J-Mac claims King’s honour

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J-Mac claims King’s honour

Speedway fans have been treated to a series of spectacular races over five nights, including at the Borderline Speedway.


The Mount Gambier King’s Challenge was held on Thursday night, with racing kicking off at Avalon the night prior, before heading to the Borderline and then finishing with a three night smorgasbord in Warrnambool.


Mount Gambier sprintcar fans enjoyed an action packed night of racing as the Borderline Speedway hosted the 31st annual King’s Challenge.


The meet attracted a packed field with around 50 drivers racing on the night in the sprint car category.


Warrnambool’s James McFadden was crowned as the king, taking home the King’s Challenge victory in his third win in four years while South Aussie Luke Dillon claimed second place with Western Australia’s Callum Williamson rounding out the podium in third.


Local driver Glenn Sutherland had a solid night after a tough Avalon outing, making it to the A-Main and finishing 15th overall.


Pic: Richard Hathaway Photography

The support class for the night was the street stock cars with a majority of the class comprising local drivers with Penola’s Steve Gartner taking out first, Cary Weston finishing second and another Penola local Alex Merrett closing it out in third.


The busy night of racing attracted around 3000 spectators and racing crews with event manager Cary Jennings pleased with the attendance.


“Overall it was a good night’s racing and the crowd was pleased, the weather held off and the patrons on the hill saw some good entertainment,” he said.


“I believe there were around 2200 adults and around 350 children under 12, so there were a lot of kids out there which is good because we encourage the family side of the sport so it turned out a good night for the families.”


Jennings was also pleased to see a good number of spectators staying at the venue and camping overnight with around 15 to 20 campers on the night.


VEAL VICTORY: Jamie Veal took the honours on night one of the Warrnambool Classic, with Lachie McHugh in second and Kerry Madsen third.

Overall Jennings said he was delighted with the event and was grateful for the help of the volunteers on the night.


“It was a really good night with thanks to all the patrons in attendance and all our volunteers who come along and help us every race meeting to put the show on with the canteen and staff who help feed our patrons and all in all make our speedway flourish,” he said.


Borderline Speedway’s next meeting will be on February 15 as they host round four of the AWSR Wide Open Wingless Sprint Series Formula 500 SA Title.


Avalon Raceway hosted the 2025 Kubota President’s Cup the night prior, with Queensland’s Ryan Newton triumphing against some of Australia and America’s best drivers.


A packed crowd witnessed the 30-lap feature event, which began with Lachie McHugh’s C&H Trucking entry leading the field.


NIGHT TWO: Jock Goodyer won the A Main on night two of the Warrnambool Classic, ahead of James McFadden and Garet Williamson.

McHugh maintained control for nearly 20 laps before an unexpected left-rear tyre failure handed the lead to Ryan Newton.


The young Queenslander faced relentless pressure from former President Cup winners in Jamie Veal and Brock Hallett but held his ground to etch his name into the history books with a feature to remember and a much welcomed confidence boost for the Queensland Business Sales & Nu Trend Quality Homes Q66 team.


The sprintfest culminated in three nights of racing for the Warrnambool Classic.


Jamie Veal took the honours on night one, with Lachie McHugh in second and Kerry Madsen third.


Jock Goodyer won the A Main on night two, ahead of James McFadden and Garet Williamson, while McFadden went one better on night three finishing first, with Cory Eliason in second and Veal third.


At the conclusion of the Warrnambool series, McFadden was awarded the Ian Sheppard Memorial award, Cole Macedo went home with the Hard Charger Award, McHugh took home the Hard Luck Award and Garrett Williamson was named the ‘Classic’ Rookie.

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