By jak industries.media
The 2010 Qld Sprintcar Tri-City Shootout, which concluded in Toowoomba on Sunday night with the crowning of James McFadden as the inaugural Champion, has been hailed a resounding success by drivers and fans and just as importantly, the format has proven itself to be a solid blueprint to work off for the continued growth of the Easter Sprintcar racing festival in the years to come.
Just four points separated McFadden and Todd Wanless after three nights of racing, and it came down to the final race of the weekend to determine the Champion. In reality, any one of probably five or six drivers still had a shot at the Title going into the third and final night of racing, but in the end McFadden showed his class and is a worthy overall winner. Congratulations to James, his father and crew chief Dave and the entire Scott Milling team on their success.
The Shootout could not have been the success it was without the hard work of many people behind the scenes, especially Steve Thorley and Tony Cochrane who have been the driving force behind the concept this year. Together these two along with the Sprintcars Qld officials have worked with the promotional teams and track staff at Maryborough Speedway, Brisbane Internationals Speedway and Charlton Raceway in Toowoomba to bring the concept to reality. Thanks guys.
But of course none of this would have been possible without the generous support of the many companies who provided pool money and/or contingency awards for the forty drivers who raced in the Shootout over the past weekend, including major sponsors Ausdeck Patios and Roofing, Temporary Fence Hire, East Coast Logistics and Quick Time Chassis plus ACE Fireworks, Angel Transport, Kratzmann Caravans, KRE Race Engines, Magna Flow, Roadway Logistics and Westco Fuso Truck Sales.
Many of these companies are actively involved in the sport through their own association with various Sprintcar racing teams, yet had no hesitation in assisting their fellow racers by topping up the point fund and helping to push the entire prize money, pool money and contingency awards allocation through the $70,000 mark. Their generosity and support has been very much appreciated by all involved with the Tri-City Shootout.
At the conclusion of Sunday night’s races, a number of contingency prizes were also awarded to competitors including:
– Anthony Lambert (Q90): A complete Winters front end assembly courtesy of Kaeding Performance and BHR Fabrication
– Tim Garrett (Q31): MPD torque tube, ball and housing courtesy of Kaeding Performance
– David Muir (Q18): DMI Black Widow front hubs courtesy of Qld Speedway Spares
– Paul Rooks (Q64): VMAC torque ball and housing courtesy of Qld Speedway Spares
– Mark Pholi (Q14): Sprintcar radiator courtesy of Qld Speedway Spares
– Troy Coomber (NQ21): Set of headers courtesy of Thermal Edge Coating
– Gary Hann (N49): Six drawer toolbox and track mat courtesy of Spanloc and Kaeding Performance
– Steven Johnson (Q38): Six drawer toolbox courtesy of Spanloc
– Matthew Butler (Q71): Quad bike toolbox courtesy of Spanloc
– Gary Finglas (NQ67): Quad bike toolbox courtesy of Spanloc
– Murray Gibson (Q91): Quad bike toolbox courtesy of Spanloc
– Craig Stevenson (Q10): Quad bike helmet courtesy of Pro-Grip
– Dan Murray (Q44): Quad bike helmet courtesy of Pro-Grip
On top of these contingency awards, every driver received a complimentary gift pack courtesy of Sirromet Life-Style-Wine and six all-weather jackets were also made available for raffle ticket winners by Westco Fuso Truck Sales.
US based company R&R Racewear, in association with Racing Raymond, took care of the t-shirt designs and sales as well as the presentation of commemorative plaques to each night’s Dash winner and the top three drivers in the Feature race. Myla Graphics, a leading print and binding house in Brisbane, added their professional touches to the Shootout by supplying all the event signage, posters and other printed material.
The fans voted with their feet, with each venue reporting good crowd numbers despite the temptation of spending a day or two on one of Qld’s idyllic beaches during the long weekend and some expected but still early cooler weather on night three in Toowoomba. Early discussions with the organising committee indicate the promotional teams of all three racing venues are keen for the Shootout to not only become an annual event at their respective tracks, but to become a major event on the Qld Speedway racing calendar each year.
The Qld Sprintcar Tri-City Shootout also attracted its fair share of media interest with the Fraser Coast Chronicle, Brisbane’s Courier Mail and the Toowoomba Chronicle all running articles in their Sports pages while radio station 4BC in Brisbane interviewed former Qld Sprintcar Champion and Comp Cams Series Champion Andrew Scheuerle on their Sports Today program on Friday. Network 7 shot television footage and interviewed a number of drivers during the course of the Maryborough round of the Shootout, including Dash winner Todd Wanless and Feature race winner Peter Lack.
All three racing venues featured information and news regarding the Shootout on their respective track websites, as did the event’s sanctioning body, Sprintcars Qld. News and event information, as well as photos from the lenses of John and Carol Carrell (Maryborough/Toowoomba) and Darryl and Denise Barrington from Baron Media (Brisbane), were made available to a number of leading racing websites and magazines.
Trevor Petts, the infield voice at Brisbane International Speedway, commentated at all three shows on behalf of Sprintcars Qld and provided fans with plenty of insightful information during the racing. Good job Trev.
Finally, congratulations and thanks to all the drivers and their teams who competed in the Shootout, it was a weekend of great racing and in 2011, we’ll do it all again.
Qld Sprintcar Tri-City Shootout – Final Points (Top Ten):
James McFadden (456), Todd Wanless (452), Cameron Gessner (442), Richard Morgan (441), Adrian Maher (441), Darrell Hodges (430), Kevin Titman (408), Peter Lack (400), Brodie Tulloch (399), Mark Pholi (373).