By Daniel Powell
After over two months out of the winner’s circle, James McFadden returned to victory lane over the weekend when he took out the opening night of the Great Southern Showdown at Simpson Speedway in Victoria and in the process took out the overall win in the Great Southern Showdown point standings.
A victory in the opening night at Simpson Speedway and then a third place finish at Avalon Raceway for the second and final night was good enough to take out the Great Southern Showdown overall point standings win. The latter event also billed as the Victorian Title.
In what was his eighth feature race victory of the 2011/12 season and the first since his Premier Speedway World Series round victory on New Year’s Day, the NQ # 25 Totally Workwear Midland & VIC Park supported COOL driver was consistently the fastest driver at Simpson Speedway on the night. McFadden had dominated both of his heat races, but was pipped for pole position by Robbie Farr in the pole shootout. He therefore started from the outside of the front row in the feature race and settled in second place behind Farr up until the seventh lap when Farr was caught up in lapped traffic and forced to spin out and consequently was sent to the rear of the field for the restart. This handed the lead to McFadden, and for the remainder of the 30-lap event made no mistakes and claimed the win.
The following night at Avalon Raceway, McFadden enjoyed a consistent night. Finishing with a second and a fifth in his two heat races unfortunately wasn’t enough to qualify for the pole shootout. McFadden started the feature race from position eight, and from there worked his way up to third at the finish. This result was enough for him to wrap up the Great Southern Showdown overall point standings win, but also consolidate his current Avalon Raceway Track Championship point standings lead.
McFadden was pleased with his weekend overall, and the highlight was making a return to the feature race winner’s circle.
“It had been a while since I’ve been in victory lane, so it was great for the whole team to get back there,” the 22-year-old said. “We had a trouble free run and that was reflected in our results over both nights.”
With this coming weekend off, McFadden and the team are going to return to action for the Eureka Series Grand Finale on Saturday night, March 24 at one of McFadden’s favourite tracks, Premier Speedway.
Don’t forget to pick up your new James McFadden merchandise range. T-shirts are priced at $30 and Hoddies at $50. You can pick up your merchandise from the McFadden transporter at any of the race meetings that they contest. Alternatively, if you can’t get to the track, then you can place your order via email tdmcfadden@bigpond.com
McFadden would like to thank his car owner Scott Milling, parents Dave and Tania, crew chief Glen Beaton, and crew members Crackers and Alex, along with his valued sponsors Totally Workwear Midland & VIC Park, Western Diamond Drillers, AUS FUEL GULL, Lucas Oil Products Inc, Allstar Performance, Astro Titanium, KRE Race Engines, OMP, Racer Industries and COOL Chassis, for their ongoing support in the 2011/12 season.
To find out more about James McFadden, visit his official website www.jamesmcfadden.com.au