Australian champion David Clark proved too strong for his rivals at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway tonight (Saturday, October 25) leading throughout the 20-lap Dirt Modified feature race to finish ahead of Andrew Pezzutti and Ray Klarich. Lapped traffic came into play late in the race, offering Pezzutti an opportunity to execute a last gasp bid for the lead, but Clark was up to the task and saw off the challenge to clinch the win.

Kevin Britten finished in fourth spot ahead of Steve Verboort, who qualified very well and emerged as the highest placed Sportsman driver in finishing fifth. Andrew Shilleto was next best in advance of Barry Ashen, with Brian Scott the only other to go the distance.

Clark and Pezzutti shared the front row and, as expected, it proved to be a two-horse race from the outset and whilst Clark’s advantage fluctuated, his lead never looked seriously under threat until the closing stages. Pezzutti simply refused to concede defeat, bouncing off the main straight wall on more than one occasion in his pursuit of victory.

Dalls Czerwinski occupied third spot for the first nine laps and looked on target for a place on the podium until a restart resulted in a significant change in the handling characteristics of his Pro Graphics #66 that sent him to the infield and out of contention.

Brandon Rawlings made a smoky exit with just two laps remaining, having advanced into the top five after starting from the outside of row four, while Murray Flay and Paul Crossley also failed to finish.

Heat race wins on the night were shared around between Clark, Pezzutti, Britten and Czerwinski.

In round two of the Tyrepower 600 Super Series for Formula 500’s, it was state champ Dale Shilleto who again proved too strong, charging away to duplicate his winning performance from the opening round. Defending series champion Ryan Skennar finished in second spot, with Kristin Brown completing the podium. Charlie Brown and Kaydon Iverson finalised the top five, followed by Cody Maroske, Brooke Wanless, Tristan Johnson, Nick Scholes and Adrian Farrell.

Heat winners were Shilleto, Skennar, Maroske and Kristin Brown, with Sprintcar star Dave Muir plagued by mechanical maladies and failing to make any impression.

In only his third race meeting in the Modlite category, Lachlan McHugh drove faultlessly to win round two of the David Grose Real Estate/Western Landscape Supplies Driver to America Series. The Gold Coast-based youngster won both of his heats and led every lap of the feature race just two weeks after a spectacular crash in the opening round of the series.

Luke Whitehill pounced after a late-race restart to snatch second spot from Jeff Jensen, with opening round winner Terry Leerentveld finishing fourth on this occasion. Dave Menz was next in line, followed by Alex Coward, Zac McDonald, Jarrod Steen, Darren Dobson and Paul Hovey.

Wayne Corbett emerged a narrow victor in the 15-lap Compact Speedcar feature event, edging out a fast finishing Robert Stewart. In one of her best performances yet, Sarah Walker led the first nine laps of the event before eventually finishing third as several drivers failed in their efforts to deny her a place on the podium. Gary Hudson and Scott Stirling crashed out while in contention for a win, while Nick Hudson spun himself out of the lead with just two laps to run, recovering from the rear of the depleted field to finish sixth behind Kyle Collins and Cameron Pesschler.

Nick Stubbs was the standout in the AMCA Nationals preliminaries, powering to two heat wins, only to spin the NT1 car in front of the field on the opening lap of the feature event and subsequently take no further part in the event. Geoff Hayes raced to victory over Steve Potts, Thomas Vickery, Stuart Hall and Matt Enders.

In the opening round of the CRS Electric Lightning Sprint Series, Kurt Wilson emerged an easy winner in the 15-lap feature event. Scoring two heat wins to secure pole position, Wilson raced away to win comfortably. Michael Gollagher annexed second spot ahead of Sean Iacono, with Kirsty Kelly impressing on debut to finish fourth.

Next Saturday night (November 1), Sprintcars return for round three of the Supercheap Auto Track Championship, supported by Wingless Sprints, Junior Sedans, Stockcars and Ford versus Holden versus Sigma sedans.