SANDERS SUPREME IN FIRST ECS OUTING

Media release by: Brian Van De Wakker

Justin Sanders has dominated the 35-lap main event at Eastern Creek Speedway on December 30, becoming the first American to win a Sprintcar feature at the new venue.

The 30-year-old from Aromas, California started the main-event from second spot and held that position through the opening laps as pole sitter Ian Madsen led the first five laps. 

Sanders made his move on the inside of turn three on lap six, he only momentarily held the lead as two laps later Madsen went around the topside of the track as Sanders was getting held up with a lap car on the bottom.

The pair were side by side when a slowing Allan Woods hurt Madsen’s momentum on the top and Sanders was the clear leader – a caution would come out as Woods slowed with a broken steering arm bolt.

Both Sanders and Madsen fought for multiple laps after the restart, Sanders ultimately getting the upper hand as his car appeared to come off the bottom of turn two well.

Meanwhile current Australian champion Marcus Dumesny was charging through the field after starting 12th, he was up to third by lap 24 after passing Ryan Newton on the bottom down the back straight. Michael Saller was having a strong night, but produced the third caution of the race when he spun in turn one while running fifth.

On the restart with 10 laps to go, American Carson Macedo passed Newton for fourth – Macedo started the feature in 10th but would ultimately go on to finish fourth.

The race was halted with six laps to go when Grant Tunks rolled down the main straight after contact with another car.

He mentioned earlier in the night that this event would be the last international event of his career before retiring from the sport at the end of the season.

“Don’t know what we’ll do now because the first wreck tore us up a bit (29th October – rollover in the dash) with money and we’ll just assess it,” Tunks said after the crash. “We weren’t coming back until February but this is not the way I wanted to finish tonight.“It could be (how his career finishes), but we’ll see what happens.”

Sanders led the field back to the green flag, meanwhile with two laps to go, Dumesny passed Madsen on the bottom of turn two.

As they crossed the line with a lap to go, Dumesny went to the top to try and go around the outside of Sanders for the win, but as he did so the car lacked power and dropped back to third as Madsen passed him back on the bottom.

Dumesny confirming after the race that he’s continuing to suffer motor problems that saw him creep to the win on Boxing Night and the team will change the motor before the January 1 event.

The win for Sanders was a significant one for the John Weatherall owned Motorguard Motorsport USA #1, as he becomes the first American to win at Eastern Creek Speedway in a Sprintcar.

“Being the first time here, everything just kind of aligned,” Sanders said after the race.He revealed in the post-race interview that he was low on fuel towards the end.

“Can’t be more than a gallon (approx. 3.785 litres) or a gallon and a half because I’d go into the corner and it would run out and it would straighten out on the straight away when it would get back to the right rear and it would kind of take-off.”

Madsen claimed his second podium of his Australian season with a second place.“I thought it was going to stay a bit heavier than it did and we probably got a bit on the loose side and didn’t tighten up enough,” Madsen mentioned.

Third place for Dumesny was his fifth podium at the venue, just one shy of Jamie Veal with six.

“That format made it tricky for us having to start all the way back there and having to work for it but unfortunately everyone is in the same boat and you just got to make it work to the best of your ability.”

Macedo was fourth followed by Newton in fifth.

Matt Dumesny finished sixth, while Lachlan Caunt, Aaron Kelly, Sam Walsh and Jordyn Brazier completed the top ten.

Lightning Sprints
Kurt Wilson claimed his third NSW Lightning Sprints title in the 39th running of the event.

Wilson started the feature from fifth, but found his way into the lead by lap eight when he passed Jordan Binskin off the bottom of turn four.

Wilson then opened a sizeable margin before a yellow came out late in the race.

He wasn’t troubled on the restart, taking the win by exactly one second ahead of Chris Davis.

“It means the world at the moment, it’s been a long time,” Wilson said after the race.

It was 2134 days since he defended his state title win in 2017 at Parramatta, fast forward to 2022 and Wilson has had a difficult 12 months after his car was underwater during the floods in Lismore in February.“This one is up there, it’s been a long time.”

Second spot for Davis continues his podium run at the venue, now four in a row for this season.Scott Withers did enough to come home third after starting from pole, while Graham Largerlow came from sixth to finish in fourth – Jordan Binskin completed the top five.

RSA Street Stockers
Adrian Clark held on for the win in a drama filled RSA Street Stockers feature.

Clark started second and settled for the second early on as pole sitter Shaun Davoodi started from pole and led the opening portion of the race.Further back, Troy Dawes driving the Caitlyn Healey #25 was caught in a crash, causing a decent amount of damage on the front including a flat left front tyre, however he could continue.

Out in front Davoodi pulled infield on lap nine as his motor failed on him, later explaining that it was beginning to let go earlier in the night in heat two. Dawes charged through the field to be second and challenging for the win on the final lap, but Clark just held on at the line by 0.551 seconds.

Dawes and Ray Tyler completed the podium, while Rick Aberley had a solid drive to be fourth and Matt Hope in fifth.

AMCAs
Raymond Kime picked up his second feature race win at the venue in the AMCAs in a chaotic finish. Shane Cartwright was the early leader but was passed by Kime on lap 13.

With three laps to go, Cartwright spun in two turn, while Spano Gutierrez (running third), Darrell Kime (running fourth), and Mark Eveleigh (running fifth) were all caught up in the accident after having nowhere to go. For Darrell Kime and Eveleigh, they could continue in second and third respectively.

Out in front Raymond Kime led home a Kime one-two with Darrell finishing in second, while Steven Jones passed Eveleigh on the last lap to slot into third. Eveleigh was fourth with Darren Cassidy completing the top five.

Racing resumes on January 1 at Eastern Creek Speedway with Sprintcars, Midgets and Legend Cars.