By Daniel Powell
Although it wasn’t the most ideal of circumstances, James McFadden made his third appearance for the Paul Morris Motorsport team and recorded the feature race victory honours in last Saturday night’s final round of the KRE Sprintcar Series at Archerfield Speedway in Queensland.
After the cancellation of his USA tour the week before, McFadden took up the opportunity to step into the QLD # 67 Paul Morris Motorsport / Supercheap Auto J&J for the third occasion this season. In his previous two outings for the team, the Queensland Title and a round of the KRE Series, he had finished in second place.
McFadden may have scored a commanding victory, but it wasn’t all clear sailing on the night. After he had qualified second in time trials and finished fifth in his opening heat race, McFadden failed to finish his second heat race due to a coming together with another competitor.
Due to his non-finish in the second heat race, McFadden started the feature race out of position 10. Never one to shy away from a challenge, he remained confident going into the feature race, due to the speed shown throughout the night, and from the drop of the green flag wasted little time working his way towards the front of the field. By the middle stages of the 30-lap journey, McFadden had moved inside the top three. From there, McFadden worked his way into the lead on the 21st lap, and from there, despite numerous stoppages in the closing stages, powered away from the field and record a comfortable win.
“It was great to get into the winner’s circle for the Paul Morris Motorsport team, as we had made a number of changes going into the meeting to make me feel more comfortable and it worked out with the best possible result,” expressed McFadden, whose latest feature race victory was his ninth of the 2011/12 season. “We had a bit of bad luck in our second heat race and therefore started deep in the feature race field, but that didn’t deter our team and we still felt confident.”
Special thanks from McFadden must go to Paul Morris, Bobby Smith, along with Supercheap Auto and the entire Paul Morris Motorsport team for the opportunity to drive for them.
In terms of his off season plans, McFadden is now focusing on preparing for the upcoming 2012/13 season.
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