Following a disappointing World of Outlaws campaign, Shane Stewart reminded everyone of his class by taking out round one of the Porter Hire International Sprintcar Series.

Drivers contended with an extended early stoppage for Kerry Brocas who crashed violently into the turn one catch fence.Amazingly Brocas walked away from what left of his once pristine Sprintcar.

Following the restart, Jamie Larsen led away from Stewart and Daniel Eggleton.

Lapped traffic tightened up the race with Australian star Jamie Veal sneaking up the inside of Eggleton to take third. Allard followed Veal but the moves would be thwarted by a yellow for the stricken Brian Edwards. The best action of the race came at the end as the higher line in Town Bend opened up, allowing Larsen and Stewart to go side by side for a full lap from the restart. Stewart eventually prevailed around the high line in Pine Tree Bend, building a lead as the laps wound down.

It was a good thing Stewart built a lead as he jumped the cushion in Pine Tree Bend late in the race, allowing Larsen to close up to his tail tank. However, a move wasn’t forthcoming, Stewart prevailing for his fourth win in five Western Springs International Sprintcar Series starts. Jamie Veal found late race pace to complete a multi-national podium, relegating a gallant Eggleton to fourth ahead of Allard and Murcott.

Earlier in the night Larsen set a new 12-lap track record at 2:32.898, well ahead of the old record of 2:36.567 recorded by Dean Brindle on 28th February 2015.

It was double delight on the night for American fans as Zach Daum took a memorable win in the Midget feature. Daum was the first of the leaders to find dirt high in Pine Tree Bend, executing a series of moves which were applauded by the knowledgeable Springs crowd. Having passed Hayden Guptill for second place, Daum revealed post-race he thought his chances of winning were over when a yellow thwarted the move.

Sure enough, Guptill took Daum’s line from the restart but Daum made a slide job stick to take second. Daum experimented with lines in Town Bend to optimise his speed in Pine Tree Bend, eventually finding the formula to take the lead from Brock Maskovich. Guptill, made a magnificent last lap move, cutting up the inside exiting Pine Tree bend to take second from Maskovich.

Our next show on December 14 plans to be one of the best Sprintcar races we have seen for a while. $10,000 to win World 1/4 Mile Sprintcar Classic. It will be the last chance to see the International Sprintcar stars and will have a full support program.

RESULTS

Sprintcars
Heat 1 – Jamie Larsen, Dean Cooper, Rodney Wood, Craig Dollansky, Jamie Veal
Heat 2 – David Murcott, Jonathan Allard, Glen Torpey, Jayden Dodge, Stephen Taylor
Heat 3 – Shane Stewart, Daniel Eggleton, Jamie Veal, Stephen Taylor, Dion Kendall
Heat 4 – Dean Brindle, Brian Edwards, Jamie Larsen. Dave Witton, Craig Dollansky
Semi-Main – James Dahm, Dean Cooper, Matthew Leversedge, Daniel Rogers, Dave Witton
Feature – Shane Stewart, Jamie Larsen, Jamie Veal, Daniel Eggleton, Jonathan Allard
Test 1 – Larsen, Stewart, Murcott, Veal, Allard, Eggleton
Test 2 – Stewart, Eggleton, Murcott, Veal, Taylor, Allard (DNF)
Test 3 – Allard, Veal, Larsen, Murcott, Eggleton, Stewart
Australia (106) – Jamie Veal (53), David Murcott (53)
New Zealand (104) – Daniel Eggleton (50), Jamie Larsen (38), Stephen Taylor (16)
USA (90) – Shane Stewart (54), Jonathan Allard (36)

Midgets

Heat 1 – Kayne Buck, Ryan O’Connor, Brock Maskovich, Hayden Guptill, Brett Morris Jr
Heat 2 – Zach Daum, Hayden Williams, Michael Brunt, Matthew McCutcheon, James Earl
Heat 3 – Brock Maskovich, Peter Hunnibell, Breyton Davison, Max Guildford, Jayden Worthington
Heat 4 – Hayden Guptill, Shayne Alach, Brett Morris Jnr, Travis Buckley, Hayden Williams
Semi-Main – Michael Brunt, Ben Cometti, Brad Hollier, James Cossey, Hamish Dobbyn
Feature – Zach Daum, Hayden Guptill, Brock Maskovich, Brett Morris Jr, Matthew McCutcheon