The crowd pleaser Craig Dollansky took advantage of a late race caution period to hunt down Robbie Farr and slide underneath the East Coast Pipeline racer to win the final Speedweek Round at the Sungold Stadium, Premier Speedway Warrnambool on January 1.
It was an exciting race with the pair side by side on several occasions. Farr must have thought the win was his with three lapped cars between himself and Dollansky however driveline failure for rival Max Dumesny with 7 laps remaining negated the advantage.
Brooke Tatnell was leading the East Coast Pipeline Speedweek points from American Jason Johnson entering the final round however Tatnell was caught up in a clash with David Murcott while battling over fourth and was shown the mechanical defect flag. Tatnell pulled up on the main straight to discuss the situation with officials stating he still has some side nerf bar attached to his Toyota Genuine Parts Cool but was pushed infield.
Sensing blood Johnson, who started eighth, pushed on to pass fellow American Danny Smith for third on lap 30 to narrowly steal the overall East Coast Pipeline Speedweek and claim the Hoosier Hard Charger award.
Steven Lines and Ryan Farrel were racing hard for fifth in the closing laps of the feature event with Andrew Scheuerle finishing seventh, David Murcott recovering for eighth, Stephen Bell ninth and Matt Egel rounding out the top ten.
Two nights earlier Dollansky did not even record a time trail lap at Avalon Raceway, Geelong so the winning pass on lap 31 was a sweet moment. “First time here and what a great racetrack,” praised the American. “I hope it was a good race for the fans because there was a lot going on inside the car. Robbie (Farr) is one of the best in the country so I knew it was going to be tuff. We were side by side a few times and I’m happy to come out on top for Robin Dawkins and the team. I have only every raced at Parramatta so it was good to meet some new fans.”
The heat races were spiced with action on a slick but racey surface with the cushion pushed up high near the fence promoting slide jobs galore.
Johnson recorded the quickest time trial lap but finished last in heat 1 following a spin with Steven Lines. Danny Reidy just passed race leader Daniel Newhman when he attempted to perform a side job on Jamie Stark to place him a lap down. Slight contact sent them hard into the turn 4 wall and over in front of the field. Both Newnham and Gessner were unable to miss the carnage.
Smith drove around the outside of Wayne Rowlett and Grand Anderson on the final lap to win heat 2 and said after a bad time trial (18) he had to make moves like that to get to the front of the A (Main).
James McFadden was closing in on race leader Craig Vanderstelt in heat 3 when he inadvertently bumped Western Australian Daryl Clayden who hit the turn 2 wall and rolled.
Third generation driver Nick Lacey rode the main straight wall in heat 5, the nose dug in and flipped the youngster over landing back on all four wheels with a thud.
Heat 6 claimed Jason Kendrick who suffered a big flip on the opening lap in turns three/four. Bryan Mann was making progress, passing Tatnell and Dumesny before he hit the back straight wall and flipped.
It was almost a case of deja vu for McFadden in heat 7 when he pulled a brave slide job on Vanderstelt, diving through the middle of the South Australian and the lapped car of Clayden. Clayden spun and smoked up the tyres in a vein attempt to continue.
On this occasion McFadden was not sent to the rear of the field and with two laps remaining he performed the exact same manoeuvre on Vanderstelt, but without the traffic. “This time we zigged instead of zagged and got through. Hopefully this will put us in the middle of the B (Main) and not the back,” said McFadden.
Some track work before the C-Main provided a racing line on the bottom as well as the top so the large New Years crowd were treated to some exhilarating racing. Domain Ramsay and Kendrick were contesting third in the C-Main when Ramsay got crossed up and left Kendrick with nowhere to go. Jason Tranter rolled trying to miss the crash. The race was declared with Terry Pitt first and Glen Sutherland second.
Grant Anderson shot into a big lead over Steve Caunt, Mann and Kerry Madsen at the start of the B-Main with Sutherland pulling infield when the inside rear tyre pulled of the rim.
On lap 4 former Australian V8 Dirt Modified Champion Tim Morse spun, lifted the front wheels and tipped over backwards. Andseron pulled away once more with the Kendrick motor of Madsen smoking after he passed Mann for third. It was too much for the power plant and Madesn pulled infield on lap 9.
With two laps remaining Anderson fell into the clutches of Caunt who drove around the outside of the Albury racer to take the win from Anderson. Mann finished third, Veal took the final transfer position with McFadden just missing out. As it turned out being sent to the rear of the field in heat 3 really hurt the youngsters hopes.
Qualifying sixth and progressing through the Vortex Top 8 Shootout to start the 35-lap A-Main second behind winner Robbie Farr rewarded Smith’s hard driving in the heat races.
Sprintcar legends Bill Barrows, Brett Lacey and David Anderson signalled to the field to form up for the 4-wide salute to the crowd and they responded with the sparklers glowing on top of Mount Max.
Farr elected to start from the inside of the front row and pulled away from Smith, Tatnell, Dollansky, Murcott, Lines, Dumesny, Johnson and Farrell. On the opening lap Murcott passed Dollansky and Tatnell to settle in third. Dollansky passed Tatnell on lap 5 and then Murcott on lap 12.
Four laps latter Tatnell and Murcott had their altercation and the caution lights appeared to retrieve to broken nerf bar. Tatnell’s Speedweek aspirations sank with Smith in third behind a battling Farr and Dollansky but Johnson was still way back in seventh.
Farr managed to place three lapped cars between himself and Dollansky however the caution period for Dumesny on lap 28 put pay to that. By this time Johnson was fourth and as the pair at the front exchanged positions Johnson passed Smith to claim the East Coast Pipeline Speedweek by 16 points form Smith and a bitterly disappointed Tatnell who still leads the overall series points.
The Performance Wholesale World Series Sprintcars Championship resumes in Brisbane for Round 9 on January 8 and 9.
A-Main Results
1. USA7 Craig Dollansky
2. Q7 Robbie Farr
3. NQ47 Jason Johnson
4. USA4 Danny Smith
5. S45 Steven Lines
6. W95 Ryan Farrell
7. Q25 Andrew Scheuerle
8. Q29 David Murcott
9. V88 Stephen Bell
10. S29 Matt Egel
11. ACT9 Steve Caunt
12. Q16 Bryan Mann
13. W87 Carl Dowling
14. Q68 Cameron Gessner
15. V35 Jamie Veal
DNF
16. Max Dumesny lap 28
17. Grant Anderson lap 18
18. Brooke Tatnell lap 16
QSS Quicktime – Jason Johnson
Revolution Racegear Highest Heat Points – Danny Smith
Vortex Top 8 Shootout – David Murcott
Hoosier Hard Charger –Jason Johnson
DMI Lucky 11th – Steve Caunt
Pro Shocks Award – Jason Johnson
East Coast Speedweek Points
Jason Johnson 712
Smith 696
Tatnell 690
Farrell 672
Farr 662
Dumesny 654
Murcott 636
Mann 636
Lines 634
Madsen 618
Performance Wholesale World Series Sprintcars Points
Tatnell 1112
Farr 1080
Dumesny 1074
Farrell 1068
Mann 1008
Murcott 972
McFadden 972
Anderson 966
Johnoson 962
Gessner 956