By T.J. Buffenbarger
DARIN, N.T. (August 27, 2022) – Ben Atkinson Jr. scored a victory for the home team during the finale of the Chariots of Thunder Sprint Car Series Saturday night at Northline Speedway. Atkinson, who hails from Darwin, took the lead from Matt Egel on lap 11 and drove away from the field during several late race restarts for the $10,000 victory.
Afterwards Atkinson was elated in victory lane to win in front of his home fans at a facility where his father saw a lot of success at.
“I am honestly lost for words. I can’t believe it!” said Atkinson. “It has been a long time coming. And I’ve watched my dad race this series for a very long time and we just watched, I can’t believe we’ve just won it!”
Atkinson’s father let him know he was pulling away during the restarts, knowing he just had to stay mistake free to hold the lead.
“I think he’s honestly more loss for words than me,” Atkinson said of his father after the race. I saw him on the fence before that last restart with a thumbs up. We have some hand signals that we went through and there was nothing other than you are doing good. That means we were haulin’ ass.”
Akinson got the loudest cheer of the night saluting the fans after his emotional victory.
“I would like to thank the crowd, the Hill’s packed, and the territory won it! Yeah baby!”
Grant Anderson, Callum Williamson, Lachlan McHugh, and Steven Lines rounded out the top five.
McHugh’s bounced back from a 360-degree spin on the opening lap, using that fourth-place finish to secure the overall 2022 Chariots of Thunder point championship.
Jamie Veal attempted to claim a $20,000 bonus to win the finale from the tail of the field. Veal made it up to 8th at the halfway point of the feature when he slowed with mechanical issues.
Daniel Harding picked up his third midget car feature during the four race Chariots series on Saturday over Tom Payet and Matt Jackson.
The 2023 Chariots of Thunder Series will take place August 18-19, 25-26, 2023.