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GRIMSON WINS THE WAHGUNYAH TRUE BLUE 1000
Late Model Racing Victoria headed to Wahgunyah Speedway on the Victorian side of the Murray
River near Corowa for its latest race meeting; with visiting racers Darryl Grimson & Nathan Disney
putting in an outstanding display of racing at the front of the pack; running nose to tail much of the
feature race taking first and second ahead of LMRV’s own Cameron Pearson.
Each driver competed in three heats of the six that were held before the starting positions for the
final were settled. The ‘Newcastle Nightmare’ Nathan Disney kicking off the night with victory in the
first heat ahead of Cameron Pearson (# 10 Progressive Traffic Control – 430 Chev), Graham Forte,
Scott McPherson, Chevy Edwards & New Zealander Kristin Vermuelen.
Mick Hetherington began well when he was able to take a win ahead of Grimson in heat two with
Canberra youngster Liam Heaton third, then Wayne Belk (# 32 Clearview Rear Windows - 420
Mopar), Justin Pearson & Barry Kelleher rounding out the field. Brendan Hucker; who competed in
hot laps & Brock Edwards; who only managed to roll his car off the trailer, were both in the pits
trying to correct what they thought were fuel pressure issues.
Having travelled back from Perth after competing in the national title the week before with a brand
new engine in his machine, Justin Pearson managed to win a ripping race over Disney, Grimson,
Kelleher, Heaton & Hetherington (# 40 Aus D’Tail – 410 Chev) in the third heat, this made up for the
disappointment of finishing almost last in the first heat for Pearson.
McPherson has been a yard stick in competition with the Victorian’s this season & he beat five
locally based race cars in heat four with Edwards second, then Forte (# 7f Forte Engineering – 413
Chev) , Cameron Pearson, Vermuelen & Belk.
Edwards (# Ax21 Lake Eildon Houseboat Sales – 430 Chev) then took things up a notch in his final
heat when he led home Grimson, Belk, Cameron Pearson, Hetherington & Vermuelen (# 9 McGrath
Foundation) who was struggling with her 366 Mopar on a massive 610 metre track.
Heaton missed his final heat with a busted oil seal in the gear box and the team was hard at it
getting that sorted out to be able to start the feature whilst Disney went out and made it two heat
wins for he him and his team leading McPherson, Justin Pearson (# 25 Healesville Directional Drilling
– 430 Chev), Forte & the “Flying Pom’ Barry Kelleher (#65 ‘Jack Hillerman’ Smash Repairs – 454 Chev)
to the finish.
The True Blue 1000; with a grand up for the winner, was full of action with McPherson & Disney off
the front row and McPherson getting the best of it with Disney (# 11 Adamstown Car Doctors – 426
Cube Chev) on his hammer.
Early in the race McPherson (# 7 Better Trailers Canberra – 410 Mopar) & Disney were right on each
other & something had to give. Unfortunately for McPherson; that meant a flat left rear tyre put him
out of the event.
During the race Heaton, who had charged from the rear of the field, & Forte touched and brought
down the cautions at the top end of the track. At further points of the race Edwards and Justin
Pearson both spun. Edwards, who had been running in 3rd, spun on lap 8 with a slowly deflating
right front, while Pearson spun on lap 14. Edwards was spurred on after going back to the rear to
make a march forward to get up to 5th before his right rear also started to deflate. Pearson
completed a further 3 laps before retiring to the infield.
Disney led Grimson (# 12 Grim Race Cars – 430 Chev) and at times led by six or seven car lengths,
however Grimson stuck to his guns and after applying pressure on Disney for a significant part of the
race, Grimson moved under Disney at turn four and into the lead and away he went to take the cash
in the True Blue 1000 with Disney, Cameron Pearson, Hetherington, Belk, Edwards, Heaton (# 89
Masterlift Material Handling – 434 Chev) & Vermuelen the finishers.
After the race from the infield Grimson was delighted with the win.
“We have had a great time regardless of winning or not, that was just to top it off. The LMRV team
have been sensational the host club were brilliant & I really enjoyed the track, it’s a challenge & fast,
we will be back for sure.”
The Victorian point score now heads to Swan Hill on February the 6th for the next event.
LMRV is proudly supported by
Belkblast
Healesville Directional Drilling
Lake Eildon Houseboat Sales
Australian Racing Products
Huckers Car & Truck Hire
Horne Enterprises Pty Ltd
Written by
Dean Thompson
DMT Sports Media
For Late Model Racing Victoria Inc.
WHAT A RUSH: LATE MODEL VICTORY TO PEARSON AT RUSHWORTH
The ground pounding V8 action found its way to Rushworth Speedway on March the 28th
Victorian Late Model Racing troupe making their first appearance at the Goulburn Valley venue.
Excitement was high on the back of a recent win in the South Australia v Victorian shootout series &
the drivers delivered with Justin Pearson picking up another victory in this inaugural LMRV season
whilst Chevy Edwards came of age challenging for the win & the consistent Mick Hetherington once
again finished strong.
Nine cars greeted the flag for heat one, with recent beginner Zak Calderwood at the front with Gary
Bryans then South Australian Steve Vaughan, Danny Amato, Scott McPherson (#7-Better Trailers),
Pearson, Hetherington, Edwards & Graham Forte the order.
Drivers were very toey & start after start didn’t go well for the guys, especially McPherson & Amato
(# 0 -Australian Racing Products) who both took no further part in the nights racing with unrepairable
damage. Three attempts to start the race was enough for the chief steward & LMRV reps to declare
the event a no result & organise for a drivers talk in the pits to get the message across that to finish
first, first you must finish.
CAR 10 IS JUSTIN PEARSON THE WINNER
Things went much better for heat two with Hetherington, Edwards (# 21 - Lake Eildon Houseboat
Sales), Bryans, Calderwood, Pearson & Vaughan the starting order whilst Forte was still working on
his car trying to make it back on track & missed the second heat.
During racing there was some great moves through the field, Hetherington (# 40 - Wayne Horne
Earthmoving) led lap one, Bryans made a move for the lead & led until lap four. Bryans however lost
power on the race track on the fourth lap with Pearson needing quick evasive action to avoid hitting
Bryans. Bryans loss of power meant a restart, where he started at the back of the field. Edwards was
having a good run up in second position until he looped it & was also penalised to the back of the
pack.
Pearson (# 10 - Healesville Directional Drilling) went on to win setting a one lap time of 17.078
winning by .605 of a second from Hetherington, Vaughan, Bryans, Calderwood & Edwards.
Lining up for the final heat, second heat winner Pearson had the prime pole position with Hetherington
alongside in Pearson’s ex race car. Edwards, Forte (# 7f - G & M Poly Irrigation), Vaughan, Bryans &
Calderwood completed the line up.
The youngest driver in the field Edwards (18 years old) after so much racing this season was showing
he was more & more comfortable with the car & the speed. Edwards picked off Hetherington & then
pulled a similar move two laps later to pick off the race leader Pearson on lap four & with a cool
head gained the lead, Edwards would go on to win comfortably whilst Hetherington got past Pearson
with two laps to go. Edwards from Hetherington, Pearson with all top three drivers running under 18
seconds a lap, then Bryans & Vaughan in fourth & fifth.
Competitors then hit the track again later for the feature race. Pearson & Hetherington from the front
then Edwards, Vaughan, Bryans (# 26 - Fountain Gate Plaster Cartage), Calderwood & Forte.
Pearson at the green jumped to the lead with Hetherington & Edwards in tow. Edwards was quick &
wanted second & made his move getting past Hetherington just as Calderwood spun & a caution light
switched on meaning a restart was required.
Calderwood (# 14 - Calderwood Welding & Fabrication) went to the rear of the field, Hetherington
moved back in front of Edwards. Pearson assumed the lead again with Hetherington & Edwards
resuming their battle for a couple laps before Edwards got past Hetherington once more & began
chasing Pearson who was half a lap in front.
CAR 21 IS CHEVY EDWARDS IS SECOND
Whilst Edwards was chasing Pearson, back in the pack Bryans, Vaughan (# 67 - Fuchs), Forte &
Calderwood; despite their brisk pace, had Pearson bearing down on them. Edwards, with three laps
to go caught up to Pearson & attempted to stick his car into the lead position before the backmarkers
came into play shutting out any clean opportunity for a pass & Pearson went on to win from Edwards,
Hetherington, Bryans, Vaughan, Forte & Calderwood.
By all accounts the host club Goulburn Valley Auto Club & race fans at Rushworth enjoyed the show.
Fans came into the pits at interval to meet the drivers, see the cars whilst kids could hop into the cars
for photo's highlighting the appreciation for the Late Models.
LMRV would like to thank Rushworth Speedway officials & volunteers for working with LMRV to put
on a good show, the feedback from Rushworth is that they want more!
Now, six Victorians head to Mildura for the annual Easter race meeting with 5k to win. Pearson,
Edwards, Bryans, Hetherington, Forte & Wayne Belk. The show is a two night show on Good Friday &
Easter Sunday & the LMRV wish all drivers the best of luck.
Late Model Racing Victoria is proudly supported by:
Australian Racing Products
Belkblast Pty Ltd
Forte Engineering
Healesville Directional Drilling
Lake Eildon Houseboat Sales
Huckers Car & Truck Hire
Inaction Photos
Horne Enterprises Pty Ltd
Written by
Dean Thompson
DMT Sports Media
For LMRV Inc
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.
VICTORIAN LATE MODEL SEDAN TITLE
CAR 7F GRAHAM FORTE - SECOND
CAR 10 JUSTIN PEARSON - THIRD