Race fans are anticipating a night of elbows up warfare when Victoria’s best sprintcar racers take on World Series champ James McFadden and $10.000 Jackpot winner David Murcott at Avalon Raceway on Saturday, 10 November.
Stephen Bell, Darren Mollenoyux, Johnny Vogels, Mike Van Bremen, Brett Milburn and Nick Lacey are all staring at the Routleys Stampede with one thing in mind.
Apart from the big prize money on offer, the Routleys race heralds the start of the Essendon Ford $20.000 Sweepstakes, the sport’s premier season-long championship.
“I would like to think Avalon has set the benchmark for local sprintcar participation throughout Australia and Essendon Ford, through Mr David Dickson, has also responded magnificently,” said Jeff Drew today.
The premiership was won last summer by Australia’s leading racer and World Series champ James McFadden.
Regarded as ‘a local’ McFadden spent just about every Essendon Ford premiership night at Avalon piling on the points.
He was chased hard by Jamie Veal, but unlike previous seasons, the sport’s big names no longer drift back into competition leading into Christmas.
“It’s really a case of being ready on night one of the championship if you are serious about succeeding,”
Jeff confirmed.
The Routleys Stampede is only one of three before the World Series round comes to the Avalon arena with Americans Shane Stewart and Tim Kaeding heading the entries.
The Americans are attached to West Australian car owners who are renowned for the strength and professionalism of their teams.
However, as the opening night clearly demonstrated, nothing is certain in racing this summer.
Robbie Farr and James McFadden were the pre-meeting favourites, but David Murcott came from the clouds to win the 10K on offer.
Nick Lacey will run the WSS series from Christmas and is keen to make his presence felt among the big boys.
And what better opportunity than Saturday, 10 November
when theboys are back in town.
