In what was a sensational night of racing at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway on Saturday night (November 22), Darren Vine (Midgets) and Kevin Britten (Dirt Modifieds) emerged victorious in a pair of thrilling feature races on a track that provided both challenges and opportunities in equal measure. In the Polar Ice Midget Series feature race, Darren Vine withstood a gung-ho charge from Brock Dean that fell short by the barest of margins as the pair raced under the chequer. Michael Harders continued his run of podium results to finish third ahead of Scott Wilson and Troy Ware.
Meanwhile, the Dirt Modified feature was a drama-charged affair in which a frenetic five-car scrap for the lead ultimately resulted in Britten emerging victorious over David Clark and Mark Robinson, but not before Jai Stephenson had put in one hell of drive that ultimately went unrewarded. Veteran Ray Klarich finished in fourth spot, with Steve Verboort again finishing as the best placed Sportsman competitor in fifth position.

Back behind the wheel of his familiar #89, defending Polar Ice Series champion and current points leader Michael Kendall proved too quick in time trials with a best lap of 13.717. Ware, Harders, Vine and Dean were next best.

Vine provided evidence of what was to come when he romped home in the opening heat race before Kendall upped the ante by taking out the next two preliminaries. The final heat race was won by Harders.

The Dash mixed things up a bit when top qualifier Kendall drew a four inversion and handed the front row to Vine and Dean; the latter racing away to take the win and secure pole position for the main event. Vine finished second ahead of Kendall, Harders and Matt Hefford, with Palmer unfortunately flipping out of contention. Despite the best efforts of his crew in getting the car back on track for the feature, Palmer ultimately failed to make the start.

Both Vine and Kendall outpaced Dean at the drop of the green to get the 20-lap feature underway, with Harders consolidating fourth ahead of a fast starting Wilson. Kendall’s challenge ended on lap six when the Kiwi headed infield, giving Vine a momentary respite until Dean closed in. As the race continued, their duel intensified as Dean persisted with an outside run that saw him draw alongside Vine on numerous occasions, unable to make the pass stick. The duo raced wheel-to-wheel for the duration with Vine ultimately holding on for a narrow win. Harders finished almost five seconds clear of Wilson in third, with Ware charging hard to secure a top five finish. Brad Young, Brett Foreman, Reid Mackay and Hefford completed the finishers.

Dirt Modified heat race wins were shared around with Britten, Stephenson, Klarich and Geoff Phillips visiting victory lane. Clark was consistent with runner-up results in his two outings, while Robinson and Andrew Pezzutti also finished inside the top three in each of their starts.

The feature race proved to be something special with no less than four different leaders. Klarich was the early pacesetter until Clark took control on lap three. Stephenson was on a charge though and he quickly zoomed into second and set his sights on the top spot. In his efforts to reel in Clark, Stephenson planted his Big River Steel #45 on the high side of the track and refused to compromise as he slowly but surely edged ever closer to the lead. After a dozen laps, some contact between the pair and several more near misses, Stephenson made the pass stick and assumed control. Just when he looked on track to secure a hard earned victory, Stephenson jumped the cushion in turn four and allowed Clark to surge underneath. With neither driver willing to give an inch, the pair became entangled and brought the race to a halt, with officials relegating Stephenson to the rear and handing the lead back to Clark. However, there was plenty more action to come with Britten pouncing at the restart to depose Clark, who suddenly found himself under pressure from Robinson and Klarich. At the end of a spectacular 25 laps of racing it was Britten, who described the race as “one of the best Dirt Modified races I have seen”, who stood atop the podium, flanked by Clark and Robinson. Klarich was a gallant fourth ahead of Verboort, with Stephenson salvaging a sixth-place finish after deserving a much better result for his efforts. Dallas Czerwinski, Barry Ashen, Paul Crossley and Brian Scott rounded out the top ten.

In the 360 Sprintcar feature, an overly ambitious move from Anthony Vanderreyden on the opening lap left the front row starting Luke Manttan stricken against the fence and out of action. From the ensuing restart, Steve Johnson proved too strong and raced to victory with minimal fuss, his second such success in as many outings. Wayne Lemon snared second spot, while a late race spin by Nelson Reddacliffe ensured Kristy Bonsey secured her first podium finish in third spot. Vanderreyden, Brandon Burrows and Scott Johnson were the only others to go the distance.

There was certainly no shortage of action in the AMCA Nationals feature race with less than two seconds covering the first five cars – and the only cars to go the distance as it turns out - at the end of 15 laps. With just three laps to run, Steve Price took the lead from Steve Potts to score a hard fought win after enduring a series of engine failures in recent weeks. The final lap saw further changes to the order when Matt Hardy slipped ahead of Potts to snare second spot, with Lee McKinnell and Jason Molle completing the field.

Glenn Willmott romped home to win the Open Sedan feature race, while Andy Reinhart took out the Holden v Ford v Sigma feature race.

Next week at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway will see an open wheel extravaganza featuring round five of the Supercheap Auto Sprintcar Track Championship, along with Formula 500’s, Wingless Sprints, Compact Speedcars and Lightning Sprints.

Dirt Modified feature race placegetters (l to r): Mark Robinson (3rd), Kevin Britten (1st), David Clark (2nd)

Polar Ice Midget Series round three placegetters (l to r): Michael Harders (3rd), Darren Vine (1st), Brock Dean (2nd)