strong second place in the early stages of the race. Anderson was quick to move into third place but that was short lived when Mollenoyux took the spot and set about catching the leading pair but Anderson was not letting Mollenoyux out of his sights.
Quarter race distance and the order was McFadden from Milburn, Mollenoyux, and Smith who found a way past Anderson then it was Hallett, Jones, Lee, Okeeffe and Murcott rounding out the top ten. Back in the pack both Rankin and Carlin had dropped off the pace and were running at the back of the pack.

Mid race distance and the leaders were into lapped traffic, McFadden placed two cars between himself and Milburn who still had Mollenoyux behind him, Anderson had regained forth place from Smith. Smith now had Hallett on his case and these two drivers started to trade sixth place only for Hallett to spin in turn four in front of a heavy pack of cars that would see Lee with now where to go but into the spinning race car of Hallett and roll to bring on the red lights.

Now a little more drama would occur on the race restart as McFadden lead the field away up high on the track Milburn was hot on his heals only to get sideways and make contact with the wall that send the following drivers into evasive action. The end result was all cars managed to get thru without damage but as the caution lights were throw back on due to the incident Milburn was relegated to the rear of the field that was a major blow to what was a very good night for him.

Back under way for the last time and McFadden was still in command from Mollenoyux then Anderson taking third place. Prior to the race stoppage Veal had started to move thru the field and was up to tenth place at the stoppage. With the race restart Veal was the mover to quickly move into sixth place then pass both Okeeffe and Smith taking fourth place and set sail after Anderson’s third spot.

Heading into later stages of the race and McFadden was back into heavy traffic finding a way past them to keep a lapped car or two between himself and Mollenoyux. Anderson could do nothing more in his pursuit of Mollenoyux and in turn Veal got to within five car lengths of Anderson but could not close the gap any further.

Thirty laps completed and James McFadden continued his good form adding yet another feature win to his 2019-2020 seasons resume, Darren Mollenoyux put a strong drive once again after he had major work done on his car from a roll in a heat race to take second place while Grant Anderson took a comfortable third place.

For Brett Milburn a good finish at the pointy end of the field in the Eureka Garages & Sheds A Main didn’t eventuate but thirteen place gave Brett enough points to take the 2019-2020 Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcar Series Championship for a third time.

Rounding out the race finishers in the penultimate round of the Series home in fourth place was Jamie Veal after a strong performance from the rear of the field, Jacob Smith took fifth place while Jye Okeeffe came home in sixth place followed by Dennis Jones, Peter Doukas, David Murcott, John Vogels, Jordyn Charge, Terry Rankin, Brett Milburn, Jock Goodyer, Mark Carlin and David Donegan.

Heat winners on the night were VA29 Terry Rankin, V25 Jack Lee, V3 Darren Mollenoyux, V68 Brett Milburn, VA12 Mark Carlin, W17 James McFadden, V37 Grant Anderson and S13 Brock Hallett.

C Main drivers that transferred to the B main were V98 Peter Doukas, A1 Jamie Veal, V73 Charles Hunter, VA22 Leigh Mugavin and V44 Tim Van Ginneken.

Top six drivers to transfer from the B Main to the Eureka Garages & Sheds A Main were V42 Jye Okeeffe, A1 Jamie Veal, V88 David Murcott, V70 John Vogels, V60 Jordyn Charge and V98 Peter Doukas.

A full list of the placing can be viewed on the SRA web site results page at www.sravic.com

The 2019-2020 Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcar Series R12 / Grand Final is scheduled to be conducted at Avalon Raceway Lara on Saturday the 21-03-2020.

Eureka Garages and Sheds Series nightly contingency awards:

AVALON RACEWAY DRIVERS DRAW: ($50) – V28 Andrew Hughes
HOOSIER TIRE AUSTRALIA: 11th Place in the A Main at Each round.
11th V60 Jordyn Charge.
D&F RACING PRODUCTS: Hard luck of the night – V25 Jack Lee
C & H TRUCKING: Top Points Scorer ($100) – V68 Brett Milburn
STEELPIPES PTY LTD: 1st competitor not to transfer from B to A-Main ($100) –
V50 Darren Clarke.
MR ELECTRIC – Winner of the B Main ($250) – V42 Jye Okeeffe.
End of Series awards:
Eureka Garages & Sheds major sponsor of the Series overall prize money Poole.
C & H Trucking sponsor in the top ten award.
Award – Random draw at the Presentation Dinner.
Camden Neon Signs – sponsors of the Series Prize Poole + in the top ten award.
Hoosier Tire Australia – sponsors of the Series Prize Poole.
Western Nissan - for drivers finishing between 11th and 20th place in the Series. Random draw at the Presentation Dinner $1500 to the winner.
Lumbar Transport - End of Series most heat wins – V86 Brett Milburn & V37 Grant Anderson (6 wins each).
Western Nissan - most cars passed in the A-Main on the night,
A1 Jamie Veal & V98 Peter Doukas (10 cars each)
(End of series award) Most cars passed overall – VA29 Terry Rankin (46 cars)
ELIMINATOR RACE WINGS – for the driver that transfers the most from the B Main to the A Main event the most. Overall, V60 Jordyn Charge & VA29 Terry Rankin. (5 Times)
(In the event of a tie the driver with the most points in the Series wins)
PARR MOTORSPORTS –Drivers Driver award as voted on by the drivers in the Series. (End of Series award)

Eureka Garages and Sheds Series – Indy Race Parts Top 10:
1st – Brett Milburn - 3763
2nd – Jordyn Charge – 3011
3rd – Grant Stanfield – 2986
4th – Terry Rankin – 2940
5th – Charles Hunter – 2883
6th –Chris Solomon – 2788
7th – Grant Anderson – 2628
8th – Mark Carlin – 2555
9th – Brayden Parr – 2471
10th – Dennis Jones - 2382

Western Nissan
(End of Series random draw between 11th & 20th place)
11th – Bobby Daly – 2375
12th – Jye Okeeffe – 2231
13th – Ryan Davis – 2210
14th – Corey McCullagh – 2172
15th – Peter Doukas – 2015
16th – Sam Wren – 1891
17th – Adam King – 1839
18th – David Donegan - 1729
19th – Stephen Spark - 1694
20th – Eddie Lumbar - 1585

For a full list of all the 2019-2020 SRA of Vic Race dates go to www.sravic.com

The Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria thank the following Eureka Garages and Sheds Sprintcar Series and season sponsors:

EUREKA GARAGES & SHEDS, WESTERN NISSAN, MAX DUMESNY MOTORSPORT, HOOSIER TIRE AUSTRALIA, CAMDEN SINGAGE & BUILDING SERVICES, C & H TRUCKING, PARR MOTORSPORTS, STEELPIPES AUSTALIA, LUMBAR’S TRANSPORT, AVALON RACEWAY, MR ELECTRIC, D&F RACING PRODUCTS, ELIMINATOR RACE WINGS, COREY GIBSON PHOTOGRAPHY, MAXAM PRINTING, SPRINTCARWORLD.

Eureka Garages & Sheds www.eurekagarages.com.au
Western Nissan www.westernnissan.com.au
Hoosier Tires Australia www.mdmotorsport.com.au
Camden Signage & Building Services www.camdenneon.com.au
Steelpipes Pty Ltd www.steelpipes.com.au
Lumbars Transport www.lumbars.com.au
Eliminator Race Wings www.crossmotorsport.com
Mr Electric www.mrelectric.com.au
Parr Motorsports www.parrmotorsport.com
Avalon Raceway www.avalonraceway.com.au
Corey Gibson Photography www.gibsonphotography.com.au
Sprintcarworld www.sprintcarworld.com.au
Maxam Printing www.maxamprinting.com.au
C & H Trucking



Winners are Grinners Left to Right - Darren Mollenoyux - James McFadden - Grant Anderson photo by Corey Gibson Photography