What Lockie McHugh might have lacked in speed on night one he more than made up for on the second night of the Clay-Per-View Sprintcars Speedweek as the Queenslander ripped to a stout victory at Borderline Speedway Mount Gambier last week.
McHugh started on pole but fell back as far as fourth before he hunted down leader James McFadden to take the 35-lap A-Main victory over a rapidly finishing Jock Goodyer in second and McFadden third in front of another excellent Speedweek crowd.
The second-generation Gold Coast racer thanked his crew and credited a left rear tyre strategy for the win.
“Obviously, we struggled early in the race,” McHugh said.
“We put a much harder left rear (tyre) compound than most of the other teams did.
“When we ran the Kings Challenge here last year it hurt us not having that harder tyre.
“We lost a few spots early in the race … but once that bottom groove in turn three and four really started working for me I could see the other guys ahead of me were not really using it.
“I knew that if I could get them and pass them in one lap that would be good.
“I know that if they saw me there, they would cut down and take that line away, but I managed to get past them all on the first attempt and that won us the race.”
Goodyer was blisteringly quick late in the race yet again. The T22 came from the eighth row of the grid to smoke through the field and finish a brilliant second in what will earn him the series lead.
“I had a hell of a fast car,” Goodyer said.
“I have never felt that good at this place before.
“We struggled early … but it just really proves that if the boys keep digging and give me a good car that I can put it there.
“Hats off to those guys, they dug deep and really delivered.
“My car was so balanced it did not matter where I put the car, I could drive it anywhere.
“We are here to race for the series so two runners up finishes out of two is good.”
McFadden placed third after leading for most of the race and was upbeat after the event.
“We had a good night really,” he said.
“The NAPA Auto Parts car was good all night. “I got the lead on the bottom, but I thought that was because of traffic.
“I got baulked in lapped traffic for three or four laps and that was enough for those guys behind me to make some ground on me.
“Overall, it was a decent night. “We got really tight in the end.
“We are still learning the notes on this car, it is a completely different package than what I am used to. “The boys are working really hard though, and I know we will get to where we need to be.”
Jamie Veal led early in the #35 SWI Engineering Maxim before eventually winding up fourth and continuing to look solid in the overall points with a win and fourth place.
Texan teenager Chase Randall continued with another top five result finishing fifth behind Veal and getting up as high as third along the way – impressing fans and rivals alike with his speed considering it was only his second race event in a 410ci car.
Grant Anderson came from the second row of the B-Main to place sixth after winning the night before in Simpson and placing runner-up at Avalon in the domestic SRA lead up shows, while Luke Dillon’s sixth place finish was not the result the hard-charging South Aussie was looking for.
Tasmanian Tate Frost rewarded his team with a top 10 result after they built him a new car following a big wreck at Murray Bridge earlier in the week and Jack Lee drove from 20th to an eventual 10th-place finish with a strong drive after coming through the B-Main.
Brock Hallett had a major back straight flip that also involved Glen Sutherland and Steven Caruso with all three being unable to restart and the GW Racing Hallett entry almost certainly is totalled.
Steven Lines biked over the cushion in turn three and four and rolled the Q83 awkwardly out of the event.
