Lines Chalks Up Win #6

By Mark Humphrey

Mount Gambier local Steven Lines last night chalked up his 6^th win of the season when he won the SRA Eureka Garages & Sheds 3^rd round at Premier Speedway.

Round 3 winner Steven Lines looks unbeatable

For Lines the night was without blemish as he put away quick time and accrued the highest points throughout the night to start the A-Main from the pole.

This superb outfit spannered by Craig Bennett just seems to get better and better as the season goes on. With Lines so dominate in the car you have to wonder how anybody is going to beat him this season.

Round 3 of the SRA Eureka Garages & Sheds series started off with qualifying on a manicured Premier surface which would get better as the night rolled on. Lines took quick time on a mid-pack draw followed by ever improving young gun James Hennessy. Milling, Hunter & Milburn rounded out the top 5. It was very refreshing to see privateers Hennessy and Charles Hunter up amongst the big guns duking it out. Hennessy believed that time in the seat has helped him along the way with Hunter noting that his car is feeling good at the moment.

Heat 1 was taken out by Lines driving the Halls Motorsport, Wilson Trailers W3 car. Hennessy driving the Hennessy Transport V21 car took out heat 2 with veteran Johnny Vogels in the Mainline Dynolog V70 sprintcar taking heat 3. Other heat winners were series points leader Jeremy Cross in the N39 Tyreright entry, Brett Milburn pedalling the I-Digit, Better Bin Hire V68, Bendigo charger Darren Hickman in the Mobil 1, Tasco Petroleum V40 car, New South Welshman Jackson Delamont in the Mad Harry’s Steel Supply N48 entry, Domain Ramsay driving the Essendon Ford V20 sprintcar with Jack Lee in the Lillee’s Lane Quarry V25 and Stephen Bell driving the Drysdale Chaff Mills V88 taking out the last 2 heats.

Top 4 from the C-Main would advance to the B-Main.

C-Main starting grid. W25, V19, V48, V29, V91, S4, V3, V17, S7, N36, S20, V84, V76, V12, V24, V14.

Starting from the outside front Daniel Newnham got the jump and lead from go to whoa. Green driving the familiar Natrad entry starting from the 3^rd row put in a strong drive to take 2^nd with Carroll safe in 3^rd. The final transfer spot was hotly contested with V48 Adam King advancing to the B-Main.

B-Main starting grid with top 6 to advance to the A-Main.

V16, N28, V25, V26, V10, V36, S51, V20, ACT4, V40, N48, V74, V19, S4, V29, V48.

Nick Lacey driving the V26 Karcher entry hooked up high on the green to go around the front row to lead them out. Superb bit of driving from Lacey hugging the concrete fence through turns 1 & 2. Dobson moved into 3^rd while Californian Kyle Hirst driving the PRP Engineering V10 car had a good battle with Kris Lacey in the V16 Look 3D entry.

Victorian Jack Lee clipped the turn 2 wall to bring on the cautions with 8 laps to go. Nick Lacey led them away on the re-start followed by Campbell in the N28 car with Dobson, Jenkin, Kris Lacey, Hirst, King and Green in hot pursuit.

Another caution with 2 laps to go was eventually called by the stewards handing Nick Lacey the B-Main win. Joining him at the rear of the A-Main was Dobson, Hirst, Campbell and Green who had made his way into the A-Main from the 3^rd row of the C-Main.

A-Main starting grid.  W3, V21, V68, V9, V70, N39, A1, V77, V88, V47, V6, V73, V26, V36, V10, N28 & S4.

Lines had pole for the final but the feel good stories come from the qualification efforts of Hennessy who started outside front and Hunter who had made the A-Main proper starting out of 12^th.

Lines as expected got the perfect start to lead them out on the 30 lap journey. Hennessy and Rod Matthews followed. McFadden was marching on through the pack as was current series leader Jeremy Cross. Brilliant driving by Cross had him holding down second after just a handful of laps and closing in on leader Lines. McFadden also on the march dropped inside Hennessy in t3 to take 3^rd. Meanwhile Green starting from the rear was cutting through the pack with Hirst also moving forward. Lines was into traffic after 10 laps which allowed Cross to close in on Lines. Both drivers were showing class driving skills as the meticulously picked off the back markers. Cross was definitely catching Lines and by now was within striking distance. Cross couldn’t find a way past the hard paced Vogels and tailed Vogels for several laps allowing McFadden to close down the gap to Cross. McFadden with one of his trademark moves pushed pass Cross to hold down second momentarily. No to give up lightly Cross challenged McFadden almost immediately and got the second spot back. Green who had started from the rear was now in 8^th with more to come. Hirst like Green was also cutting a path through the field. Green up high got past Mollenoyux who was having a relatively un-eventful night and chased down McFadden. With only a couple of laps to go Green was definitely in the mix for a podium. Lines continued his faultless start to the season with the win. Jeremy Cross finished comfortably in 2^nd to extend his series points lead with Trevor Green unbelievably grabbing the final podium spot as McFadden and Mollenoyux duked it out over the line.

Just behind the pair was Kyle Hirst who after starting from 15^th finished a credible 6^th signalling his intentions for the season. A more favourable qualifying draw will no doubt have Hirst seriously challenging Lines and co.

For Steven Lines, bring em on. This racer and his team are at the top of their tree at the moment and to beat them will require a super special set of circumstances which no doubt is great for the spectators.

Lines on accepting the winner’s trophy said “I was running the top to keep momentum. I looked for fast parts of the track and worked the low line for a while but had to go back up top”.

Cross commented that it was the best result he has had at Warrnambool. Asked what his thoughts were on the race Cross said “I had to have patience at the start. Just to be comfortable on the track was the secret”. He went on to say “the car and the track seemed to come in at the same time and it also seemed like everyone found the sweet spot at the same time”. “I couldn’t get past Johnny who was racing hard so I’m really happy with 2^nd place”.

When asked about his unbelievable chase Green said “we mucked around with different shock settings over the past couple of meetings. Tonight we went back to the old reliable settings and basically used the set-up that worked for us last Easter”. Green went on to say “I love coming to this place. We drive straight past my home track just to race over here” With a reputed 900+ hp under the lid Green is one of the crowd favourites at Warrnambool.

It seems like with every Sprintcar meeting these days there is always a good news story. For me no doubt the rise of youngster James Hennessy was a highlight on the night. Although he may not have the backing of a Halls Motorsport or the like his effort on the night highlights the depth of talent currently contesting the SRA Eureka series. James Hennesey had a big night starting the A-Main on the front row

Charles Hunter is another example of a low budget team that on their night is capable of some good results.Charles Hunter hooks into the Warrnambool track. Hunter qualified outright for the A-Main

Now all we need is for some of these low budget teams to figure in the cash at the end of the night. But to do that you have to take down the like of Lines, Cross and Green who are Sprintcar Superstars. Good luck with that.

The SRA Eureka series moves to Geelong’s Avalon Raceway next weekend for round 4.

For more information go to www.avalonraceway.com.au

LINES GETS QUICK TIME

By Mark Humphrey

Mount Gambier local Steven Lines driving the Halls Haulage W3 sprintcar took out quick time for round 3 of the SRA Eureka Garages & Sheds being held at Warrnambool’s Sun Gold Stadium.

Drawing mid pack Lines put in 2 faultless laps to record quick time which stood for the remainder of the qualifying session.

Young up & coming driver James Hennessy piloting the #21 Victorian sprintcar put in a fantastic lap to secure 2^nd quick. Asked to comment on the time Hennessy said “I’m starting to get good time in the seat which helps heaps. 2nd quick sets us up for the night provided I can get some good results in the heats. I’ll take this run we are having as it could all turn to you know what very quickly.

3^rd quick time for the session went to Taylor Milling in the W25 sprintcar followed by Victorians Charles Hunter and Brett Milburn.

For Hunter driving the V73 sprintcar this was a fantastic result for the low budget racer and definitely helps him in his quest to make the A-Main.

Some interesting points to come out of the qualifying were Australian #1 James McFadden qualifying in 14^th spot, South Aussie hot shot Trevor Green S4 further back in 27^th spot and Californian Kyle Hirst driving the PRP Engineering #10 back 3 places in 30^th position.

Round 1 winner Jeremy Cross driving the N39 sprintcar qualified in 19^th spot with Cunningham 1 spot back in 20^th but 10 spots ahead of his US team mate.

Kristy Ellis put in a great lap to qualify in 17^th.

With 10 heat races to be run on the famous Premier speedway bowl you can expect plenty of thrills and spills as drivers try to qualify directly into the A-Main.

US Champ back for another tilt.

By Mark Humphrey

Californian sprintcar ace Kyle Hirst is back in Australia for the summer season and this time he has his long time spanner man and fellow Californian Michael Helwig over here to help out in what will be a hectic summer.

The #10 Hirst sprintcar sits beside the team bosses #74 Cunningham sprintcar

Hirst coming off the back of the US KWS series where he took out the championship is here to race in the Michael Cunningham backed PRP Engineering #10 sprintcar.

Asked what his goals were for the Australian summer Hirst said “I’m here to race and hopefully win some races. Every time I jump in the car I want to win, it’s as simple as that”.

Hirst arrived in Oz a couple of weeks ago and had his first hit out at the 360 sanctioned Swan Hill meeting last week. Second quick in the time trial accounted for nothing in the end as the team hurt an engine bringing the night to a premature end.

In Warrnambool tonight contesting round 3 of the SRA Eureka Garages & Sheds series I asked Hirst if the classic was a priority on his list. “No I treat it the same as any race in that I want to win it. Racing here tonight helps me get used of the track so I’m better prepared for the classic”. It’s good for me to have Mike over here this year as we go way back. We have a green light from Michael Cunningham to pretty much run our own schedule this summer. Michael likes to run the 360 series but we both will be at some of the bigger meetings.

Talking to spanner man Michael Helwig I asked him about his feelings on the trip this summer, “oh it’s great to have the chance to get over to Australia and help out Kyle. We caught up with Mike (Cunningham) when he was over in the states and worked out a deal to get me here. This is unreal and I’m looking forward to having 2 summers back to back”.

Californian Mike Helwig in Oz for the summer to spanner the #10 car

Expect to see the #10 PRP Engineering sprintcar in the winner’s circle sometime this summer.