Castrol Lismore Speedway played host to the 71st running of the Australian speedcar grand prix last night and it was an action-packed night of entertainment for the huge crowd in the stands.
Drivers from all over the country come to contest the event all hoping to have put their name on the historic trophy. The format would see the thirty driver’s contest six heat racers held over 10 laps each.
With only the top 20 cars locking into the A main at the end of the night, drivers gave it their all throughout the heats and it was action aplenty.
The track surface was smooth and very fast throughout the night and it made for some awesome two and three-wide racing.
With all the heats complete the top 16 drivers on points locked themself into the main event and the remaining ten drivers had to contest a B main with the top four to transfer into the big dance.
The main event was one of the best speedcar races ever run at the Home of Champions.
At the drop of the green light, the mighty speedcars set sail and it was on like Donkey Kong.
As the race settled into a rhythm Nathan Smee and son of a gun Kaidon Brown made every post a winner as they started to gap the angry field trying to run them down.
Eventually Brown would make his way past Smee. Back in the pack and you didn’t know where to look because the action was everywhere.With only a handful of laps remaining it was coming down to a two-horse race between Kaidon Brown and namesake Charlie Brown. But as fate would have it Charlie bought on the red lights as his race came to an abrupt end with a mechanical issue in the rear end of his car.
With only four laps remaining on the lap counter, Kaidon wasn’t going to let this one slip away and he went on to cross the finish line ahead of Matt Geering and an ever-strong finishing Nathan Smee. Kaidon was very happy to get the win and have his name on the trophy as the 71st winner of the AGP.
The NSW Modlite title was also on the program and a strong field of twenty-four drivers from all over the east coast of the country came to Lismore. The night was also the running of the annual Kevvie Cup.
Heat racing was fast and action-packed throughout the night with some big crashes at times. The 25 lap Title event was one for the history books as defending champion Cory Stein would end up crossing the finish line to go back-to-back and win the NSW title for a second year in a row. Nathan Politch would finish in second place with Mitch Pammenter coming home with the third-place award.
In the support classes, Matt Hardy won the AMCA nationals feature race ahead of Bruce Marshall and NSW champion Steve Potts.
The F500 juniors feature was won by Charlie Bowen finishing just in front of Daisy Smith and Zack Hilder.
Jacob Jolly was awarded the win of the Wingless Sprints A main after a very scary crash involving Kevin Willis in turn four, although shaken up a little Kevin was ok.
Second place was awarded to the rockman Ray Eggins and third place went to Scott Thomsen.
All in all, it was another very successful meeting and another great way to spend your Saturday night at the Speedway.
Regards SHAQ.
Photo: Shaq’s Speedway Pics