Heavy Hitters Roll In For Jackpot.
By Mark Humphrey
Avalon, Vic/Aus. 5th November 2014. Australia’s premium sprintcar drivers are set to light up the Avalon clay this Saturday night when they go head to head for the 10k Avalon Jackpot winner’s cheque.
Heat and feature winners from last season’s sprintcar meetings have been invited back to the track this weekend to compete in the unique format that includes 2 x 25 lap qualifiers, semi-finals, a top 12 time trial and finishing with the top 10 feature.
Jamie Veal having already put together a handful of feature wins looks in red hot form coming into the Jackpot and will be one to watch. Aussie champ Dave Murcott is another hard charger who has had success at the Avalon circuit and always puts on a show for the fans.
Wildcards Jack Lee, Kris Lacey, Taylor Milling, Tim Van Ginneken and James McFadden add to the list of quick runners ready to duke it out Saturday night. McFadden picked up a couple of feature wins in the USA during the winter break and is coming off a strong 2nd last weekend in Adelaide and should figure in the podium positions come Saturday.
Another heavy hitter capable of taking out the win is Mt Gambier’s Steven Lines who always figures in the podium places at Avalon. Having had a run of outs early in the season, Lines is more than capable of turning around his season quickly starting with the Jackpot this Saturday night. Another Mt Gambier peddler in Glen Sutherland is coming off a strong 2nd place behind Veal last weekend in round 1 of the Eureka Garages & Sheds series and looks to have finally got everything coming together for hopefully a strong season ahead.
The event usually throws up a good news story of the night with Mike Cunningham’s 3rd place in last year’s Jackpot a highlight. Cunningham is keen to start the season off on a positive note following another successful trip to the US during the winter. Rhiannon Burleigh is the only female racer to contest the Jackpot this year and like Cunningham is keen to get off to a strong start.
Rounding out the list of 32 racers is last season’s track champion in Shaun Dobson who no doubt is looking to back up his championship winning season.
Gates open at 4pm with racing at 6pm. For further details go to http://avalonraceway.com.au/