IT was a big night for Mount Gambier speedway fans on Saturday, with three events contested at Borderline Speedway.
The feature of the night was the 70th annual Speedcar Title, which was won by New South Wales driver Nathan Smee after a class performance in the category.
On a local note, there was no shortage of success in the street stock category on the night, as drivers competed in the Blue Lake Classic.
Mount Gambier’s Anthony Beare proved why he holds the Australian number one rank, with a strong display to finish at the head of the pack.
The street stocks began their weekend of racing in Hamilton on Friday night, where Beare started the feature from pole position and claimed the win.
He then replicated those efforts on Saturday at Borderline to secure his second feature win in as many days.
He was not the only local driver to be on the pace on Saturday night, with the likes of Mark Jennings, Jayden Edwards, Jason Duell and Penola’s Stevie Gartner out to impress on their home circuit.
Beare and Jennings appeared the favourites on Saturday, with both winning their two heats.
They started first and second on the grid respectively for the final, with Robbie Faux and Duell filling the second row.
The feature contained plenty of action, with the field dwindling in size as the race unfolded.
A broken axle saw Timothy Hutchinson out early, while Brad McClure suffered a flat tyre soon after.
Jennings’ race was brought to an end when he also suffered a flat, which forced him to retire to the infield after a solid battle with Beare up the front.
Another flat ended Faux’s battle, while minor fires to Duell and Andrew Burgoyne’s cars caused a red light at the midpoint of the race.
On the restart Beare pulled away from the pack and left his rivals to battle out second position.
Gartner, Faux, Mick Clark, Edwards, Jason Degoldi, Duell and Bailey Heinrich were all in the mix, with Gartner holding off his rivals to finish second over young-gun Edwards.
Edwards put in a consistent performance over the weekend to finish third in Hamilton and Mount Gambier.
There was also local interest in round two of the Wingless Sprint Summer Slam, with Mount Gambier talents Mitchell Broome and Kirby Hillyer two promising drivers heading into the night, which was also round five of the Victorian Super Series.
Despite good car speed, Hillyer found passing difficult and managed to qualify sixth for the B Main.
He finished fourth in that race, missing out on a transfer to the A Main by one position.
Broome on the other hand managed to finish second and fourth in his heats to book a 12th-place start in the A Main feature race.
However, Mother Nature played her part and the final was washed out, leaving drivers to their starting positions.
As a result, Victorian Luke Storer claimed the honours with pole position.
Heading into Sunday night’s sixth and final round of the Victorian Super Series and the final round of the Summer Slam at Warrnambool’s Premier Speedway, Broome sat in first place, while Hillyer held fourth position.
Daniel Storer was on the pace for that event and won the night to claim the overall Summer Slam victory, while Broome and Hillyer finished fifth and sixth respectively.
That was enough for Broome to hold onto the lead and secure the Super Series win.
The 70th annual Speedcar Title lived up to expectations, with plenty of action in the fast class.
Smee was on the pace all night and bested his rivals in the pole shuffle to start the A Main feature from first place.
And that was where he would finish, despite tough competition early in the piece.
South Australian Brett Ireland was quickest off the start and held the lead until a crash caused a restart.
On the restart Smee and Jay Waugh found room inside to make a pass, with Ireland left in third, before another crash reverted the grid and put Ireland back in second.
However, Smee had the jump on the pack this time around and Waugh found room to reclaim second place.
Eventually Ireland crashed out to put a sour end to his night, but for Smee there was no fault from there out.
With a couple more restarts before the race was finished, Smee broke away from the pack each time, while Waugh held off a late push from Victorian Matt Jackson to finish second.
