ROSS ‘THE BOSS’ RIPS IT UP AT WANGARATTA

ROSS ‘THE BOSS’ RIPS IT UP AT WANGARATTA

The Victorian Late Model Sedan contingent came, they rocked & they left the crowd wanting some 

more at Wangaratta City Speedway Saturday night the 21st of February, when Sydney driver Ross 

'the Boss' Nicastri stormed to a win ahead of a strong field defeating Canberra's Scott McPherson & 

South Australian Steve Vaughan to the line.

The strong field included current Victoria # two & three drivers Graham Forte & Justin Pearson, 

Chevy Edwards, Sydney's Barry Kelleher, Scotty Haynes from Canberra & another Sydneysider Bruce 

Mackenzie along with the eventual top three.

As has been the case for much of the season, the LMRV keen to give cars the opportunity to finish all 

their heat races & all start in the final, so once again they ran four heats with each driver competing 

in three of the four heats, wins went the way of Nicastri for the first two & McPherson the last two 

heats.

Kelleher (# 65 - Jack Hillermans Smash Repairs) known as the 'Flying Pom', began in pole position for 

heat one with Nicastri alongside, Edwards, Haynes, Pearson, Vaughan & McPherson.

Nicastri was quick to assume control at the head of the field & Kelleher who arrived late to the 

venue with no time to test the track & make adjustments, was very strong out of the box to take 

second. 

A hairy moment for Edwards during the heat saw the # 21 'Lake Eildon Houseboat Sales' machine get 

all crossed up in turn four in front of half of the field, & with everybody at full pace missing Edwards 

all together, continuing on the race to finish with no damage to anybody at all. 

Finishing third in heat one was Haynes, Vaughan fourth then McPherson, Pearson (# 10 - Healesville 

Directional Drilling) & Edwards.

Mackenzie (# 6 - Hewlett Packard) began in pole position for heat 2 with Pearson, Nicastri, Edwards, 

Haynes & Forte completing the grid. 

Mackenzie was strong early showing his potential to contend later in the night for a podium finish, 

however the # 99 'Franks Auto's' supported car piloted by Nicastri was too classy taking the lead & 

ultimately victory from Mackenzie, Pearson, Edwards & Forte.

The Echuca Metaland supported # 7F car of Forte began from pole in the third heat with McPherson, 

Haynes, Mackenzie, Vaughan, Nicastri & Kelleher completing the line-up.

McPherson (# N7 - Better Trailers) blasted to the lead from his outside front row position to take 

command of the race. Forte was able to keep Nicastri at bay as they finished second & third ahead of 

Mackenzie, Haynes (# N10 - SJR Metal Design), Vaughan & Kelleher.

The line-up for the final heat was McPherson, Vaughan (# 67 - Performance Techniques), Edwards, 

Kelleher, Mackenzie, Forte & Pearson. 

Whilst McPherson would go on to win, last week’s Swan Hill winner Vaughan was able to hustle him 

along finishing second ahead of Mackenzie, Pearson, Edwards, Kelleher & Forte.

A twenty lap feature race closed out the night with Nicastri & McPherson from the front row then 

Mackenzie, Vaughan, Pearson, Forte, Haynes, Kelleher & Edwards.

Nicastri headed through turn one, lap one the fastest & assumed position at the front of the pack, 

quickly establishing distance between he & McPherson. 

In the field Vaughan got the better of Mackenzie to hold third place ahead of a four car battle, whilst 

later in the race Pearson would move to fourth in front of Mackenzie.

Carving up the field getting past some of the back markers, Nicastri stormed to the win over 

McPherson, Vaughan, Pearson, Mackenzie, Forte, Haynes & Kelleher. 

Nicastri was appreciative of the LMRV, his crew & the venue after his feature win. “First of all well 

done to the Wangaratta volunteers & to John Patton willing to work with the LMRV to provide a 

track we could really run high & low on. Well done to the LMRV for the way they once again 

operated the evening & to my crew thank you for your efforts through the night. Congratulations to 

all drivers for the display we gave the fans, we have done ourselves proud tonight.” Shared Nicastri.

The Late Model Sedan action continues on Match the 7th & 8th with the return to the SA v Vic 

'Shootout' series at Mount Gambier & Warrnambool. 

Late Model Racing Victoria is proudly supported by:

Kevin Carey - KC Pty Ltd

Australian Racing Products

Belkblast Pty Ltd

Forte Engineering

Healesville Directional Drilling

Lake Eildon Houseboat Sales

Huckers Car & Truck Hire

Horne Enterprises Pty Ltd

Written by

Dean Thompson

DMT Sports Media

For LMRV Inc.

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