WITH an impressive drive, Steven Lines claimed the honours in Round 4 of the SRA sprintcars series at the Borderline Speedway Saturday night.
However, it was anything but an easy run for the Mount Gambier driver, with one tough heat result which saw him relegated to the B Main.
But he made a good fist of that and advanced through to the A Main where his skills were on display.
The track received plenty of attention from officials, who had worked hard all week to provide a decent racing surface.
But with the heavy rain experienced, some soft spots appeared, with the clay providing plenty of grip and bumps, which saw thrills and spills throughout the night.
Heat 4 of the night saw Lines off the front row, with fellow Limestone Coast driver Glen Sutherland at the back of the field.
A tough opening few laps saw a restart, which would become the tale of the tape throughout the night.
Lines pushed hard at the restart and passed young star Cory McCullagh through turn three.
He was one of a handful of drivers who used the high line to good effect and the pressure of the moment showed, with McCullagh on his roof on the final lap as Lines greeted the chequered flag.
Sutherland was off front row in his next heat, with a good start for a big lead, but again a restart brought the field back together.
He repeated the effort when the green flag dropped again, clearing out for a comfortable win.
Lines was up against it in his next heat, with a back row start providing plenty of work to do.
However an incident on the opening lap forced him to rethink his strategy.
“I hit the inside barrier tyre on the start and bent the tie rod, so could not actually steer it properly,” Lines said.
“It was not hard to finish out there, but I was lucky to finish in that one.
“You take that when you can get it.”
From there he was forced to move through the B Main, with a front row start and the early jump, but an accident in turn one caused a restart.
The green flag saw Lines again with a good start, but another incident in turn one brought the field back together again.
This time Lines fell to second place off the restart, but pushed hard throughout to gain the lead with eight laps to run for the eventual win and a spot in the main event.
Meanwhile Sutherland had worked his way through to a second-row start in the A Main via the shootouts, but Lines was down towards the back of the pack.
In the A Main Sutherland spun on the first lap and was relegated to the back of the field after an accident in turn three just seconds later saw yet another restart.
A big roll-over in turn two saw the race red-flagged again and with 27 laps still remaining a three-car pile up in turn one brought proceedings to another halt.
Meanwhile Lines was working his way towards the front and with just 11 cars left in the field was a good chance to claim the honours.
Once again using the high line to advantage, Lines cut through the field and with 18 laps remaining was in the lead.
Just one lap later another caution closed the field up, but with the front position Lines took control and claimed what in the end was a comfortable victory.
However, it was a tough night at the office, with the poor weather leading up to the event making for a rough racing surface.
“It was pretty rough and soft,” Lines said.
“With the weather we have had there was so much water in the clay, they could not seal it over.
“It made it pretty tough.”
Lines said the accidents and restarts helped him move up through the field, but his use of the high line when needed certainly showed his skill in the car.
“You have to take a couple of chances when you need to,” he said.
“You try to go around the rough stuff and I knew when lapped traffic came that would be the option, so we were trying to make that work early.”
To go through the B Main and win the A Main showed a lot of class from Lines and dedication of the crew who ensured the car was up to the task.
Lines said it was a welcome result at his home track, considering the support he receives from the Limestone Coast region.
“It was unexpected really because we struggled early in the night,” he said.
“It makes it a bit harder later on, so it was a pretty good finish for us.
“We have a lot of local sponsors, so it was good to get them up there.
“Everyone is doing a good job on that car and hopefully it just gets better and we are there when it matters.”
