Following an incredibly entertaining 30 lap Sprintcar feature last night at Geelong’s Avalon Raceway both Robbie Farr and Stephen Bell couldn’t be split by the live timing as they crossed the finish line side by side. Incredibly the pair were awarded as joint winners of the Eureka Garages and Sheds backed Victorian Sprintcar Championship. As officials scrambled to check the transponder timing, the difference between the pair as they crossed the line showed a difference between the pair of 0.000, effectively a draw!
It was bitter sweet for Farr who had led every lap of the feature after jumping to the early lead and opening a buffer at each and every restart as the early running was marred by cautions and stoppages. Finally with a green flag run for the final 12 laps Stephen Bell’s tremendous car speed carried him to a challenging position on the white flag lap before he sped up the inside of Farr as the pair greeted the chequered flag.
“Bell seemingly crossed the finish line with the more momentum but with live timing and both cars carrying the transponders mounted on the exact same spot on the car, officials were left with no other option than to declare the race a draw,” explained Avalon Raceway’s Brian Alexander.
“It was an incredible finish to a very entertaining night of racing, something that I have never seen before in my years at the venue and with the timing being measured in thousandths of a second I doubt we will ever see this again,” said a bemused Alexander.
The event was also the second night of the Great Southern Showdown with many drivers contesting the Simpson Speedway event the previous night where Farr was also robbed of a chance with victory while being involved in an incident that sent him to the rear while leading. McFadden was the eventual winner of the entertaining Simpson feature and given his solid third place finish at Avalon Raceway managed to win the overall Great Southern Showdown cash bonus from Vogels.
Farr managed to start pole position courtesy of his blistering time trial in the top 6 pole shootout while Bell was on the front row with him. John Vogels and Darren Hickman qualified on the second row ahead of Brett Milburn and defending state champion Tim Rankin who had a push truck run over his left rear while readying himself for the top 6 shootout. Jeremy Cross and James McFadden started on the fourth row ahead of Michael Phillips and Charles Hunter.
Rankin was the first to bring the cautions on when he rolled to a stop while Ryan Davis also got upside down in the opening laps. Charles Hunter also got upside down when a wheel centre broke on the pristine #73 sending him into the wall also.
As Farr and Bell were motoring out in front there were few surprised by the hard charging performance of current World Series Sprintcars champion James McFadden who scorched past several of his rivals to finish in third place in the final despite the strong run he had nothing for the leading pair. McFadden did enough to maintain a solid advantage in the Essendon Ford Sprintcar track championship with only one round remaining of the Sprintcar track championship on Good Friday.
Fourth home was five time and defending Eureka Garages and Sheds Sprintcar Series champ John Vogels. It was another excellent drive from the popular Simpson motor mechanic who again ran with the very best in the country.
Fifth home was Brett Milburn who is proving to be one of the most consistent drivers in the field this season while Mike Van Bremen finished sixth, Cross was next in line while rounding out the finishers were Darren Mollenoyux who vaulted to the lead in the Eureka Series with one round remaining, Darren Hickman, Dennis Jones, Michael Phillips and Domain Ramsay. Ian Loudoun, Ron Dalton and Adam King were other non finishers.
Several stars littered the preliminary features while B-main transferors were Dennis Jones, Adam King, Ryan Davis, Ian Loudoun, Darren Mollenoyux and Domain Ramsay while missing the cut were the likes of the then Eureka Garages and Sheds Sprintcar Series point leader Jamie Veal, Glen Sutherland, Carl Ludeman Nick Lacey and Rod Mathews.
Michael Cunningham won the C-main ahead of Veal, Quentin Tanner and Rod Mathews.
Veal was looking for another strong result following a fourth place finish in his first heat, Veal raced to second in his other before clipping the right rear of eventual race winner Ron Dalton on the final corner sending the #35 crashing into the wall and eventually the C-main.
Adam King, Robbie Farr, Stephen Bell and Mike Van Bremen won the opening round of heats while John Vogels, Ron Dalton, Ian Loudoun and Darren Hickman won the second round heats.
Steve Milthorpe was the popular winner of the V8 Dirt Modified final as the venue also held a minute silence for the sad passing of Dirt Modified Australia President Paul Britten prior to the opening heat of the night.
Avalon Raceway returns to action on Saturday March 25th with the running of the Combined Waste backed Great Aussie Dunny Derby.
Website; www.avalonraceway.com
For more info contact Jeff Drew 0418 160 985 / Gavin White email gwxp@speedway.net.au