There is no question about it, the Chariots of Thunder Series is one of the biggest Sprintcar events on the Australian season calendar, and one of the local drivers hoping to stand up and be counted in this year’s event is youngster Ben Atkinson Junior.
At the age of 20 and with only 20 race meetings in a 410 Sprintcar under his belt since stepping out of competing in go karting at a national level back in 2018, Atkinson Junior is excited about contesting the upcoming Chariots of Thunder Series at his home track of Darwin’s Northline Speedway.
“The Chariots of Thunder Series is the Northern Territory’s biggest speedway event of the season and it’s one that all of us local racers look forward to the most,” Atkinson Junior said.
“With the competitors swelling to numbers in the 50s, the Chariots of Thunder Series is a lot different from any of our local shows during the regular season, but it certainly helps in making you a better racer.”
Atkinson Junior continued by saying that he has set himself some realistic goals over the two weekends of racing at his home track.
“As I had mentioned earlier, the Chariots of Thunder is a big step up in the competition level, but my goals are to be consistent by qualifying into the feature race every night and hopefully be able to finish within the top 10,” he enthused.
“So far this season, I have only run a handful of race meetings at Northline Speedway, and I’m feeling really confident of being able to make a good account of myself on home soil.”
Over the past 12 months, Atkinson Junior has moved into the # 2D Aeroflow Performance Products / Rocket Industries supported Triple X car that has been previously run by his dad Ben Atkinson Snr.
“Dad has decided to scale back his racing program at the moment, and this has allowed me to jump into his driver’s seat for the time being,” explained Atkinson Junior.
“We have been working quite well together and it’s been a lot of fun, and I feel that this has contributed to us being able to post some consistent results, which includes winning the season opener at Northline Speedway for what was my first big feature-race win.
“I’m getting comfortable with the Triple X brand of car as I had only previously run the J&J brand, and one of the biggest benefits of the Triple X is its wide setup window and it’s allowing me to be more consistently competitive out on the track.”
This year’s Chariots of Thunder Series is set to be held over the Friday and Saturday nights of August 19 and 20 and 26 and 27. Prior to the biggest two weekends of the season for Atkinson Junior on home soil, he is this Friday and Saturday night going to compete at Northline Speedway for the Darwin Title (Friday night) and Northern Territory Title (Saturday night) events.
In time for the busiest period of the 2022 season, Atkinson Junior has dropped his latest range of merchandise:
Adult T-Shirts (S-5XL) = $30
Youth T-Shirts (10-14) = $25
Baby / Toddler T-Shirts (00-2) = $25
Ladies T-Shirt Dresses (S-L) = $30
You can grab Atkinson Junior’s range of merchandise from them at the track, as they have eftpos and cash facilities available. If you can’t get to the track, then be sure to contact us by either of our social-media pages to arrange your order via post.
Atkinson Junior would like to thank his 2022 sponsors:
• Aeroflow Performance Products
• Rocket Industries
• Kryptalon
• Boosted by Aeroflow
• Darwin Carpet and Vinyls
• Northern Skip Bins
• 92.9 Voice FM Toowoomba
Special thanks: Mum (Arweena) and dad (Ben Snr), as well as crew members Dwayne Lawrence (crew chief) and Lee Kirchner.
To find out more about Atkinson Junior and his team and to follow their racing activities, like them on Facebook or follow them on Instagram by searching Ben Atkinson Motorsport.
