THE Street Stocks Blue Lake Classic hits the Borderline Speedway tonight, alongside the 69th South Australian Speedcar titles and round one of the Wingless Sprints Summer Slam.
While the Speedcars title could take top billing, the Street Stocks and Wingless Sprints promise plenty of action in their own right.
For the Street Stocks there are several Limestone Coast drivers in the mix, all capable of finishing at the pointy end of the field.
Australian number one Anthony Beare will headline the list, joined by Jason Duell, Mark Jennings, Steve Gartner, Hayden Jolly and Jayden Edwards, all set to defend the honour of their home circuit.
Borderline Speedway president Cary Jennings said with 27 starters in the list, there was sure to be some close door-to-door racing.
“Last time these guys had a feature back in early November there was nothing between Mark Jennings and Anthony Beare for the 30 laps,” he said.
“That was a good final.
“Jayden Edwards is always around the mark, as is Steven Gartner.
“These Street Stock guys put on a good show every time they go out racing.”
The Blue Lake Classic began as a club event, but now attracts more cars from further afield, with many drivers doing more of a circuit.
The majority of tonight’s field will head to Hamilton tomorrow night for a SSS event.
Jennings said the quality of the field here was second to none.
“Most of these guys are always at the pointy end of the class and the majority have been around a fair while,” he said.
“There are only a few who have started in the last couple of years and are learning the craft.
“Anthony (Beare) has obviously achieved that over the last few years.
“Jayden Edwards, his dad was around before him and Jayden has come from the juniors to this and knows his craft.
“On a good night he can win a race.
“Steve Gartner is the son of Dave and came from juniors, Mark (Jennings) has been around for a long time, with 25 years of racing, so the locals can certainly take it up to the rest of the field.”
In fact, Jennings pointed out an interesting fact.
“Super Sedans from South Australia have never won a national championship,” he said.
“In the Street Stocks, out of the 29 that have run, South Australia has won 14 and Mount Gambier competitors have won 10.
“We call Mount Gambier the home of the champions.”
Jennings said that success comes from the amount of drivers who have come from the region over the years, learning off each other and helping each other during race meetings.
“When we used to go away for national titles all the Mount Gambier cars used to be in it and helped each other,” he said.
“They just got better.
“There was an old saying, every time you came to Mount Gambier for a final it was another national title you were racing.
“Everyone of those guys from Mount Gambier would make the final.
“Street Stocks have been very strong since the early 1990s in Mount Gambier.”
Moving on to the Wingless Sprints and there are two drivers who will be of interest to Limestone Coast fans particularly.
Mitch Broome and Kirby Hillyer will both fly the flag for the region.
Broome is no stranger to speedway racing as a third generation driver, while Hillyer takes to the sport this season after crewing for Broome in recent years.
“Hillyer came out of go karts and is in his first year in the category,” Jennings said.
“He was crewing for Mitch Broome for a couple of years, liked it, bought a car and has been successful.
“He has not made a podium yet, but has been in the A Main finals.
“They always have big fields so it is tough to achieve that.”
With 47 cars in tonight’s field it will certainly be a tall order to make the A Main, let alone claim a podium finish.
But Jennings said Broome is certainly capable of that.
“Mitch has been doing well, he has had a couple of podiums this season and there are not many A Mains he has not made,” he said.
“They run B1 and B2 finals in this category, so to make the A Main consistently, he has done well.”
Jennings said the Wingless Sprints would provide another entertaining class of racing tonight and always put on a good show.
Wingless Sprints: S35 Mitchell Broome, S86 Kirby Hillyer, S2 Jake Ashworth, V43 Daniel Storer, V3 John Rotheram, VX44 Glen Harris, VX3 Adam Smith, V44 Chris Rodda, N4 Jason Davis, NX45 Chloe Carey, V4 Carly Walsh, N45 Troy Carey, S6 Micheal Ross, V46 Jordan Abbott, NX9 Andrew Seery, VX46 Michael McDonald, VX9 Viv Rockliff, VX50 Luke Weel, VX11 Graham Payne, V51 Jordan Nicholas, V11 Matthew Symons, V52 Scott Irons, V12 Luke Cole, V54 Jeremy Beddison, V14 Alex Ross, V60 Steven Hateley, S19 Michael Spoljaric, N61 Peter Granger, S22 Jamie Crafter, V66 Marc Evans, S23 Jack McCarthy, V67 Christopher Halesworth, V23 Mathew Balcombe, V70 Aron Lawrence, VX28 Justin Bradley, NT75 Tyson Newcombe, V31 Mick Rigby, V76 Kelvin Johnson, V32 Dayn Bentvelzen, V77 Alex Thomson, V33 Luke Storer, V83 Todd Hobson, VX35 Shaun Clapp, VX91 Ben Poliansky, V36 Ashley Cook, V95 Geoff Cook, VX38 Leigh Armistead.
Street Stocks: SA46 Anthony Beare, SA18 Jason Duell, SA21 Mark Jennings, SA32 Steve Gartner, SA87 Jayden Edwards, SA59 Hayden Jolly, NT5 Justin Brumfield, W5 Steve Watts, SA 8 Paul Hayes, RDL12 Darren Giacometti, HA13 Benny Barker, L14 Jared Wilkinson, SA17 Carey Weston, HA 21 Donald Irving, RDL24 Brad McLure, RDL27 Jason DeGoldi, B39 Gerard Mabbitt, B 42 Chris Whatmore, B48 Mchael Clarke, P62 Timothy Humby, RDL68 Kayla Knox, AX81 Dylan Campton, C83 Dave Barrie, MDA83 Scott Mason, MDA88 Tim Hutchinson, SA117 Jeremy Weston.
