Closing out the Bairnsdale Speedway season, after a rain cancellation a fortnight ago, fans settled in for some hot action on a cold night in Granite Rock last Saturday night.
With lots of racing on elsewhere in the state, the committee settled for three club classes and providing them a little variation on how the races would be run by slotting in some shuffles, time trials and dash events into the proceedings.
Bairnsdale members Josh Thomas (standard saloons) and Dillon Siely (limited sportsman) were winners, as was Rosedale club member Aaron Laidlaw (division two hot rods).
Competing in a local feature event with extra prize money up for grabs, Gus Argoon started the action with a win in heat one of four in the standard saloons.
Josh Thomas led every lap in heat two beating Jack Braz, before Braz reversed that result in the next heat race.
Josh Kokshoorn had a massive 10-second win in the last heat before drivers went into preliminary finals to determine the inside and outside rows.
Braz claimed the first of two prelim finals ahead of Jamie Curtis and Tyson Cull, with Thomas then victorious in the second in front of Nick Harnett and Argoon.
In a 15-lap final Thomas was never headed and chased all the way by Braz, with Cull in third, getting the better of Curtis and Argoon to round out the top five.
In heat one of the division two hot rods, Sale racer Keven Stoopman, a new addition to the class this season, started back on the fourth row working his way from seventh to second by lap four and into the lead by lap six, before going on to win.
Trent Wilson was passed
on the last lap by Ben Crittenden on his way to winning heat two.
Qualifying was wrapped up with Terry Crittenden winning the last heat race before the final.
In a new opportunity for the drivers, they ran a pole shuffle before the feature and
an inversion to determine starting order.
This was won by Terry Crittenden, who started at the rear of the grid with Trent Wilson and Stoopman in the finale.
Aaron Laidlaw then took the opportunity with both hands to lead all 15 laps of the final to defeat a determined Trent Wilson and his teammate Beau Stuchbery, followed by Troy Wilson from Lakes Entrance, and Rob Tatterson from Trafalgar.
Limited sportsman open wheelers started their racing with time trials and with each driver being scheduled two laps to set their fastest possible time, Dillon Siely put down an 18.190 second time to better his father Mal Siely’s 18.419, with third fastest.
Mal Siely then defeated his son Dillon in heat one of two by just .171 in a cracking race, before Siely junior started last in heat two and hit the front and defeated Siely Snr in another stirring battle.
In the 12-lap feature final both Sielys were at it
again for the full race with Dillon defeating Mal by four seconds when the chequered flag dropped.
Darren Adams finished in third with Mark Both and Jayden White rounding out the top five.
The Bairnsdale Speedway Association is now in hiatus until September. In the meantime committed volunteers and helpers will continue to maintain the facility with works on the grounds that include the new toilet block and other required upgrades.
