A consistent and speedy effort at the pointy end of the field was enough for Jock Goodyer to take home the 2021 SRA Easter Sprintcar Trail title last weekend.

Across three nights of actionpacked racing, the 19-year-old “Devil Racer” could not be removed from the top two and won the coveted title with 650 points. Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway was the second stop of the tour and this year’s running was more significant than most.

The previous two Easter sprints in the Limestone Coast were not possible due to weather and COVID-19 concerns, but nothing was going to stop a huge crowd from filling the grass banks this year.

After opening his account with victory in the opening event at Avalon, Goodyer demonstrated raw pace at the Mount Gambier oval. He won the opening heat before finishing second in the other to put himself in prime position for the big race.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Mount Gambier’s Glen Sutherland. Racing in the GEM black and green machine, Sutherland was pushing for a strong result in the heats. However, his night came to a dramatic and early conclusion when he flipped as a result of making contact with slower traffic on the back straight.

Despite the absence of one local hope, there was still lots of anticipation for the start of the A Main with Goodyer and Ryan Jones side by side on the front row. But the field could not even safely negotiate the first lap of green flag racing after a huge crash took out some big names at turns three and four.

Reigning Australian champion and Easter Sprintcar Trail winner Jamie Veal was left out of action after getting tangled up with Marcus Dumesny. Eventually a mid-race sprint and a late caution were not enough to stop Darren Mollenoyux from taking the chequered flag at Borderline.

Goodyer pushed Mollenoyux all the way to the finish and put himself as the favourite to take home the overall prize at Warrnambool on Sunday. The Tasmanian youngster once again rolled out of the truck with speed and led the majority of the finale.

However, Goodyer struggled through lapped traffic and relinquished the lead to Mollenoyux, who claimed a second A-Main win for the weekend. But it was not enough to stop Goodyer from taking home the overall title with 60 more points than equal runners-up Dumesny and Tate Frost.

Last weekend was the sprint-cars’ final fling around Borderline Speedway this summer, but the venue hosts the SA Junior Sedan title on Saturday, April 17.