Two-time national Sprintcar champion Dave Murcott bounced back from his recent run of outs to end his season in winning fashion, racing to victory in the final round of the East Coast Logistics Crispy Memorial Series at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway on Saturday night (May 28). Having qualified on the outside front row for the 30-lap feature race, Murcott led every circulation to finish ahead of Andrew Scheuerle and Luke Oldfield, with a 4th-place from Lachlan McHugh good enough for the Gold Cast teenager to clinch the Crispy Memorial Series championship.

In the Polar Ice Midget 50-lapper, New Zealand ace Hayden Williams proved too good, coming from deep in the field to chase down Adam Clarke and take control of the race. Fellow Kiwi Leon Burgess snared second spot, with Brock Dean the best of the locals in third ahead of Scott Wilson and Aiden Corish.

Heading into the final night of competition, McHugh held a 12-point advantage over Scheuerle in the Crispy Memorial point standings, with Oldfield just three points further back. The trio filled three of the first four spots in time trials and they all qualified into the Lucas Oils Dash, ensuring that the final feature race would determine the champion.

It was Scheuerle who got the early advantage when he stopped the timer at 11.796 to set fast time ahead of Oldfield, Murcott, McHugh, Bryan Mann and Callum Walker, with Brent Aprile, Mark Pholi, Kevin Titman and Brad Ayrers completing the top ten. Ben Hilder ended his night before it really began when he rode out a wild flip in his run against the clock.

The opening heat saw Aprile race to a comfortable win over Rob Hamilton and Brent Kratzmann.

Ben Atkinson battled on gamely devoid of power steering to take out heat two, leading Oldfield and Pholi to the chequer.

David Whell downed Peter Milnes and Murcott in heat three, with heat four falling to McHugh in advance of Oldfield and Kratzmann.

Scheuerle scampered home to win heat five over Mann and Doyle before Rob Hamilton scored his maiden Sprintcar win when he downed Steven White and Aprile in the final heat.

When top qualifier Scheuerle inverted the field for the Lucas Oils Dash, Hamilton found himself occupying pole position for what would prove a topsy-turvy race for the Sprintcar rookie. Having been outjumped by Whell at the drop of the green, Hamilton surged around the outside through turn four on lap two to assume the lead, only to throw away a pole position start in the feature when he spun in the same spot a lap later. Atkinson pounced from the restart to take the race, leading home Murcott, McHugh, Oldfield, Scheuerle, Aprile, Hamilton and Whell.

Peter Milnes powered to victory in the B Main, leading Jaydon Peacock, Scott Doyle and Brett Minett in transferring into the feature race.

At the drop of the green to launch the Feature into action, Murcott left Atkinson in his wake and took control of the race from the outset. Atkinson struggled early and found himself shuffled further back behind Oldfield, McHugh, Aprile and Scheuerle after just five laps. With Murcott in control out front, all interest centred on the battle for the series title with McHugh looking good when he advanced to second ahead of Oldfield on lap six. However, a mistake from McHugh through turn two saw him drop behind both Oldfield and Scheuerle, who had demoted Aprile four laps earlier.

Fortunately for McHugh, fourth was good enough to take the series and cap a remarkable rookie season. Atkinson finished fifth, followed by Aprile, Kratzmann, Brad Ayres, Mann and Doyle. Whell was next in line ahead of White, Peacock and Minett, with Titman and Milnes completing the finishers a lap in arrears.

Having only secured his place in the field for the Polar Ice Midget 50-lapper by virtue of a win in the B Main, Williams surged through the field to be occupying fourth after just 10 laps of racing. The early laps saw Corish and Doyle arguing over the top spot until Doyle headed infield on lap 10, leaving Corish in control for just two more circulations until Clarke charged to the front. Having surged into second spot by lap 12, Williams set about reeling in Clarke and was able to do so 13 laps later. Clarke started a backward spiral from this point that would see him ultimately finish eighth. Burgess slipped into second spot on lap 41 and, despite the best efforts of a pursuing pack, he held the position to the chequer. Dean drove very well to secure the final podium position ahead of Wilson, Corish, Michael Kendall and Lance Towns. Midget newcomer Dallas Sharp impressed on debut to upstage his more experienced opponents on his way to ninth overall. Mark George, Rodney Harders, Ken Stanaway, Tony Michelle, Michael Harders, Jason Bell and Cal Whatmore were the only others to go the distance.

The heat race action produced two wins each for Clarke and Troy Ware, with Vine and Kendall also visiting victory lane. Ware's good work came to nothing in the feature with a couple of spins cruelling his chances.

Williams won the B Main in a canter, taking Michael Harders, Sharp and Mitch Haines with him to the back of the grid for the 50 lapper.

It goes without saying that Terry Leerentveld outgunned the field once again to win the Torque Wear Modlite feature race. Jac Carnall saved his best performance of the season until the very end, leading early before eventually finishing second ahead of Troy Evans, Nathan Politch and Wayne Donaldson.

Australian champion Matt Hardy took out the AMCA Nationals feature race with a late-race pass on Steve Price. Russ Hardy finished a close third in front of last start feature winner Jason Molle, with Victorian champ Steve Potts finishing fifth.

The Junior Formula 500 final went to Nicholas Hodges over Bodie Smith, Randy Morgan, Aaron Kelly and Brady Argles.