After a difficult weekend prior during the Darwin 360 Sprintcar Title, local Jason McIver last weekend at Darwin’s Northline Speedway managed to bounce back to clinch the HB Concrete supported Northern Territory Title.

In what was the finale of the annual Top End Challenge, which was held over two weekends comprising of both the Darwin and Northern Territory Titles, McIver finished on a high by dominating the feature race.

What made McIver’s win more satisfying was the fact that he was able to defeat current Australian 360 Sprintcar Champion and the previous weekend’s Darwin Title winner Chad Ely in second and consistent local Ben Atkinson in third. The podium in the NT Title was a true reflection of the two weekends, with all three drivers being consistently the fastest drivers.

In the NT Title deciding feature race, McIver, who had started from position four, had to fight his way to the front with the likes of Atkinson and Danny Porter. Just after the halfway mark of the 30-lap event, McIver moved into the lead. Once out in front, he was able to dictate the pace and went on to score a convincing win.

Despite the best efforts of Ely, he was unable to deny McIver of back-to-back NT Title wins. After he had started from position eight, due to some tough runs earlier in the weekend, Ely fought hard but in the end had to settle for second.

Atkinson completed the podium in third. Guest driving in the NT # 99 Peter McIver-owned car, Atkinson showed his class through his consistency.

Porter finished just off the podium in fourth ahead of Daniel Evans (SA), Ed Trutwin (WA), Nick Halkitis (NT), Mark King (NT), Zac Farrer (Vic), Steven Ling (NT) and the final finisher David Ling (NT).
Dale Griffin (NT), Tim Woolfe (NT), Yoshi King (NT) and Jed Bell (SA) were unable to reach the finish. The latter crashed out of contention early on in the feature race aboard the NT # 77 Jason McIver-owned car.

Earlier in the night, Evans topped the time sheets in qualifying, and the heat-race wins were shared between Farrer, Bell, Atkinson and Porter.
The previous night, the 20-lap preliminary feature race went the way of Atkinson. The impressive Evans and Farrer completed the podium in second and third place respectively. Evans had led a lot of the preliminary feature race, but was passed on the final lap by Atkinson for the win.

McIver set the pace in the early stages of the preliminary feature race, but crashed out when he collided with a spun lapped car. This handed the lead over to Evans, but a hard charging Atkinson denied him of a maiden win with a last-lap pass.

Another of the leading casualties in the preliminary feature race was Ely, who rode the wall on the second lap and flipped over. Ely emerged OK from the crash, and was able to repair the car for the second and final night.

The beginning of the night saw Farrer set the fastest qualifying lap. In the heat-race action, Yoshi King, Evans, Farrer and McIver picked up wins.

The NT 360 Sprintcars would like to thank HB Concrete and Cadillac Transport, for their support throughout the Top End Challenge.
To find out more about the Top End Challenge, visit www.nt360sprintcars.com.au or contact Jason McIver on 0408 818 544.