In what proved a fitting result for a variety of reasons, Peter Lack drew the curtain on his Sprintcar career with a stirring win in the final round of the East Coast Logistics Sprintcar Track Championship at Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway on Saturday night (June 1). Lack started the event from the outside of row four and worked his forward before pouncing through turn four with only one lap remaining to slip ahead of Andrew Scheuerle, who already had the track championship safely in his keeping. Allan Woods finished in third spot ahead of Michael Saller and Brent Kratzmann, with Kristy Bonsey surging to sixth after starting 11th. 
It was a New South Wales trifecta in the Australian Lightning Sprint Championship with AJ McTaggart swapping the lead with Kurt Wilson before securing his maiden national title success. Defending champion Chris Davis would ultimately emerge with the runner-up trophy as Wilson faltered late and fell to third, while Tyler Stralow and Jim Kennedy rounded out the top five as the best of the locals.
The Queensland Microsprint Championship saw Ernie Havas prevail in the feature race in advance of Shane Munro and Eddie Schwehla, with Track Championship successes falling the way of Gary Burgess (RSA Sedans), Wayne Kirkman (Open Sedans) and David Tookey (Ford vs Holden vs Sigma).
Of the 24 cars that took to the track for Sprintcar qualifying, it was Kratzmann who topped the timesheets, stopping the clock at 11.634 to edge out Lack (11.683), Scheuerle (11.769), Woods (11.855) and the last of the sub-13 runners in Saller (11.955). Kevin Titman, Darren Jensen, Randy Morgan, Tim Farrell and Brock Dean completed the top ten.
Andrew Corbet got the racing action underway when he led throughout from the front row to win the opening heat ahead of Jensen and Titman.
Heat two went to David Whell over Randy Morgan and Lack, with Bonsey besting Woods and Scheuerle to win heat three.
Heat four went to Morgan ahead of Titman and Kratzmann before Saller scored a good win in heat five, leaving Lack second and Brock Dean in third.
The final heat of the night and the season saw Corbet replicate his earlier result with another win, this time ahead of Scheuerle and Woods.
It was Lack who emerged from the preliminaries as top qualifier, only to select a top six invert for the Dash that elevated Titman and Morgan to the front row. It was Titman who took best advantage of his good fortune, racing away to win over Woods, Scheuerle, Morgan, Kratzmann, Saller and Jensen, with Lack finishing on the infield.
With Dean encountering little resistance on his way to winning the B Main, all interest was further back as Mitch Gowland rounded up his rivals to secure the final transfer position into the feature race behind Anthony Vanderreyden and Scott Genrich.
Titman set the early pace in the feature race ahead of Woods, Scheuerle and Lack, who started superbly to advance four spots on the opening lap. Lap five saw the first lead change when Woods moved to the front, with Scheuerle advancing to second spot on lap seven. Titman’s race ended on lap nine when he came to rest against the inside wall and then, one lap later, Scheuerle pounced to grab the lead from Woods. Lap 12 saw Lack charge into second spot and set off in pursuit of Scheuerle. Just as it seemed like Scheuerle had a third straight feature race success in his keeping, Lack was on a mission to enjoy a winning farewell and he charged under Scheuerle through turn four, took the white flag and completed the final lap to take the race and secure second place in the track championship standings. Woods remained third ahead of Saller, Kratzmann and Bonsey, with Dean putting in a big run from 15th to seventh. Jensen, Morgan and Tim Farrell rounded out the top ten ahead of Anthony Lambert, Gowland, Whell, Corbet, Trent Vardy, Genrich and Vanderreyden.
Dave Fanning romped home in the first of the Lightning Sprint heats ahead of Jason George and Darren Baldwin, only to suffer a mechanical malady in his second heat that would result in a car change and a subsequent end to his title chances.
Jayden Iacono downed Andrew Sparks and Keith Blatch in heat two, with McTaggart outpacing Kennedy and Rob Holmes in heat three.
Wilson won heat four in advance of Stralow, with the results reversed in the next outing when Stralow downed Wilson. Davis and Jason Rae filled third spot in the respective races.
Iacono doubled up to win the final heat of the night ahead of Fanning, who was now steering Baldwin’s #33, with McTaggart third.
The Pole Shootout started with Davis and Sparks being eliminated in the first round as Holmes and Kennedy advanced, only to find themselves outpaced by Stralow and Iacono. The final clash saw McTaggart lap half a second quicker than the others to snare pole position in emphatic fashion. Wilson was next best ahead of Iacono and Stralow.
Wilson outgunned McTaggart to lead the feature race field away and continued to hold sway at the front through the first ten laps despite a couple of restarts. On lap 11, McTaggart pounced to wrest the lead from Wilson, with Davis moving into third ahead of Iacono on lap 14. Further back, Blatch and Rae were moving forward while Fanning, despite his best efforts, was making little progress. With four laps to run, Wilson went back to the front, only to strike trouble in turn four just two laps from home, enabling McTaggart and Davis to move ahead and leave Wilson to rue what might have been. In finishing fourth, Stralow was the first B Grade driver home, with Kennedy fifth ahead of Blatch and Rae. Scott Jukes, an ailing Iacono and Jason George completed the top ten, with Fanning, Michael Gollagher and Peter Styles the only other finishers.
Although Mitch Isaacs won the first two qualifying heats in the Queensland Microsprint Championship and Jackson Isaacs took the third, neither would feature in the results of the championship final, despite the fact that they were the quickest cars on the track. In a race that started bizarrely when Jason Summers stopped against the turn two wall on lap two, only for Peter Challen to ignore the subsequent yellow flag/light that slowed the rest of the field, crashing into the stricken Summers to ensure neither driver took any further part in proceedings. Mitch Isaacs very quickly established a sizeable lead over Jackson, only for both drivers to ultimately find themselves on the infield. Mitch exited on lap 10, handing the lead to Jackson, who survived three more laps before also expiring, elevating Havas into the top spot with just two laps remaining. With just seven cars still circulating at the chequer, Munro and Schwehla clinched the minor placings ahead of Andrew Baker, Colin Tunnah, John Lawson and Andrew Carrick.
The Open Sedan Track Championship saw Wayne Kirkman prevail in the A class ahead Brad Trussell, Glenn Willmott, Peter Gray and Matt McGee, while Neil Crawford downed Thomas Hunter and Ricky Price to take B class honours.
In RSA Outlaw Sedans, it was Gary Burgess who proved too quick in the Track Championship feature race, downing Michael Taylor and Daniel Taylor. The RSA Limited Sedan Track Championship went to Wade Baker from Aaron Buchanan and Adrian Clark.
Such are the vagaries of motorsport, the dominant driver of the season was the only driver not to finish in the Ford vs Holden vs Sigma Track Championship feature race. A flat tyre ended Robert Kynaston’s title chances as Dave Tookey took the win in advance of Bernie Wright, Troy Price, Michael Laver and Travis Maher.
Josh Boyd won the opening Street Stocker heat by more than eight seconds in slippery conditions, while heat two saw Shane Carlson romp home more than 15 seconds clear of the field. However, come feature race time, Boyd failed to go the distance and Carlson could no better than third behind Brodie King and Glenn Armstrong.
Hayden Brims won the first of the Junior Sedan heats and Brock Youngberry took the second before backing up to also win the feature race. Riley Smith and Josh Weir filled the minor placings as Brims fell to fourth in the closing stages.
The next event at Ausdeck Archerfield Speedway is the opening meeting of the 2019/2010 season on October 5 featuring Sprintcars, Midgets, Formula 500s, AMCA Nationals, Wingless Sprints, Monster Trucks and Fireworks.
