Year ends with a bang at speedway

Year ends with a bang at speedway

Star Australian driver James McFadden, put on a show for the big crowd at Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway, showcasing all the skills he learnt in America to dominate round 2 in the SA/Vic Speedweek title last week.

Fresh from an unbelievable rookie campaign at the notoriously tough World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series in the USA, McFadden was a class above the rest, leading all 30 laps of the long-awaited A Main.

The original field of up to 40 competitors including Supercars sensation and 2017 Sandown 500 winner Cam Waters was significantly hurt by border test issues and the rescheduled Eureka Garages and Sheds Series was off the program as a result.

However, a smaller field full of 23 cars graced the “Bullring” and gave the fans plenty to cheer about.

After setting a hot pace throughout the heats, McFadden and the previous winner at Borderline, Matt Egel lined up on the front row and were the clear favourites.

Sensing the significance of the start, McFadden nailed the sprint off the line and established a comfortable gap on the field by the entry into turn 3.

Meanwhile, a poor exit from the opening left-hander sent Egel falling down the order.

The #S52 eventually slipped to sixth after a sequence of challenging laps to open the race.

McFadden charged away from the field so quickly, it only took four laps for his yellow #W17 to catch the backmarkers.

It quickly became a race for second, which was led by Marcus Dumesny, Carson Macedo and local entry Daniel Pestka.

Scott Enderl gave the fans a scare striking the turn 2 wall, but carried on to fight another day.

However, Ryan Alexander was not as lucky and rotated 180 degrees in the middle of the final corner to bring out the first caution and create a nervous moment for the leaders.

When the green flag resumed racing, Dumesny dropped behind Macedo after a poor exit from the final corner.

Egel also went past the Valvoline backed entry after a wheel-to-wheel battle seconds prior to the yellow lights returned.

Lisa Walker showed some promise throughout the night, but had suffered the same misfortune as Alexander after clipping the tyre bundle at apex of turn 3.

McFadden had looked untouchable all night, but after lapped traffic caused some headaches around the halfway mark, Macedo closed in to keep the leader honest.

Despite a disappointing start, Egel was still in contention until a tangle with Dumesny fighting for a spot on the podium.

The incident left the #S52 standard in front of the flagman on the main straight, bringing an end to a dream run for Egel, while Dumesny was also forced to retire.

Cautions started to breed cautions as Pestka’s right rear tyre was torn to shreds and blew up his hopes of a home win after running in the top five.

Only a single lap of racing was possible before proceedings were paused by a huge incident which instantly brought out the red lights.

Hunting for back-to-back wins at Borderline on December 28, David Murcott made a bold move down the inside of the first turn and could not avoid careering into the side of Ben Morris.

Morris was sent barrel-rolling against the fence, while Alexander and Peter Doukas were also caught up in the aftermath of the smash.

McFadden controlled the restart once again to continue his dominance, while Luke Dillon and Matthew Dumsney were in an arm wrestle for the final step on the podium behind Macedo.

Preferring the low line Dillon eventually won the battle for third, but no one could stop McFadden.

The Alice Springs native was in a league of his own, claiming a lights-to-flag victory by two and a half seconds from Macedo and Dillon.

Dumsney had to settle for fourth, while superstar Steven Lines snuck into the top five and claimed the “Hard Charger” award after gaining 12 positions.

The sprint cars were not the only attractions on the big night of racing with Super Sedans, Modlites and Street Stocks all on the support list.

Anthony Beare’s stranglehold on Street Stock racing at Borderline could not be broken again after he secured another dominant win.

However, Beare had a fight on his hands in the pink Holden Commodore VF earlier in the night.

The temperature was up in the driver’s seat during the heats as Jason Duell took the fight to Beare.

Mount Gambier star Duell made his big move into turn 1 and made it stick after prevailing in the door-to-door battle.

Duell eventually held on to secure the heat win, but had no answer to Beare’s emphatic response in the main event.

Beare showed his class when it mattered with a super drive to win by 1.7 seconds from Duell and Steve Gartner.

A decent amount of Modlites were ready to race for glory and many drivers struggled to contain their excitement in an incident-filled feature.

The 20-lap race was stacked with cautions and almost went longer than the sprint cars A Main.

Scott Webb took the lead after rubbing shoulders with Brook Alexander, but it did not take long for the yellow lights to flash.

Jacob Carlier hit the outside wall, but carried on, while an Eric Stuart spin brought out the yellow lights.

At the restart, Michael Miller made his race-winning move to steal the lead from Webb, but his joy was interrupted by countless cars spinning around and creating cautions.

After all the chaos, Miller stormed home to win by four seconds from Webb and Anthony Grillett.

A small field greeted the starters for the Super Sedans feature race.

Jamie Collins enjoyed a lighting start, speeding away from the pack and setting the fastest time on the opening lap of the race.

Despite the strong start, Collins was challenged by David McKenzie for the entire 20-lap feature, eventually prevailling by less than half a second.

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