Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway closed off another racing season on Saturday night with round two of the 2022 Easter Sprintcar Trail.
The trail started last Friday night at Geelong’s Avalon Speedway where a large crowd was in attendance and was greeted to some fantastic racing not only from the sprintcars but also the super rods, quarter midgets and fireworks.
In the sprintcars at Avalon, Australian champion Jamie Veal stole the show to come away with the win, making his move on lap 12 when leader Troy Little made a little driver error and Veal took the chance and was never challenged to take home the win on night one.
All roads led to Borderline Speedway on Saturday for night two of the trail with 30 cars ensuring racing was to be action packed.
Last year’s round two winner Darren Mollenoyux did not make it to Borderline to defend his victory due to an incident at Geelong which forced him out.
The night started with the national anthem before the super rods ventured on track and adapted well to a fast looking “Bullring” and they did not disappoint with great racing.
It was not long before the late models made their way on to the track and after not being on the program for almost 12 months it was good to see the numbers in support of the Easter Trail.
The super rods and late models did a fantastic job in a showcase to the main event of the Easter Sprintcar Trail and fans on the hill were excited to see these two classes of cars put on a display for the crowd. Dane Court was the leading super rod driver while no one could stop Peter Nicola from winning late models.
It was time for the rumble in the jungle of sprintcars with heat one tackling the track and it was awesome to see the ‘things with wings’ back in action.
Troy Little started strong in the #N20 winning the opening heat by three seconds from Ryan Jones while Australian champion Jamie Veal eased into the night with a third.
Marcus Dumesny held off a fast-finishing Tim Hutchins in the second heat, while local Scott Enderl finished seventh and kept out of trouble.
The third heat was a thrilling affair with David Murcott being pushed all the way to the line by Tate Frost, while local racers Daniel Pestka and Glen Sutherland impressed finishing third and seventh respectively.
Less than a second split Jamie Heyen and Jake Smith in the fourth heat, while Matthew Reed edged out Will Carroll in another close finish in the penultimate heat.
Sutherland gave it his all to take the chequered flag first in the final heat of the day, but had to settle for second after Stephen Spark claimed the win by just three tenths of a second.
After all heat racing was finished the B Main action revved up around the Bullring with the top five advancing to the back of the A Main.
After 20 high-paced laps, Spark scored the honours by one and a half seconds from Matthew Reed with locals Enderl and Sutherland impressing with clean drives to secure positions three and four respectively and Will Carroll rounded out the final A Main slot.
Despite excitement building around the main event, there was short delay to the program as medics were needed in the pits, so the fireworks filled the 12-minute void and they did not disappoint with a great array exciting the kids and adults alike.
High octane atmosphere filled the grounds as the Easter Trail Borderline finale revved into gear and it was good to see some different cars up the front of the A Main with Murcott on pole and Little alongside.
Once the lights went out Little took the lead into the first corner and looked to be in control of the race until a lapse in concentration allowed Murcott to capitalise.
However, some laps later Murcott slowed down and the driver’s dream of a second win at Borderline in as many summers was dashed when he pulled to the infield.
Little took the lead back before again misjudging turn four with Australian champ Veal there to pick up the pieces and seize the opportunity.
The move completed a run from position six where Veal rounded up cars running high on the track to take the lead.
It looked the same as the feature at Avalon as Veal was on point and not challenged on his way to claiming the round two win of the Easter Trail ahead of Little and Dumesny.
It was also a pleasing night for local drivers Sutherland, Enderl and Pestka who all made the feature race and put in some impressive performances.
Sutherland came from finishing the B Main in fourth to finish the feature in 10th while Enderl finished third in the B Main to come home 11th in the decider.
Pestka was in top form in the Port MacDonnell owned car finishing sixth for the night.
Overall the drivers put on a great show of racing with only three incidents interrupting the action.
Easter Sunday led drivers to Premier Speedway’s Sungold Stadium for the grand finale of the Easter Sprintcar Trail, but due to the inclement weather when the sprintcars were due to take to the track the event was cancelled.
With Aussie champ Veal ahead on the points from the first two rounds he would have been looking to take a clean sweep of the trail but had to settle for the two wins.
He will now travel to Queensland to defend his title at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway on Saturday, April 30.
Borderline speedway will take a break now and come back later in the year for a new season of racing, so keep an eye out for upcoming events.
