THRILLING SPRINTCAR REDLINE RACEWAY RETURN

Feature photo by: Dean Miller Photography.

Josh Buckingham has emerged victorious in the return of Sprintcars to Ballarat’s Redline Raceway, prevailing in a thrilling feature race for the C&H Trucking Pro Sprint Car Series on Saturday evening, February 17.

By virtue of strong results in his preliminary heat races (including one heat win), Buckingham started the feature race on the front row alongside Kim Loong Gosling.

At the start, Buckingham leapt to the lead and was never headed. Gosling held second for the opening stanza of the race, despite pressure from Dennis Jones. However, Jones spun while attempting a passing move and while he executed a brilliant save and was able to continue, his podium challenge faded and he slipped to sixth.

Gosling’s car performance also fell away towards the end and he was overhauled by Jacob Smith and Adam Greenwood, whose cars came on strongly in the later stages.

Amazingly, the feature race ran caution-free for its entire duration, something Buckingham was thankful for.

“The car was pretty settled through the whole race and I was able to build quite a big lead, so I was glad it ran green through to the finish – my task might have been tougher if there had been a caution to bunch up the field,” he said.

While the feature race ran green, a couple of the heat races were interrupted by incidents including rollovers for Alex Thompson (who was able to continue after fitting a spare wing) and Joe Lostitch (who was eliminated from the remainder of the evening’s proceedings due to chassis damage).

However, Lostitch redeemed himself by winning the prestigious Speedcars Beasley Family Memorial trophy, leading the feature race all the way.

“There’s only one word I can use to describe tonight – bittersweet,” Lostitch said.

“It means a lot to win the Beasley Memorial Trophy – it’s a family with rich history in Speedcars, so it’s an honour to collect it.

“While I led all the way, it certainly wasn’t straightforward from the driver’s seat – the track changed substantially mid-race, and my arms got sore from holding onto it.”

Nick Parker bounced back from being involved in an accident in one of the heat races to finish second in the Speedcar feature race ahead of Dillon Ghent.

Patrick Walsh withstood extreme pressure from Lachie Chivers to win the Standard Saloons feature, with Bailey Sinclair finishing third. Chivers actually took the lead from Walsh late in the race, only to make a mistake and hand the lead back to Walsh just a couple of laps from home.

In the Sports Sedans, Rhys Kakoschke and his brother Bailey were the form drivers in the heat races and Rhys duly won the feature, but Bailey was forced to settle for third behind Corey Knox.

Troy Desmond-Veal also showed front-running pace but a spate of tyre failures (three in total) put paid to his chances.

Danny Smith won the Unlimited Sedans feature from Ian Smith and Jaryd Carman, who steadily improved throughout the evening in just his third race meeting in the car; Gavin Ough recovered from a crash in the second heat race to finish fourth in the feature.

The next event at Redline Raceway will be held on 16 March, featuring Street Stocks King of the Mount, the AMCA Victorian Title and Wingless Sprints.