THE World Series Sprintcars season reaches a crescendo this weekend, with the final two rounds at the Perth Motorplex.
Round nine kicks off tonight, before the final round tomorrow night and Mount Gambier sprintcar driver Steven Lines is in the box seat to claim his second WSS title, with a slender seven-point advantage over Kerry Madsen.
He claimed the lead after a tough night of racing last weekend at Albany and looks forward to the challenge ahead.
Initially Lines said he had no real plans to contest the entire series, but with some consistent performances from the opening round on, he has remained in contention.
“At the start we did not plan to go across (to Perth), but we put ourselves in a position where we sort of had to go,” he said.
“But there are still two nights to go and a bit of work to do yet so we will see how we end up.”
Lines said last weekend’s racing provided a pleasing result, even if only a small margin.
He moved up from fifth on the grid, claimed the lead from Madsen late in the race then held on to the chequered flag.
“We were pretty happy with that one, to get past him (Madsen),” he said.
“I know its not much of a lead, but it’s better than the other way.”
Lines’ season so far has been typified by consistent performances, which he put down to a solid team effort – and a little bit of luck.
“It is about everyone working together, getting everything right and things going your way,” he said.
“You have to keep slogging away and hopefully try to finish every race you go in to, as much as you can.”
But the season has not been all plain sailing.
The weekend saw Lines pull out of a heat with a mechanical issue, but the team pulled together and he still managed to qualify for the shootout and start from fifth on the grid in the A Main feature.
From there the luck came into it, but also some inspired driving to pass Madsen late and hold on for the win.
“Obviously we did not need that drama to happen on the weekend, but it happened and we were able to scrape back into the shootout which helped us,” he said.
“We ended up starting out of fifth and as the race went on we had a bit of luck.
“James (McFadden) made a bit of blue when he was leading and it opened up an opportunity.
“It was good to grab it and keep moving.”
Luck or not, Lines seems to have plenty of it over in the West.
Last weekend was his third successive WSS win at Albany.
It is something he can not explain.
“I’m not sure what it is,” Lines said.
“We have been pretty solid over in the West over the years, especially at Albany.
“But we have won a couple at the Motorplex too, so hopefully we can keep running and see how it all pans out.”
Lines claimed the WSS title back in 2013-14 as a contracted driver for Halls Motorsport.
This season he is not contracted, which means he is not eligible for the end-of-season prize pool.
His team is now owned by Horrell Motorsport out of Queensland and he said it would be a good reward for their effort to win the title.
“It would be unreal to win, especially with everyone around who has put in the effort,” Lines said.
“That is the main thing.
“They have gone out on a limb and put it out there for us to have a go.
“Hopefully we can finish it off well.
“We also have a lot of sponsors back home (Mount Gambier) who help and we have plenty of support from the fans.
“We have two pretty long nights to go, but it would be nice to finish it off on a high.”
