Gold Coast teenager Lachlan McHugh delivered a masterful performance in his drive to victory in round four of the East Coast Logistics Crispy Memorial Sprintcar Series at Ausdeck Patios Speedway on Saturday night (May 21). Having started from the outside of row five in the 30-lap event, McHugh started superbly to be running inside the top five after just five laps and then advanced to fourth on the next circulation. From this point, he steadily worked his way forward, moving into second spot on lap 20 and then surging into the lead on lap 24 to secure his second feature race win for the season.

Queensland champion Luke Oldfield finished in second spot ahead of an emotional Mitchell Gee, with David Whell scoring a season best result in fourth. Having climbed as high as third at one stage, contact with the turn four wall confined Ben Atkinson to fifth, followed by Andrew Scheuerle, Callum Walker, Ben Hilder, Brent Kratzmann and Kevin Titman.

Bryan Mann set the early standard when he clocked 11.401 to edge out Oldfield, Scheuerle, Atkinson and Mark Pholi in time trials. Previous round feature winner Brent Aprile was next quickest, with Gee, Dave Murcott, Titman and McHugh rounding out the top ten.

The opening heat race saw Walker triumphant in advance of Matthew Butler and Gee, with heat two falling in favour of Kratzmann over Richard Morgan and Murcott.

Brandon Rawlings downed McHugh and Scheuerle to snare heat three and then teammate Gee also booked a spot in the Dash when romped home in heat four over Nelson Reddacliff and Darren Silcock.

Whell was too quick in heat five, downing McHugh and Hilder before Morgan wrapped up qualifying with a win over Aprile and Walker in the final heat.

When top qualifier Bryan Mann inverted the field for the Lucas Oils Dash, Rawlings found himself in pole position and took full advantage to finish ahead of Kratzmann, who advanced two spots. Oldfield started seventh and finished third, with Gee, Walker, Morgan, Mann and Whell completing the field.

After a slow start, the B Main soon settled into a typically desperate fight for position and it was Butler who emerged the victor, leading Jayden Peacock, Hilder and Brad Ayers in advancing into the main event.

Kratzmann got the best of the start in the feature from the outside front row and he skipped away to establish a sizeable lead in the opening laps, with Gee, Oldfield and McHugh also having moved ahead of Rawlings after six circulations. Under increasing pressure, Kratzmann held sway out front until lap 20 when he spun to a halt in turn four immediately after losing the lead to Oldfield, who had demoted Gee a lap earlier. The race was halted again two laps later when Mann tipped over in turn four and was subsequently joined on the infield by Rawlings. From the resumption, Oldfield fund himself under intense scrutiny from McHugh before the winning pass came on lap 24. Clearing away through the closing stages, McHugh clocked a fastest lap almost half a second quicker than anybody else and charged to the chequer to win by more than three seconds. The battle for third spot intensified as the laps wound down, with firstly Atkinson and then Whell throwing everything at Gee, who remained steadfast in his use of the narrow cushion high on the track and saw off both threats to hold the position.

Scheurele lacked his usual oomph but made steady progress to be sixth at races end, while a main straight moment early in the race cost Walker a couple of spots. Hilder charged from the back to finish eighth, Kratzmann climbed back to ninth and Titman toiled for tenth. Peacock, Pholi, Ayres, Morgan and Butler rounded out the finishers, with Aprile the only other retiree.

Moving into the lead on lap two, Troy Carey never looked likely to lose the Wingless Sprint 50-lap feature race, maintaining his composure through each restart and leaving his pursuers to argue over the minor placings. It was this battle that provided all the interest with Adam Butler, Harley Smee, Dan Moes, Mark Blyton and Brody Thomson in the thick of this action. In the end it was Moes who wrangled a runner-up finish ahead of Smee, Thomson and Blyton, with Butler heading infield on lap 25 while third. Blake Darcy, Trent Martin, John Slack and Matt Wright were the only others to go the distance.

Queensland champ Keith Blatch survived the late-race advances of national titleholder Kurt Wilson to win the Lightning Sprint feature race, with Kirsty Kelly collecting third place.

The Compact Speedcar feature race also saw the national champion relegated to runner-up when Robbie Stewart downed Darren Vine and third-placed Kristin Brown.

Shane French took out the Queensland Stockcar Championship, Bob Ware inherited a win in the Open Sedan A Feature when Gary Kivella spun on the final corner, Ben Robertson won the Open Sedan B Feature and Bernie Wright took out the Holden v Ford v Sigma feature race.