JAMES INGLIS IS THE KING

James Inglis took out the latest edition of the King of Wings event (sponsored by Scardifields Smash Repairs at the Perth Motorplex Speedway on Saturday night, November 19 – in what was a big night of sprintcar racing, with more than 70 sprintcars featured across three divisions.

The event was round three of the 2022-23 Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series, with Inglis and Diamond Bay Motorsport winning the 40-lap feature race from Jason Kendrick and Dayne Kingshott.

Not only did Inglis take the win, but he also pocketed the extra $5000 bounty that was put up by Frank Scardifield from event sponsor Scardifields Smash Repairs for being the driver leading the pack when the compulsory infield pitstop was called to break the race into two sections.

The bounty was paid because Inglis was the front runner when the stoppage was called and was still in front at the end.

Inglis started the night off by being fourth quickest in his qualifying group and because of the top four invert, he started his heat race from the front row which he won.

He then won the A Dash from the front, setting up a pole start for the main event.

Inglis was joined on the front row by Kingshott who was the quickest in his qualifying group, went from fourth to second in his heat race and then won the B Dash.

The feature race started with 22 cars, with both Nathan Swan and George Eaton being non-starters.

Inglis got the jump at the start over Kingshott and very quickly opened up a buffer.

Kingshott was then locked into a duel with Andrew Priolo, who started from p4, and shortly afterwards Kendrick, who started from the third row, joined in on the party.

Kendrick then slid under Kingshott but the Krikke Motorsport entry was equal to the task and after trading lines, Kingshott won the early contest.

Inglis opened up a big gap and moments later the field grouped up as the first caution period came on.

On the restart Kye Scroop, looked racy in the middle of the pack, while Inglis again got the jump and enjoyed fresh air out in front before he reached lapped traffic.

AJ Nash, who started from the fourth row, was having a good bout with Kendrick and pursued the lower line which appeared to be working for a while and shortly after Kris Coyle spun onto the bike track from the back straight and was out of the show.

He remonstrated with his arms that the cautions should have come on, but to no avail.

With 10 laps in the book Inglis was deep in traffic on a track that was starting to get dusty, a big turnaround after good rainfall fell in the couple of days leading up to the event.

By this stage Scroop had got by Nash for fifth and he was looking to bank more solid points after he won the first feature race of the season back on October 22.

The next caution period was on lap 12, when officials called the pitstop after earlier telling drivers it would be called somewhere between lap 12 and 20.

Inglis then again opened up a good lead over Priolo and the rest of the pack and Kendrick unsuccessfully tried an inside run on Kingshott but the move didn’t stick – he did get by a few laps later and after 15 laps Nash was fifth over Scroop,

Two laps later Trent Pigdon headed infield, just before Inglis was up on the backmarkers Jack Williamson and Mitchell Wormall.

Kingshott by this stage was also back in front of Kendrick.

On lap 23 Inglis put Daniel Harding a lap down, an interesting move with Harding being the defending King of Crowns champion.

Harding was struggling and it became obvious when he spun around on the approach to the main straight, for another caution period, and Inglis lost his big lead again.

With 15 laps to go it was Inglis, Andrew Priolo, Kingshott, Kendrick and Scroop – and while Priolo edged closer to the leader, the orange lights were back on – this time after Robbie Farr and Nash made contact on the main straight.

With 14 to go Inglis set sail again with Andrew Priolo in pursuit and this time Kendrick made a move over Kingshott for third, putting a gap on him as there were intense midfield battles involving David Priolo, Matt Egel, Scroop, Brad Maiolo, Taylor Milling, Callum Williamson and Jason Pryde.

David Priolo was on the move and running the lower line to his advantage as Scroop got his car crossed up and momentarily ended on the bike track before rejoining the action with seven laps to go.

Milling headed to the infield with four laps to go with what looked like front end damage and then Andrew Priolo went a little too deep in turn two, and spun, with Kendrick just missing him.

On the final restart it was Inglis to lead away from Kendrick, Kingshott, Egel and David Priolo and it was a mad dash to the finish line.

David Priolo, who started from p10, took fourth over Egel who started from p15 and finished fifth.

Maiolo took sixth after starting from p3 and this result goes with his ninth and fifth in the first two rounds.

Defending series champion Callum Williamson, who had engine issues earlier in the night and had to dig deep, started p19 and finished seventh, advancing an incredible 12 spots, to be the Kincrome Hard Charger.

Pryde finished eighth after starting from p18, also a great drive, while ninth went to Ryan Lancaster who started from p21, showing plenty of progress as the race went on.

Nash rounded out the top 10, followed by Scroop, Wormall, Jack Williamson and Jaydee Dack.

Drivers who elected to play their Jokers (doubling their feature race points) in the first of five opportunities were Robbie Farr, Dayne Kingshott, Jason Kendrick, Taylor Milling, Kye Scroop, Callum Williamson, James Inglis and Andrew Priolo, with the second of five Joker window opportunities opening on the December 26 show.

With three rounds in the books, Kendrick leads on 580 points from Kingshott and Inglis on 568 each, Callum Williamson 528 and Scroop 520 to round out the top five.

The next round of the Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series will be the WA Sprintcar Championship – John Day Classic at the Perth Motorplex on Saturday, December 3.

This is the last local show before the first of seven rounds of Sprintcar Speedweek that starts at the Motorplex on December 26.

RESULTS:

Qualifying: Group 1: Jason Kendrick 13.172, Daniel Harding 13.217, Jaydee Dack 13.271, Trent Pigdon 13.467, Jason Pryde 13.580, Kaiden Manders 13.623, Todd Davis 13.817, Matthew Cross 18.346.

Group 2: Brad Maiolo 13.132, Taylor Milling 13.147, Robbie Farr 13.281, Andrew Priolo 13.421 Rusty Hickman 13.444, Nathan Swan 15.771, George Eaton 15.791, Mitchell Wormall 16.103.

Group 3: Dayne Kingshott 13.253, AJ Nash 13.286, David Priolo 13.320, James Inglis 13.334, Matt Egel 13.364, Kris Coyle 13.480, Ryan Lancaster 13.499, Jack Williamson 13.538, Callum Williamson 14.560.

Heat 1: 1st Jason Kendrick, 2nd Trent Pigdon, 3rd Jaydee Dack, 4th Daniel Harding, 5th Jason Pryde, 6th Todd Davis, 7th Matt Cross.

Heat 2: 1st Andrew Priolo, 2nd Kye Scroop, 3rd Robbie Farr, 4th Rusty Hickman, 5th Brad Maiolo, 6th Mitchell Wormall, 7th Taylor Milling, 8th Nathan Swan. DNS George Eaton.

Heat 3: 1st James Inglis, 2nd Dayne Kingshott, 3rd David Priolo, 4th AJ Nash, 5th Matt Egel, 6th Kris Coyle, 7th Callum Williamson, 8th Ryan Lancaster, 8th Jack Williamson.

A Dash: 1st James Inglis, 2nd Brad Maiolo, 3rd AJ Nash, 4th Jason Kendrick, 5th Jaydee Dack, 6th Trent Pigdon.

B Dash: 1st Dayne Kingshott, 2nd Andrew Priolo, 3rd Kye Scroop, 4th Robbie Farr, 5th David Priolo, 6th Daniel Harding.

Midpack Dash: 1st Taylor Milling, 2nd Kris Coyle, 3rd Matt Egel, 4th Mitchell Wormall, 5th Todd Davis, 6th Jason Pryde, 7th Callum Williamson, 8th Rusty Hickman, 9th Ryan Lancaster, 

10th Jack Williamson, 11th Nathan Swan.

Feature: 1st James Inglis, 2nd Jason Kendrick, third Dayne Kingshott, 4th David Priolo,

5th Matt Egel, 6th Brad Maiolo, 7th Callum Williamson, 8th Jason Pryde, 9th Ryan Lancaster, 

10th AJ Nash, 11th Kye Scroop, 12th Mitchell Wormall, 13th Jack Williamson, 14th Jaydee Dack. DNF: Andrew Priolo, Taylor Milling, Daniel Harding, Robbie Farr, Rusty Hickman, Trent Pigdon, Kris Coyle and Todd Davis.

Kincrome Hard Charger: Callum Williamson, with Brad Maiolo being the Hard Charger for Rd2.

Hoosier tyre draw winner: Dayne Kingshott.

Victory 1 Performance Quick Time: Brad Maiolo.

Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series points after Rd3 : Jason Kendrick (Joker) 580, Dayne Kingshott (Joker), James Inglis (Joker) 528 each, Callum Williamson (Joker) 528, Kye Scroop (Joker) 520, 

Taylor Milling (Joker) 508, Andrew Priolo (Joker) 482, Brad Maiolo 410, David Priolo 398, Ryan Lancaster 390, Jason Pryde 382, Robbie Farr (Joker), Mitchell Wormall 374 each, Kris Coyle, 

Jaydee Dack 370 each, Trent Pigdon 366, AJ Nash 362, George Eaton 292 Daniel Harding 258, Troy Lawson 240, Jack Williamson 230, Nathan Swan, Todd Davis 214 each, Brenten Farrer 174, 

Matt Egel 140, Rusty Hickman 112, Matthew Cross 50.

Jokers played at 1st rd of 5 opportunities: Robbie Farr, Dayne Kingshott, Jason Kendrick, Taylor Milling, Kye Scroop, Callum Williamson, James Inglis and Andrew Priolo.

What’s next?

Rd4 – WASprintcar Championship – John Day Classic, Perth Motorplex Speedway, December 3.

Rd5 – WA Sprintcar Speedweek – Rd1, Perth Motorplex, Boxing Day night December 26.

Rd6 – WA Sprintcar Speedweek – Rd2, Perth Motorplex, December 28.

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