The Crash and Bash Association are very pleased with the feedback coming their way from a completely new audience who are letting it be known that they, want to see more Crash and Bash at Avalon Raceway. Around thirty competitors entertained the new audience with Brad Warren who had done plenty of laps around Avalon, taking the feature race win.
Six qualifying races determined whether drivers had firstly survived to the important part of the night, the feature. They also determined where the drivers would start.
Kevin Hughes kicked off the night with victory. Nick Hill then greeted the chequered flag first in the next. The going was fast in the first round with Jason McKendry the Victorian Champion ripping around Avalon in laps in the 19 second bracket. Matt Haby was the next winner before Brad Warren almost took the class into the 18 second bracket with a 19.112 lap time on his way to a fifth heat win and the qualifying was rounded out with Nathan Taylor winning the last heat in the closest margin of the night pipping Dinky Parker who had the lead for most of the race.
Eyes on the transponder monitors also showed that the 18 second bracket was broken with third placed finisher Jason McKendry logging a 18.959 lap time, as a result committee members and drivers started to think about slowing down the feature race, in order to bring more of the entertainment the diehard fans come to expect from Crash and Bash.
With qualifying finished, some of the top qualifiers included Taylor, Hill, McKendry, Parker, Haby, William George, Warren, Disher and Alan George.
At the request of the Crash and Bash, Avalon watered the racetrack in order to slow the field down and slow them down it did.
The race started with drivers struggling to get around in less than a minute in some cases drivers needed the concrete wall to guide them all the way round, before the times gradually came down and we got into a faster pace. Concrete could not help Alan George, he didn’t even get close to it. Alan George shared his account of his race as the first car exit with less than a lap completed. “First lap of the race went to take off and just spun and kept spinning and gearbox and tail shaft exploded, finished thirty laps short of victory.”
The field moved through the 50 second, 40 second and eventually into the 30 second brackets, a vast difference to their heat lap times. Drivers got tapped, pushed, bumped and spun just the way the crowd liked it. It was a battle just to keep the car facing in the forward direction.
Taylor led early and was quick. Hughes then had the lead and he held it for a while and in his comeback season a fairy-tale victory at Avalon looked on the cars. Hill was a leader of the race and looked strong. Parker, McKendry and Haby’s chances went by the wayside.
With less than half the race to go Warren was on Hills tail, Taylor lined up behind Warren after a caution period. The light switched to green and Warren made a move up the outside of Hill to get to the front and Hill drove Warren into the wall and washed up into the concrete himself and as Warren bounced off the wall he turned down on the track and as Hill came across back in front of him, Warren spun Hill out of contention with twelve laps to go.
However it was probably fitting that the person who put the effort in to organise the deal with Avalon Raceway promoters Brad Warren took the lead and went on to win from Hughes, Taylor, David Barrie who came from deep in the field and looked at home in Crash and Bash racing with Rob Disher, Cody Shmal, Stuey Robinson, Andrew Miles, Gran Attewell and Murray Lewis completing the top ten.
Another non-finisher Stuey Robinson banged the wall ten times a lap. Finished the race backwards across the finish line with no steering, had the time of his life. A first time Crash and Bash entrant Bradley Trainer hit the wall every corner of every lap and the clutch cable came off; he loved it and cannot wait until the next one.
After the event finished, and with encouragement from Avalon Raceway, the Crash and Bash drivers proceeded to entertain with doughnuts and burnouts right around the track and on the burnout pad and the crowd went home happy. Members of the crowd at Avalon are messaging the Crash and Bash and asking them when they will be back at Avalon again.
The Crash and Bash Association thank this year’s major sponsors
Andrews Car Removals
Tigertune Service Centre
South East Paving
Gully Tattoo
Fourth Design Websites & Graphics
The Mobile Truck Doctor
Lake Bolac Excavations & Concreting
Napier Photography
Ends Release.
