MADSEN CLAIMS FIRST CAREER WIN AT EASTERN CREEK

Story by: Meg Van Lohuizen / Brian Van De Wakker

Feature Photo by: Gary Reid

Ian Madsen avoided casualty in a caution-filled race to win the Sprintcar feature on his Australian season debut at Eastern Creek Speedway.

Madsen got the jump from the front row over pole-sitter Luke Stirton, but two consecutive yellows reset the field for a third race start.

A strong restart by Daniel Sayre put him in the fight for the lead with Stirton and Madsen, as they went three-wide down the back straight.

Sayre pulled off a slide-job in three and four to take away the lead, while Madsen was forced to fight off Kaidon Brown.

Brown continued to throw slide-jobs at Madsen in turns one and two but couldn’t pull one off.

As race leader Sayre approached lapped traffic, his younger brother Luke rolled in turn two, causing a red flag.

“I was getting around alright up the top and thought I’d try the bottom, but I drove it too narrow and drove it straight into the tyre,” he said after the crash.

Sayre pulled away from the field on the restart, and a fight between Stirton and Madsen opened the door for Kaidon Brown to move from fourth into second.

Madsen pulled away from Stirton, who was facing pressure from Michael Stewart before another caution bunched the field.

On the restart, Stewart pulled a slide-job on Stirton to move into fourth, before Stirton went upside down in turn two.

“I just tried to pass a car I probably shouldn’t have, went straight through the slick and just went up and over,” he said after the incident.

“[It’s] pretty disappointing, I’ve had a good night.”

Sayre had another strong restart, while Madsen pulled a slide-job to move up into second.

It was a tight battle for third between Brown, Stewart and Jessie Attard, before Stewart spun and another caution was called.

Two restarts later and Sayre was beginning to navigate through lapped traffic when Madsen and Brown started closing the gap.

Sayre spun in turn two after trying to go underneath lap traffic.

He dropped back to sixth as Madsen was gifted first.

“It was a new car combination tonight and it definitely felt a lot better… but I made a mistake and got a bit eager in lapped traffic,” Sayre said after the race.

“I knew I was pretty close, spun out in front of the lap counter [laughs], that’s what made it worse, when I looked up there was four laps to go – I thought, ‘I should’ve won this thing.’”

Brown was on the tail of Madsen to fight for the race win, but a mistake in the final lap helped Madsen to his first career win at Eastern Creek Speedway.

“I got off to a slow start and I didn’t really know where to be on the track… but I just kept changing my lines throughout the race and trying different things,” Madsen said after the race.

“We didn’t have the car quite where we wanted it to be, and we are going to have to work on that because the big players get here in a couple of weeks.”

Brown crossed the line second to secure his first podium in Sprintcars, ahead of Attard in third.

Jordyn Brazier came home fourth ahead of Troy Little in fifth.

Sayre crossed the line in sixth, ahead of Randy Morgan and Lachlan Caunt.

Jackson Delamont and Michael Saller rounded out the top ten.

Some significant crashes headlined the early part of the night.

Brett Hobson had a hard crash in time trials when he rolled in turns three and four. The car was destroyed but he was able to walk away.

In his first race on Australian soil this summer, Lynton Jeffrey was caught in a lap one turn one wreck in turn two. He was lucky enough to keep going for the remainder of the night, ultimately finishing 13th in the feature race.

Finally contact between Kyle Mock and Allan Woods result in Woods going upside down turn four. He was okay, but the team will have a lot of work to do before he returns to the venue to race on December 30 (he’s due to compete at Archerfield Speedway on Boxing Night).

Wingless Sprints

Jason Bates’ dominance at Eastern Creek Speedway continues with his third feature win in a row.

He now equals Jamie Veal (Sprintcars) as the only two drivers at the venue to win three straight features in any category.

Andrew Sayre came into the feature highest on points, but drew an invert of eight, meaning he had to start from eighth – it put John Egan off pole with Bates alongside him.

Bates led into turn one, quickly got to the bottom, while Troy Little started from fourth and ran the highline on lap one to vault into second.

Little challenged Bates in the early stages, but Bates measured the pace out in front to claim the win by 1.64 seconds.

“I’m trying to beat my record from a few years ago when we went six in a row, so the guys have given me a red-hot rocket, Dad’s given me a fast motor, so got to take the wins when we can get them.” Bates mentioned.

Club Championship leader Bailey Goodwin charged from seventh to claim his second podium at the venue with another third place.

For the second meeting in a row, Scott Fitzgerald finished in fourth followed by Blake Darcy, Sayre, Brayden Shute – who charged from the B-Main on his 17th birthday, Andrew Seery and Egan completing the top 10.

Late Models

Todd Bayley secured his first win at Eastern Creek Speedway after a drama filled feature.

Daniel Cassidy started off pole with Bayley alongside, they went side-by-side for an entire lap and a half on lap two, but it was Cassidy who got the upper hand.

Cassidy built up a margin before his lead evaporated in lap traffic.

With six laps to go the pair were again side-by-side heading into turn one before contact was made, Bayley spun and came to a stop on the top of turn one.

Cassidy was sent rear of field for his involvement in the incident, before making contact with another car which ended his race.

Out in front, Bayley held off Aaron Barnes to secure the victory while Nathan Herne claimed his first podium in a Late Model by finishing third.

“Daniel (Cassidy) got held up with lap traffic, he got the jump on me at the start and I knew he was going to be quick because he’s been really good all night,” Bayley said.

“He’s a really good driver, he’s clean and I know I’ve got no hard feelings with what he did to me there, that’s just racing.

“It’s a shame he didn’t get to finish the race because I was looking forward to doing the full 20 laps with him.”

Robert Carrig and Mark Towers completed the top five, while Ed Borg held off Ben Nicastri, Mark Letham and Nathan Disney in a great battle for sixth – Joel Carrig completed the top 10.

Lightning Sprints

Scott Withers secured back-to-back feature wins in the Lightning Sprints after winning the 15-lap feature from pole.

Current Australian Champion AJ McTaggart started down in sixth but quickly moved forward, going around the outside of Chris Davis on lap four to move into third.

Graham Lagerlow held second for the opening laps before dropping back to fourth by races end after a moment in turns one and two on lap eight.

Withers claimed the win by just under a second ahead of McTaggart and Davis who kept the pressure on McTaggart.

“My throttle return spring came off at the end so I was just sort of holding on for grim life,” Withers said after the race.

Action returns on Boxing night, Monday 26th December with Sprintcars, Midgets, Wingless Sprints and Monster Trucks.