By Paris Charles
IT was a tough night at Horsham’s Blue Ribbon Raceway on Saturday night for Penola’s Dave Gartner, despite a solid effort in his heat races.
After three rounds of heats Gartner had claimed two wins and second to earn him the top points score.
From outside front row fhe made the most of a clear track as he slingshot his way around the outside of pole sitter Brock Atkins to lead the charge.
Over the course of the race Gartner had set the fastest lap time of 16.190 seconds and many were ready to put pen to paper to mark him in their race program as the white flag came out.
Then came the unthinkable as Gartner pulled to the infield with a broken exhaust.
Atkins inherited the lead and negotiated the final 16 seconds without incident to claim the winner’s purse.
Jamie Collins claimed the runner-up position and one lap further back were Dave Mackenzie, Ricky Ashmore and Danny Smith.
