JASON KENDRICK DOMINATES MADDINGTON TOYOTA SPRINTCAR SERIES

             Jason Kendrick celebrates his fourth win of the season. Photo by Bruce Russell

The Jason Kendrick juggernaut, that hit the throttle at the start of the 2021-22 Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series, continued at the Perth Motorplex Speedway Kwinana Beach on Sunday night, when he claimed his fourth win from five outings.

Kendrick took the win from Callum Williamson and Daniel Harding in what was also the first round of the six-night WA Speedweek competition that concludes on January 15.

WA drivers are set for a big festival of racing over the festive period and thanks to the $20,000 support from Speedway Australia, the drivers who contest 

all six rounds will share in an overall prize pool – including a cool $10,000 awarded to the winner of WA’s version of the Stateside Series.

Kendrick’s win was a big one for more than one reason.

He was also one of eight drivers who elected to play their Joker card on the night and double their feature race points.

As a result he has now rocketed into the clear outright lead.

He started the night in the best possible fashion when he was quickest in his qualifying group and fastest overall for the Victory 1 Performance Quickest Time, 

before taking a third in his heat race in a compressed show because of extreme warm weather conditions experienced in WA over the Christmas break.

And speaking of the extreme weather – a big hats off to the Perth Motorplex speedway management and crew who managed to offer up a good race track – the result of a lot of TLC in recent days to overcome the very hot conditions.

The first attempt at the feature race was aborted and on the next attempt it was not the start Shaun Bradford was looking for, after he spun the W57 and rejoinied at the rear of the field – albeit somewhat off the pace.

Dayne Kingshott, who started from pole, was the early leader over Daniel Harding from position two, Taylor Milling, who came from P7, Kendrick and Trent Pigdon, who came out of P8.

David Priolo banged the wall and was limping his way to the infield when he was collected by Trevor Jolly on the back straight and both cars became locked together together for a red light stoppage.

It was another heart-breaking end for Priolo who continues to look very fast but has come up short in the results department.

He started from P6 for the final and Jolly started from 13 and was able to get a restart.

With five laps in the books it was Harding who was now in the lead from Kingshott and Williamson who was searching for some extra pace and grip on a higher line that the front runners weren’t using.

On the next lap Williamson made a telling move on Kingshott and set sail for Harding out in front.

Kendrick also went a bit higher as he edged closer to Kingshott.

On lap 10 Williamson went underneath Harding for the lead and Kendrick had won the battle with Kingshott for third by this stage.

Harding opted to stay lower than Kendrick at this point and after the pair traded lines in a great tussle in traffic, Kendrick stretched the legs on the W11 for the spot.

With 13 laps remaining Williamson’s advantage, with his freshly-built KRE powerplant, had been eroded after Matthew Cross spun, forcing a restart.

On the restart it was Williamson who led away from Kendrick, Harding, Milling, Kingshott and Pigdon.

Kendrick got the jump as the lights went green but it was to no avail after Ryan Lancaster pulled up at the end of the main straight and was eventually dispatched 

to the work area and soon out of the show.

He, too, played his Joker card on the night.

The next time away Williamson was a bit more guarded but Kendrick was still able to be in front by the time the pair entered the back straight.

Cameron McKenzie, making his season debut in the beautifully-looking yellow W4, ended up on the fence at the end of the main straight, seeing yet another restart.

Kendrick led away from Williamson and Harding who had a look down the inside to see if he could reclaim second, but the defending series champion was able to hold the spot down.

With eight laps remaining Kendrick was back into lapped traffic and Williamson was pushing hard on the high line, even clipping the concrete fence in pits bend on his way around.

Milling was pushing hard and closed in on Harding for third as they hit traffic – Milling opted for the lower line and Harding the higher as they approached Jolly in turns 1-2.

Unfortunately Jolly was the big loser in the battle after being hit by Milling, flipping the W18 and ending a tough night.

With six laps remaining, Kendrick led away the final restart from Williamson and Harding and that is how they ran to the flag.

The three-time series champion, who only enjoyed two wins last year, has made himself the man to beat this year.

For Williamson it was a solid result and another podium and just as importantly for him, a big points haul after also electing to play his Joker card, rocking up to fourth overall.

This was on the back of an earlier heat race win.

For Harding another podium also sets him up well for a big season.

He is yet to play his Joker card and with two of the three options left being at the Perth Motorplex, he admitted that’s where he will play his hand, instead of at Ellenbrook Speedway.

Milling was another who played his Joker on the night and his fourth in the final paid big dividends and took him to second in series points.

Earlier in the night he was third quickest in his qualifying group and then took a fourth in his heat race.

Pigdon took plenty of positives home from his latest showing in the W19.

He was fourth quickest in his qualifying group and then crossed the line first in his heat race, only to be relegated two places for jumping the start.

Despite this he converted a P8 start into a top five finish.

Kingshott slipped back to sixth in the W2 and now he is fifth overall in the series points.

Jason Pryde was third in his qualifying group and was second in his heat race, setting up a P5 start in the final, before finishing seventh.

He is another driver who is pondering when to play his Joker card.

Andrew Priolo, the early points leader and one of the first to play his Joker card, is now third overall after his eighth place on Sunday night.

This was another stout finish for the W8 pilot after he started from P12.

Bradford salvaged some pride after he clawed his way from the back of the field to finish ninth overall and now he is 10th in the series points.

AJ Nash, another to play his Joker on the weekend, is sixth overall after he finished the latest round in 10th.

Former two-time series champion Brad Maiolo crossed the line in 11th after starting from P9, while Cross, who started from P14, 

recovered from his early spin to be 12th and after playing his Joker hand, is eighth overall.

Kris Coyle finished 13th in what was a tough night for the W79.

He was disqualified from his heat race after failing to go to the scales and as a result he started from P19, but dug deep and stayed out of trouble to bank some more points.

Jaydee Dack started from P10 and finished 14th, while Jack Williamson, who started P20, crossed the line in 15th.

David Priolo and Trevor Jolly’s decision to play their Jokers on the night weren’t successful, with both being DNFs.

The second round of WA Speedweek will be held at the Perth Motorplex on Tuesday, December 28, which is also round six of the Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series.

There are also three more opportunities for drivers to play their Joker cards and double their feature race points – January 1 Perth  Motorplex, January 8 (Ellenbrook Speedway)  and January 15 (Perth Motorplex.)

Jack Williamson was the winner of the Hoosier tyre draw for this round.

Qualifying:

Group 1: Jason Kendrick 13.320, David Priolo 13.447, Jason Pryde 13.575, Callum Williamson 13.592, Brad Maiolo 13.619, Jaydee Dack 13.748, Shaun Bradford 13.776, Kris Coyle 13.907, Trevor Jolly 13.965, Jack Williamson NTT.

Group 2: Dayne Kingshott 13.454, Daniel Harding 13.498, Taylor Milling 13.545, Trent Pigdon 13.677, Ryan Lancaster 13.780, Andrew Priolo 13.820, Matthew Cross 13.861, Cameron McKenzie 13.971, Mitchell Wormall 13.973, AJ Nash 14.200.

Heat 1: 1st Callum Williamson 2nd Jason Pryde, 3rd Jason Kendrick, 4th David Priolo. 5th Jaydee Dack, 6th Brad Maiolo, 7th Shaun Bradford, 8th Trevor Jolly, 9th Jack Williamson. DQ Kris Coyle.

Heat 2: 1st Daniel Harding, 2nd Dayne Kingshott, 3rd Trent Pigdon, 4th Taylor Milling, 5th Andrew Priolo, 6th Ryan Lancaster, 7th Matthew Cross, 8th AJ Nash,  9th Cameron McKenzie, 

10th Mitchell Wormall.

Feature race: 1st Jason Kendrick, 2nd Callum Williamson, 3rd Daniel Harding, 4th Taylor Milling, 5th Trent Pigdon, 6th Dayne Kingshott, 7th Jason Pryde, 8th Andrew Priolo, 9th Shaun Bradford, 10th AJ Nash, 11th Brad Maiolo, 12th Matthew Cross, 13th Kris Coyle, 14th Jaydee Dack, 15th Jack Williamson. DNF: Trevor Jolly (23 laps), Cameron McKenzie (17 laps), 

Ryan Lancaster 16 laps, Mitchell Wormall (15 laps), David Priolo (one lap). 

Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series points: Jason Kendrick (Joker) 874, Taylor Milling (Joker) 832, Andrew Priolo (Joker) 812, Callum Williamson (Joker) 808, 

Dayne Kingshott (Joker), AJ Nash (Joker) 768, Ryan Lancaster (Joker) 744, Matthew Cross (Joker) 732, David Priolo (Joker) 724, Shaun Bradford (Joker) 712, Daniel Harding 684, Kris Coyle 644, 

Brad Maiolo 632, Jason Pryde 612, Jayde Dack 602, Trevor Jolly (Joker) 596, Darren Mewett 500, Jack Williamson 464, Trent Pigdon 462, Chace Karpenko 400, Todd David 378, Mitchell Wormall 344, 

James Inglis 334, Robbie Farr 278, George Eaton 278, Cameron McKenzie 116, Kaiden Manders 112.

Upcoming rounds

Rd 6: Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series/Speedweek Rd2

Perth Motorplex Speedway, December 28

Rd 7: Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series/Speedweek Rd3

Perth Motorplex Speedway, January 1

Rd 8: Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series/Speedweek Rd4

Perth Motorplex, January 2