VEAL UNDEFEATED AT EASTERN CREEK SPEEDWAY

Feature photo:
Eastern Creek Sprintcar 30 lapper. first three past the chequed flag…left to right: third-placed Marcus Dumesny, winner Jamie Veal and runner-up Brock Hallett.  photo by:  Anthony Sneddon.

By Meg Van Lohuizen

A strong performance by Jamie Veal has seen him claim his sixth Sprintcar feature race win at Eastern Creek Speedway.
Veal got the jump over Sam Walsh to lead the 30-lap race from start to finish.
It’s the first time Veal has driven his SWI Racing V35 at the track this season, but he says it wasn’t all smooth-sailing as they struggled with late-race pace.
“At the end there, I didn’t feel that good there at all,” Veal said.
“You come here and it’s a different track every time,
“Tonight was probably the most consistent it’s been through the whole night.”

An early retirement from Walsh left a tight battle for the remaining podium places.
Current Australian champion Marcus Dumesny was a force to be reckoned with in his first outing at the track this season, moving his way into second place in the early stages.

A slide-job battle with Brock Hallett saw Hallett relegated to fourth, behind Jessie Attard.
But Hallett wasn’t done yet – a fast finish saw him slide past Attard and Dumesny to pip them at the post and claim second, and his third podium at the venue.

“I didn’t realise it was the last lap and had a really good run out of four on the bottom, so I thought I better just send it in there and I didn’t realise I got two for one,” Hallett said, post-race.
“I probably didn’t have the best car but salvaged a good result.”
Dumensy managed to hold on in third, leaving Attard just outside the podium places.

“The team had a good car, I just wasn’t there for it,” Dumesny said.
“I just need to work harder.”
Troy Little crossed the line fifth, followed by Michael Stewart, who was subbing in for Mark Blyton and Aaron Kelly who charged from 16th.
Daniel Sayre was eighth, Luke Geering climbed 13 spots after coming through Last Chance Showdown to finish in ninth, while Lachlan Caunt rounded out the top ten.

WINGLESS SPRINTS
Jason Bates has won the Wingless Sprints feature race in his first appearance of the season at Eastern Creek Speedway.
Pole-sitter Travis Millar got a fast start and led for the first three laps, before Bates took the lead.

“The guys gave me a red-hot rocket all night,” Bates said post-race.
“The track was a little tricky and I think the boys have a done a good job to get me a fast car to run up the front.”
Millar closed the gap to Bates in the final laps to finish second.

Bailey Goodwin has extended his Club Championship lead with a third-place finish, in what is his first podium in a points-paying round at Eastern Creek.
Bradley McCarthy and Jaidyn Boulding rounded out the top five.
A great effort from Brayden Shute, who continued to work the top-side of the racetrack and charged from 12th to 6th in the feature.

COMPACT SPEEDCARS
A dominant drive by Former Australian Champion Mark Heaton saw him win the Compact Speedcar feature race in his first start at Eastern Creek Speedway.

Starting from 12th, Heaton powered through the field, before taking the lead from Rhys Birkett with six and a half laps to go.
After the race, Heaton said it was a tough job in lapped traffic.
“A few different setups that we’ve never done before seemed to work, so [I’m] happy with the result.”

Birkett was relegated to fourth following a three-wide battle with Kyle Sharp and Adam Ollerton.
A third-place finish from Ollerton was enough to put him into the club championship lead by a single point, over Kyle Sharp who finished second.

AMCA NATIONALS
Ross Nicastri put in a strong performance on debut in the AMCA Nationals, leading all 20-laps to win the feature race.

The former Australian Late Model Champion said after putting weeks of work into the car, it was great to get behind the wheel for the first time.
“I really, really enjoyed it,” he said. “It’s’a good car to drive.”

Jarrad Eveleigh took his second podium at the venue after finishing second.
Peter Markulin surged from ninth to make a bid at the top three, but fell behind Darrell Kime. Boyd Bowden rounded out the top five.

The next event will be held at Eastern Creek Speedway on Saturday, 19th November, featuring Midgets, V8 Dirt Modifieds, Lightning Sprints, RSA Street Stocks and RSA Juniors.