IT'S GOLD (MONTE) GOLD (LANCE) GOLD (OLDFIELD)

LUCH MONTE GRABBED THE SPRINTCAR GOLD CUP

All pictures by Peter Roebuck Photography

LUCH Monte claimed one of the most exciting races ever seen at the Perth Motorplex when he won the 25-lap Sprintcar Gold Cup on Saturday night. The last nine laps of the grand final were a classic contest between Monte, Jamie Maiolo (who finished second) and Ryan Farrell (third) as they traded slide jobs, pulled massive wheel stands and had their elbows up as they threw their cars into the ruts at full noise. The massive crowd was spellbound as all three dirt-track cowboys were locked in the enthralling wheel-to-wheel combat. Full credit must go to all three drivers who drove at their absolute limit yet gave each other enough racing room as they explored all parts of the track in the quest to win the gold. Daryl Clayden hooked a rut in the first corner and went over which also saw Greg Fisher go over. Wayne Russell tagged the flipping Clayden and although he suffered minor damage he had to resume from the back of the pack. Monte was the early bolter on the restart with Farrell and American Chad Blonde. Early on Ken Sartori ended his challenge when his nose wing collapsed and he pulled infield. Monte was in lapped traffic within three laps and was carrying a lot of car speed as he put a lap down on many of the competitors. Greg Hall and Scott Reilly both spun around on the bike track at opposite ends of the track at the same time and both were able to resume and get back into the field. Farrell popped the first of his many wheelstands after just seven laps and was lucky not to suffer any damage or lose ground. Blonde pulled infield with 11 laps to go. With nine laps to go Scott Reilly, who started from position three, slid out of control in the first turn and was collected by Shaun Bradford who straightened up Reilly, but both cars were out of the contest. While Monte would have been disappointed that the field had to regroup for the last nine laps, in reality it was one of the best things that could have happened. The race to the finish line will have fans talking for quite some time and it was a fitting finish to a hot summer of sprint car racing at the purpose-built speedway heaven. Ben Ellement was the first casualty in the big night of sprintcar racing, slamming into the fence in pits bend on the first lap of the first heat. On the restart Farrell was flying, racing from the back of the pack up to fourth in four laps. Unfortunately as he was nearing leader McDiarmid the motor smoked heavily, forcing him infield. McDiarmid won the race from Moon and the very fast Reilly. Sartori, thanks to his poor time in qualifying, started on the front row of the second heat and managed to hold on from Milling and David Hall. At the start of the race Waldron got sideways in pits bend causing a chain reaction involving Bradford, Coyle and Monte. Only Monte got a restart, albeit with damaged wings which proved a handful to drive towards the back of the pack. It was disappointing for Monte who set the fastest time at the start of the night. Farrell won the third heat while Sartori was again the victor in the next heat. Marshall McDiarmid had the change the steering box in the lead up to the B Main and unfortunately he didn’t get to start from pole position. Ben Ellement won the last chance qualifier from David Hall, Todd Davis and Russell Minchin. Sprintcars: Time Trials: Luch Monte 13.561, Ryan Farrell 13.574, Chad Blonde 13.576, Jamie Maiolo 13.682, Kris Coyle 13.772, Ben Ellement 13.803, Allan Nash 13.814, Darryl Clayden 13.896, Shaun Bradford 13.915, Scott Reilly 13.921, Greg Hall 14.027, Greg Fisher 14.051, David Ellement 14.155, Mat Muir 14.201, Jodi Waldron 14.229, Wayne Russell 14.242., David Hall 14.250, David Priolo 14.287, Scott Milling 14.349, Jason Kendrick 14.396, Ian Woods 14.419, Jamie Moon 14.475, Russell Minchin 14.521, Todd Davis 14.594, Robert Watson 14.621, Marshall McDiarmid 14.676, Ken Sartori 14.743, Robert Watson 15.066. Heat 1: 1st Marshall McDiarmid, 2nd Jamie Moon, 3rd Scott Reilly, 4th Jamie Maiolo, 5th Wayne Russell, 6th Darryl Clayden, 7th Jason Kendrick, 8th David Priolo, 9th Mat Muir, 10th Todd Davis, 11th Greg Fisher. Heat 2: 1st Ken Sartori, 2nd Scott Milling, 3rd David Hall, 4th Chad Blonde, 5th Ian Woods, 6th Greg Hall, 7th Russell Minchin, 8th Allan Nash, 9th David Ellement, 10th Luch Monte. DNF: Robert Watson, Jodi Waldron, Shaun Bradford and Kris Coyle Race 3; 1st Ryan Farrell, 2nd David Priolo, 3rd Scott Reilly, 4th Jamie Moon, 5th Wayne Russell, 6th Jason Kendrick, 7th Marshall McDiarmid, 8th Greg Fisher, 9th Todd Davis, 10th Mat Muir, 11th Daryl Clayden.. DNF: Robert Watson Junior, Jamie Maiolo. Race 4: 1st Ken Sartori, 2nd David Ellement, 3rd Luch Monte, 4th Robert Watson, 5th Chad Blonde, 6th Ian Woods, 7th Shaun Bradford, 8th Greg Hall, 9th Allan Nash. DNF: Kris Coyle, Russell Minchin, Scott Milling, David Hall. B Main: 1st Ben Ellement, 2nd David Hall, 3rd Todd Davis, 4th Russell Minchin. A Main: 1st Luch Mone, 2nd Jamie Maiolo, 3rd Ryan Farrell, 4th David Ellement, 5th Allan Nash, 6th Greg Hall, 7th David Priolo, 8th David Hall, 9th Ian Woods, 10th Jason Kendrick, 11th Jamie Moon, 12th Mat Muir. DNF: Scott Reilly, Shaun Bradford, Chad Blonde, Todd Davis, Ben Ellement, Ken Sartori, Wayne Russell, Darryl Clayden and Greg Fisher.

LANCE HIT PAYDIRT WITH HIS 6th WA SPEEDCAR TITLE

NEVILLE Lance won his sixth WA Speedcar Championship in a commanding performance over 25-laps. Starting from the front Lance dominated to win his sixth state title, crossing the line well ahead of Tom Watson and Todd Waddell. It was a great result for Lance who has struggled to find consistency in the #14 Murphy. On the podium Lance said he was glad to finally finish a race after being in a strong position so many times only to be let down by mechanical problems. He won his first WA championship in 1986-87 while his last championship was in the summer of 2004-05. Lance and Watson ran close and hard as they crossed the line for the start but after the first lap Watson lost ground when he bounced hard through a rut and slid back to fourth. Tammy Telenta then went over in pits bend a moment later and was out of the contest forcing the first restart.

No good can come from this...

...Tammy had a different view of the WA Speedcar Championship

On the restart Lance, Keith Giles and Watson ran high while Rick Geneve went low looking to gain an advantage in the John Bryant-owned machine. Unfortunately the Australia #3 struggled with the ruts and quickly slid back to fifth. After a good with Watson at midrace Waddell pulled away and tried to close the gap on second-placed Giles. With 10 laps to go Lance led by the length of the straight from Giles, Waddell, Waston and Geneve and a lap later the field bunched up after Dave McKay stopped on the approach to the first turn. Lance again cleared out on the restart while Watson raced into second. The only question about Lance out in front was if his equipment was going to hold out as he had too much speed for his rivals. In the last three laps all the attention was on the youth and fitness of defending champion Waddell and the wily racecraft and experience of Watson who held on for second. Speedcars: Race 1: 1st Rick Geneve, 2nd Tom Watson, 3rd Steve Doyle, 4th Todd Waddell, 5th Dene McAllan, 6th Ernie George, 7th Jason Roser, 8th Tammy Telenta. DNF: Vaughan Manders and Chris Telenta. Race 2: 1st Neville Lance, 2nd Keith Giles, 3rd Ross Heywood, 4th Dean Beagley, 5th Steven Henderson, 6th Robert Harvey, 7th Dave McKay, 8th Glen Mears. Race 3: 1st Tom Watson, 2nd Todd Waddell, 3rd Keith Giles, 4th Dean Beagley, 5th Steven Henderson, 6th Chris Telenta, 7th Dave McKay. D Race 4: 1st Neville Lance, 2nd Rick Geneve, 3rd Glen Mears, 4th Steve Doyle, 5th Robert Harvey, 6th Ross Heywood, 7th Jason Roser, 8th Tammy Telenta, 9th Ernie George.

The Late Models put in some sensational racing during the night.

Late models: Race 1: 1st Ryan Halliday, 2nd Warren Oldfield, 3rd Craig Vosbergen, 4th Brad Ludlow, 5th Jason Oldfield, 6th Clint Noakes, 7th Jay Cardy, 8th Brad Blake, 9th Mark Matthews, 10th Phil Richards, 11th Michael Holmes, 12th Veronica McCann, 13th Terry Chamberlain, 14th Matt Noakes, 15th Daren Currell. DNF: Kevin Bell, Jeremy Hale, Ben Ludlow, Lee Watt, Matt Nylander, Bert Vosbergen. Race 2: 1st Brad Ludlow, 2nd Warren Oldfield, 3rd Phil Richards, 4th Brad Blake, 5th Jay Cardy, 6th Craig Vosbergen, 7th Kevin Bell, 8th Mark Matthews, 9th Jason Oldfield, 10th Ryan Halliday, 11th Matt Noakes, 12th Terry Chamberlain, 13th Matt Nylander, 14th Michael Holmes, 15th Lee Watts, 16th Clint Noakes, 17th Daren Currell. DNF: Bert Vosbergen, Veronica McCann, Jeremy Hale. Race 3: 1st Warren Oldfield, 2nd Brad Ludlow, 3rd Brad Blake, 4th Ryan Halliday, 5th Terry Chamberlain, 6th Veronica McCann, 7th Matt Noakes, 8th Kevin Bell, 9th Clint Noakes, 10th Jason Oldfield, 11th Daren Currell.

Go for Gold - Warren Oldfield's cup runneth over.

Modified Sedans: Race 1: 1st John Purser, 2nd Brendan Selleck, 3rd Peter Fraser, 4th Ken Tucker, 5th Robert Fraser, 6th Allan Mortimer, 7th Neville Manstead, 8th Bob Boyd. Race 2: 1st Peter Fraser, 2nd Brendan Selleck, 3rd John Purser, 4th Neville Manstead, 5th Bob Boyd, 6th Allan Mortimer. DNF: Robert Fraser, Kevin Ellement and Ken Tucker. Final: 1st Brendan Selleck, 2nd Peter Fraser, 3rd Kevin Ellement, 4th Neville Manstead, 5th Ken Tucker, 6th Allan Mortimer, 7th Bob Boyd. DNF: John Purser. Points: 1st Brendan Selleck 298, Peter Fraser 297, Neville Manstead 288, Allan Mortimer 285, Bob Boyd 283, John Purser 277, Ken Tucker 272, Kevin Ellement 256, Robert Fraser 254. Formula 500s: Race 1: 1st Graham Higgs, 2nd Tim Winters, 3rd Mark House, 4th Brad Warwick, 5th Shane Andersson, 6th Aaron Higgins, 7th Darren Rodwell, 8th Steven Ellement, 9th Wayne Dymock, 10th Alex McLaughllin, 11th Dean Terry, 12th Todd Broadwood, 13th Craig Bottrell, 14th Gordan Harris, 15th Bill Richards, 16th Hayden Channing, 17th Filomena Aracri, 18th Malcolm O’Keefe. DNF: David Sinagra, Phil Crofts, Jason Priolo and Todd Nathan. Race 2: 1st Wayne Dymock, 2nd Tim Winters, 3rd Steven Ellement, 4th Dean Terry, 5th Aaron Higgins, 6th Shane Andersson, 7th Brad Warwick, 8th Jason Priolo, 9th Alex McLaughlin, 10th Todd Broadwood, 11th Mark House, 12th Hayden Channing, 13th Bill Richards, 14th Darren Rodwell, 15th Gordan Harris, 16th Malcolm O’Keefe. DNF: Craig Bottrell, Graham Higgs, Phil Crofts, Filomena Aracri. Race 3: 1st Steven Ellement, 2nd Tim Winters, 3rd Wayne Dymock, 4th Jason Priolo, 5th Shane Andersson, 6th Aaron Higgins, 7th Mark House, 8th Phil Crofts, 9th Darren Rodwell, 10th Alex McLaughlin, 11th Dean Terry, 12th Gordan Harris, 13th Craig Bottrell, 14th Bill Richards, 15th Todd Nathan. DNF: Todd Broadwood, Filomena Aracri, Brad Warwick, Hayden Channing. Points: Tim Winters 297, Steven Ellemengt 291, Wayne Dymock 290, Shane Andersson 287, Aaron Higgins 286, Mark House 282, Dean Terry 277, Alex McLaughlin 274, Darren Roddwell 273, Brad Warwick 270, Jason Priolo 269, Gordan Harris 262, Bill Richards 261, Todd Broadwood 259, Graham Higgs 258, Craig Bottrell 255, Hayden Channing 253, Phil Crofts 251, Malcolm O’Keefe 247, Todd Nathan 244, Filomena Aracri 242, David Sinagra 237. Junior Sedans: Race 1: 1st Kye Scroop, 2nd Bronwyn Channing, 3rd Scott Elst, 4th Jacky Moroney, 5th Jack Alfirevich, 6th Josh Martinelli, 7th Nathan Gilmour. Race 2: 1st Kye Scroop, 2nd Bronwyn Channing, 3rd Scott Elst, 4th Jacky Moroney, 5th Nathan Gilmour, 6th Josh Martinelli. Race 3: 1st Kye Scroop, 2nd Bronwyn Channing, 3rd Scott Elst, 4th Jacky Moroney, 5th Josh Martinelli, 6th Nathan Gilmour. Points: 1st Kye Scroop 300, Bronwyn Channing 297, Scott Elst 294, Jacky Moroney 291, Josh Martinelli 291, Nathan Gilmour 285, Jack Alfirevich 254, Liam Dowling 237.

Ever wondered what a Sprintcar looks like underneath? Wonder no more as Shaun Bradford lifts the skirt for a quick peek...

Lance celebrates a classic victory

The skies lit up as we celebrated another great season at the Perth Motorplex