VEAL SEALS THE DEAL WITH SPRINTCAR FEATURE WIN

Feature Photo:   Jamie Veal heads to victory in the Sprintcar feature race at Eastern Creek Speedway, October 15. Photo by: Gary Reid.

JAMIE VEAL provided a superb display of traffic driving on the way to an emphatic Sprintcar main event victory at Eastern Creek Speedway, Saturday October 15.

Veal, driving the Dyson Motorsport entry, was a cut above the opposition when it came to the main event and put the exclamation mark on his domination throughout the night as he led Jessie Attard and Michael Saller to the finish of the 30-lap feature. Using both the high and low lines, Veal  lapped consistently in the high 11-second bracket with a speed edging 140 km/h. 

Even though he started off the front row, it was the show which unfolded over the 30 laps when the race went green that completely stamped Veal’s authority on the event and his night.

In a master class performance, Veal won both his heats and also took out the gold shoot-out.

“The car ran beautifully tonight and I thank Dyson Motorsport for giving me such a great car,” Veal said in the pit area after the meeting.

Meanwhile it was a five-star card that opened the 2022-2023 ECS season as Michael Stewart raced to a strong win in the Midget Feature, while Kobie Wright was a Formula 500 Junior main event winner with Blake Matthews victorious in the Formula 500 Senior feature race and Chris Marino won the Street Stocks feature.

Michael Saller took advantage of his pole position Sprintcar A-Main starting spot and immediately raced to the lead over Veal who shared the front row with Saller. Jessie Attard, Warren Ferguson and Troy Little also were well placed in the early stages but it was Veal who had control after ten laps when he took the lead.

There was a yellow light with 14 laps remaining after an incident on the back straight involving Mark Blyton but when the race resumed Veal again opened up a comfortable lead. This was the pattern of the race and nobody could haul in Veal over the remaining laps. 

In addition to Veal’s two heats wins, Attard, Little, Sam Walsh and Saller won heats. Walsh was quickest in the group one time trials with a time that was the best overall of the night when he put down an 11.548 second lap and a speed of 143.401 km/h.

The last chance Sprintcar feature was a won by Daniel Sayre from Brendan Scorgie and Grant Tunks. It was a rough and tumble affair after a crash on the back straight midway through the event involved Ashleigh Jack and Todd McKittrick who were both unjured.

NSW Champion Michael Stewart was an impressive winner of the 20-lap Midget feature. 

NSW Midget Champion Michael Stewart. Photo by: Gary Reid.

Michael had some work to do after he started from a rear-of-field starting position as Jamie Hall, Daniel Patterson, DJ Raw and Jeffrey Burns were the early lap front runners.

Stewart was on the move and nearing half distance was up to fourth. Several laps later he reached the lead and gradually moved away from the opposition. The race was halted with seven laps remaining after Daniel Patterson flipped entering turn one. Patterson was caught in a traffic jam on the main straight and ultimately finished upside down against the concrete wall.

Daniel Paterson takes a wild ride at Eastern Creek Speedway’s opening meeting of the season. Photo by: Gary Reid.

Patterson was uninjured as the remainder of the race ran without incident. On his way to victory Stewart set fastest lap in the feature at 14.735 seconds (112.385 km/h).

Michael enjoyed a very successful night and set the scene earlier what was to follow with two heat victories. Hall and Mitch Brien also won Midget heats.

Kobie Wright dominated the Formula 500 Junior events with not only a feature race victory but  he also won his heat. Cooper Norman, who was runner-up, also took out the other F500 Junior heat, while Riley Parson was third in the feature.

Blake Matthews got the job done nicely in the Formula 500 Senior feature race and also set fastest time of the race in his victory over Paul Gray and Tim Randell. 

A good field of Street Strocks contested their 15-lap main event and as an indication of the competitive level in the race, the first eleven cars at the finish on the same lap.  Taking into account 16 cars in the 19 car field still ran at the finish of the race, typifies the high standard of competition from the division.

The action continues next Saturday night when Late Models, V8 Dirt Modifieds, Wingless Sprints, Compacts and Legend Cars are programmed.