BROWN IS 2024 VICTORIAN SPEEDCAR CHAMPION

An epic three nights of Speedcar competition came to a close Saturday night, January 6, at the Heytesbury Stockfeeds Simpson Speedway and it’s Kaidon Brown (Kaidon Brown Racing) who is not only the new Victorian Speedcar Champion (Victorian Speedcar Drivers Association Inc), but also the overall Energy Hire WA Pro Speedcar Week Champion!

Brown was in dominating form all night, winning both of his heat races to qualify on the front row for the thirty lap Championship decider.

He was joined by West Australian youngster Cody Nash (Nash Racing), while row two would be filled out by Nick Porter (Allcott Hire – PMT Racing – V39) and Robert Heard (Heard Performance Racing): the grid originally to be set by a pole shootout, but due to weather concerns this would be scrapped.

Twenty drivers greeted the starter in the all-important Championship decider and it was Brown straight into the lead, Nash and Parker side by side behind him.

Nash and Parker went high in turn four and the two tagged, allowing Nathan Smee to enter the fray and he dived under both, Brown officially leading the opening lap from Parker, Smee and Nash. As the field went into turn one Nash and Justin McMillan would then come together going into turn one, seeing McMillan ride over the side of Nash and leaving Nash to spin to a stop. This left Kaleb Currie (Hardwyer Murphy Motorsport) with nowhere to go, hitting him and rolling, with Luke Redpath (Redpath Motorsport) and Zoe Pearce (Zoe Pearce Racing) also involved, hitting Currie as he rolled and all coming to a stop.

Nash, Currie and Redpath would be unable to restart while McMillan was sent to the rear for his part in the incident.

Brown led the restart with Parker and Smee desperately trying to stay with him, the top three pulling away slightly.

Jay Waugh (KEWL Motorsports) would start putting the pressure on fourth placed Robert Heard, able to make the pass on the front straight to complete lap five.

Heard fought back and retook the position down the back straight, but Waugh again fought back and would have the position across the line.

Heard came under pressure from Matt Jackson (Jackson Motorsports N97), contact seeing Heard hit the turn two wall but somehow he kept going, the order with ten complete being Brown ahead of Parker by nearly four seconds, followed by Smee, Waugh and Jackson.

Brown encounter the first of the lapped traffic two laps later, running the high line right around the speedway while the lapped cars all hugged the pole line. Despite being in heavy traffic Brown was able to maintain his lead, six lapped cars between him and Parker at the halfway point.

Parker was also now under pressure from Smee who charged underneath to grab second in turn one and two on lap sixteen, Parker fighting back down the back straight, then Smee doing the same in turn three and four to retake second once again, though Parker got back by across the line. Lap seventeen and eighteen were identical to this, the two trading positions out of every corner, while up front Brown was over seven seconds ahead.

Still Smee and Parker would slide and trade positions, Smee finally getting by on lap nineteen.

Shortly after, with nineteen laps complete, the yellows came on for a spinning Zoe Pearce, only the top eight cars on the lead lap as the race lined up to restart.

Brown was like a bullet from a gun, launching away and leaving the field in his wake as the race went back under green flag conditions, while Smee and Parker would continue to fight in close quarters, now joined by Jay Waugh.

Waugh passed Parker and then Smee, but the lap was negated as three cars came together in turn four, Heard, Dillon Ghent (Ghent Motorsport) and Mitch Saunderson (Mitch Saunderson Racing) all involved.

This set up a green, white, chequer finish and Brown didn’t need to be asked twice, racing away and claiming his first Victorian Championship win from Jay Waugh, who got past his other rivals to finish just over one and a half seconds behind Brown. Smee held on for third while Parker and Jackson would round out the top five.

With the night’s results added to the overall series points, Brown has also done enough to secure the overall series win, defeating Nick Parker by 133 points, with Matt Jackson 107 points further back in third. A full points tally will be released tomorrow.

The 2024 Energy Hire WA Pro Speedcar Week is proudly bought to you by Energy Hire WA, Mobil 1, Empire Machinery, Baretta Racing Products, C & H Trucking, American Tire & Racing Services, Empire Graphics, Methanol Moonshine, Speedway Australia and Speedcars Australia INC.

Release by DTN (Dirt Track Nutters) Media. Pics Courtesy PSW Media.

Contingency Awards

C & H Trucking Highest Qualifier – Kaidon Brown

Baretta Racing Chassis Hard Charger – Jordan McKay (+10)

American Tire and Racing Super 7 – Dillon Ghent

Mobil 1 Last Driver Standing – Jesse Nicholas

Beasley 1st Non Contracted Driver – Nathan Smee

Mobil 1 Non Contracted Last Man Standing – Justin McMillan

Official Results

Baretta Racing Chassis Heat One, 10 laps: 1. Nick Parker, 2. Matthew Radisich, 3. Luke Redpath, 4. Kaleb Currie, 5. Zoe Pearce, 6. Glen Shaw, 7. Cal Whatmore, 8. DJ Raw. DNF: Nathan Smee (7), Garth Thompson (7). Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 1.157. Fastest Lap: 14.969 Nick Parker.

Empire Graphics Heat Two, 10 laps: 1. Cody Nash, 2. Dave Lambert, 3. Matt Jackson, 4. Justin McMinn, 5. Jordan McKay, 6. Daniel Paterson, 7. Rhys Birkett, 8. Troy Hose, 9. Craig Smith, 10. Matt Papa. Total Time: 2.36.498. Winning Margin: 0.395. Fastest Lap: 15.326 Matt Jackson.

American Tire and Racing Heat Three, 10 laps: 1. Kaidon Brown, 2. Dillon Ghent, 3. Jay Waugh, 4. Luke Storer, 5. Jack McCarthy, 6. Mitch Saunderson, 7. Robert Heard, 8. Jesse Nicholas. DNF: Toby Smith (6), Caleb Mills (1). Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.535. Fastest Lap: 15.239 Kaidon Brown.

Baretta Racing Chassis Heat Four, 10 laps: 1. Nathan Smee, 2. Justin McMinn, 3. Daniel Paterson, 4. Cody Nash, 5. Rhys Birkett, 6. Nick Parker, 7. Dave Lambert, 8. Luke Redpath, 9. Cal Whatmore, 10. Matthew Radisich. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 1.890. Fastest Lap: 16.304 Nathan Smee.

Empire Graphics Heat Five, 10 laps: 1. Kaidon Brown, 2. Jack McCarthy, 3. Jay Waugh, 4. Kaleb Currie, 5. Zoe Pearce, 6. Dillon Ghent, 7. Jesse Nicholas, 8. DJ Raw, 9. Glen Shaw. DNS: Garth Thompson. Total Time: 2.46.176. Winning Margin: 0.338. Fastest Lap: 16.195 Kaleb Currie.

American Tire and Racing Heat Six, 10 laps: 1. Robert Heard, 2. Luke Storer, 3. Matt Jackson, 4. Jordan McKay, 5. Mitch Saunderson, 6. Caleb Mills, 7. Matt Papa, 8. Troy Hose. DNS: Toby Smith, Craig Smith. Total Time: 2.46.418. Winning Margin: 1.269. Fastest Lap: 15.972 Mitch Saunderson.

Speedway Australia B Feature, 12 laps: 1. Jesse Nicholas, 2. Mitch Saunders, 3. Zoe Pearce, 4. Jordan McKay, 5. Rhys Birkett, 6. Cal Whatmore, 7. Glenn Shaw, 8. Troy Hose. DNF: DJ Raw (4), Caleb Mills (1). DNS: Matt Papa, Toby Smith, Craig Smith. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.997. Fastest Lap: 16.016 Jesse Nicholas.

Energy Hire Feature, 30 laps: 1. Kaidon Brown, 2. Jay Waugh, 3. Nathan Smee, 4. Nick Parker, 5. Matt Jackson, 6. Jack McCarthy, 7. Dillon Ghent, 8. Justin McMillan (29), 9. Dave Lambert (29), 10. Jordan McKay (29), 11. Daniel Paterson (29), 12. Zoe Pearce (29), 13. Matthew Radisich (29), 14. Rhys Birkett (29), 15. Jesse Nicholas (29). DNF: Mitch Saunderson (28), Robert Heard (27), Cody Nash (1), Kaleb Currie (1), Luke Redpath (1). Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 1.600. Fastest Lap: 15.403 Kaidon Brown.