The Marco name is another in a long list of families that has been SDAV Hot Rod committed through & through its existence & after some years of absence due to whatever path life took, the Marco family are back & Stan Marco Jnr has made it to the top of the podium after a good couple of seasons developing his car and getting rid of the any racers rust he had.

Hamilton Speedway Club were hosting the Victorian Standard Saloon title & the Thunder Down Under Hot Rod Series were part of the action on night one of a two day show with all the drivers putting on plenty of action with crashes, rollovers & very fast racing on a super quick track.

Tom Marco made his debut in the recently purchased # 43 car with support from 'Johnny Dyno Engines' from Russell Taylor & Phil Jenkins returned to the track after a lengthy absence due to car repairs and business commitment’s.

On what was a wet track to start the racing with it took a little time to get going in the first heat with Dylan Linehan taking a spin in turn three & then Shannon Meakins doing the same in turn three on lap three & Marco & Glenn Lawless had a gentle coming together. In between this Jenkins who started outside pole position held the lead from Linehan who recovered after his initial spin, Kali Hovey (# 22 Norlane Pizza Box), Lawless and Dean West.

On lap three on the restart Meakins had a big lose on the slippery track crashing his car into the turn three wall bending the rear axle & damaging the back of the chassis of his car., his nights racing was finished.

Jenkins greeted the restart flag and from lap three to the end on lap eight held his nerve to win strongly from Linehan, Kali Hovey, West, Lawless, Russell Hovey (# 25 Ribeau Interstate Transport), Jamie May & Tom Marco whilst Stan Marco didn’t finish due to the engine cutting out on his car.

Russell Hovey began heat two at the front with Stan Marco alongside, with Meakins (# 1 Kilmore Transport & Towing) finished the rest of the field moved up with rookie Tom Marco at the back. Russell Hovey had the better start and he led Stan Marco across the start-finish line on lap one with Jenkins, West & Linehan not far behind. Stan took the lead on the next lap & West passed Jenkins into on the third lap as Jenkins started to drift through the field.

Linehan (# 28 Bronson Sheetmetal) had a rollover on lap six in turn four that put him out of the race & on resumption it was still Stan Marco from the front with West, Kali Hovey, Lawless & Jamie May trailing & that’s how they remained until the finish with Jenkins (# 3 P & S Automotive) in sixth place then Russell Hovey & Tom Marco.

Kali Hovey & Victorian champion Dean West (# 4 Lumbar Softwoods) then started heat three, the final qualifier of the night, on the front row and it would be Hovey who got the best start of the two when she led West, Marco Snr, May & Linehan on lap one. With engine issues again disturbing his performance Marco Snr dropped out of the race on lap two and Jenkins moved into the top five.

Linehan passed West and Hovey led Linehan, West, May, Jenkins, Lawless (# 99 Formula Motorsports Group) & Tom Marco to the finish with Russell Hovey a non-finisher due to steering issues.

Nine of the original ten car field started the final with a coin toss putting the top qualifiers at the back of the field and those at the tail of the field at the front. This put Russell Hovey at the pointy end with May & Stan Marco around him & Kali Hovey at the back end with Jenkins and West in front of her.

At the start of the fifteen lap journey Marco Snr led Russell Hovey, May (# 8 Mega Auto Parts), Lawless & Linehan through lap one. Having a good run, May then moved to second by lap three with West moving into the top five ahead of Lawless. Rear of the field traffic then came into play as the leaders tried to stay in touch with Marco Snr who had a massive lead. Lawless got in front of Russell Hovey continuing on his momentum from his very first victory at the previous race meeting.

At lap eight Marco led Linehan, West, May & Lawless and five laps later the one and only caution of the race occurred when a bar from one of the cars was spotted on the track out of turn four. Russell Hovey pulled out due to his steering again and Marco with the field close behind maintained his composure and went on to a great victory ahead of Linehan, West, May, Lawless, Kali Hovey, Tom Marco & Jenkins.

After the event Stan Marco (# 2 Darby Paints) was chuffed with his result. "Thank you to my family & everybody who has contributed and supported our team since we came back into racing. We truly love Hot Rod racing and being back and now to win means so much to all of us. Well done to the other competitors on their results." Shared Marco.

Thank you to the great supporters of the club:

Mega Auto Parts
Ribeau Interstate Transport Carriers
Intech Motorsport
Purrfect Cool Auto Air

Written by: Dean Thompson
DMT Sports Media
For SDAV Hot Rod Club Inc.

Hamilton winner Stan Marco Jnr in his # 2 car (C) CBM Photography

Jamie May was right in contention mid race at Hamilton (C) CBM Photography