Mitch Foster took out the Lachy Howie Memorial for Standard Saloons at the Wahgunyah Speedway on Saturday, May 23.
Motorsport fans witnessed another successful night of race action at Wahgunyah Speedway on May 23 with the annual Lachy Howie Memorial for Standard Saloons, the Goulburn Ovens Sedan Association 1000, and the Wingless Sprints feature events supporting Hot Rods, Division 2 Hot Rods, Junior Sedans and Humpy Holdens.
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A healthy crowd settled in for the afternoon at 3pm with racing finished by 10 later that evening.
Visiting Gippsland racer Mitch Foster won the Lachy Howie Memorial, with local club member Brandan Lovell claiming the spoils in the Goulburn Ovens Sedans and Mark Blyton from Dubbo in the Wingless Sprints.
Scott Whittle from Geelong started well in the Standard Saloon Howie Memorial, winning the first of four heat races, leading all the way to finish ahead of Bryce Leek from Barnawartha.
Mitch Foster then did the same in the second heat, with Whittle all over the bumper at the finish line as they crossed just .285 seconds apart.
A terrific race in heat three between the two protagonists had Foster lead the first six of eight laps before Whittle got the better of the duel, passing Foster and going on to win by just .251 seconds, a result even closer than the race prior.
Scott Whittle (6) chases Mitch Foster (1) in the Standard Saloons category.
Like Whittle in the race prior, Foster took the lead on lap seven, passing Wayne Sheerman in heat four.
Twenty-five laps were then contested to determine the winner with Whittle, Foster, Josh Campbell, Jack Yeomans, Wayne Sheerman and local Micheal Fleming-Robertson amongst those with an eye on the victory.
It would take Foster sixteen laps to catch and pass Whittle, who has been a great supporting of the event over the years.
In third, Yeomans held that spot for the first thirteen laps before Sheerman passed him.
During the race, a spin by Foster brought a halt to the race with some confusion over how it happened settled when Foster re-started at the front of the field.
Foster, in the end finished less than a second ahead of Whittle, Sheerman, Yeomans, and Fleming-Robertson.
Wayne Sheerman (69) meets Bryce Leek (19) in the Standard Saloons.
Six heats, races three races per competitor, were held in the Goulburn Ovens Sedans Association 1000.
Marty Bassett from Griffith, representing this year’s event sponsor won heat one after hitting the front on lap five.
Albury racer Danny McCarten then passed early leader Stuart Balins to win heat number two.
Brandan Lovell led all the way to win the third heat, which was the fastest of five of the six races to go green to chequers without a stoppage.
Victorian champion Nathan Shortis then won heat four convincingly before Bassett claimed a second heat win in qualifier number five.
Dennis Reid then won the final heat leading from start to finish.
In a twenty-lap feature event, Shortis and Bassett began at the front of the field with Reid, Lovell, Luke Collis, Ben and Tom Schmetzer and McCarten rounding out the first eight starters from a field of nineteen.
Bassett was quick to assume control at the front of the field, and Lovell headed Shortis for second.
The Schmetzer brothers were the first two of the top contenders to exit the race on lap nine, as did Tommy Bowers.
Another three major contenders exited on lap eighteen, with race leader Bassett, Reid and McCarten all out, handing the lead to Lovell.
Lovell held on over the last two laps to win by .199 seconds in front of Shortis, Collis, Marcus Maclean (having started in seventeenth), and Justin Granger.
Mark Blyton from Dubbo won the Wingless Sprints on a great night of speedway racing at Wahgunyah.
Wingless Sprints were competing for healthy prizemoney in their annual visit to Wahgunyah, with three heats to be run (each driver competing in two).
Robert Nicholas was the first to claim victory, leading from start to finish, with Andrew Seery from Young chasing him to the finish-line.
Jack Regan then led all eight laps in heat two ahead of pre-event favourite Mark Blyton from Dubbo.
Rookie racer Bailey Collins then waited until the very last lap of heat three before he secured victory by just .153 seconds, getting past Wagga racer Brocke Argus.
Lining up in the top six positions for the twenty-lap final were Blyton, Seery, Callum Beveridge, Michael Conlan, Regan and Collins.
Blyton led Seery until lap five, when Conlan slotted into second spot.
As the race went on the, the pressure from Conlan on Blyton increased, and in a thrilling finish Blyton managed to hold on by .367 seconds, with Conlan, Beveridge, Seery and Brocke Argus rounding out the top five.
Greg Firmin (2) competes in the SDAV Hot Rods category.
Visiting competitors from the Division 2 Hot Rods, a class mostly from Bairnsdale and Rosedale in Gippsland these days, attended Wahgunyah Speedway for the first time in memory.
Rhys Lansdown returned to Wahgunyah, having lived in the area in recent years before heading back to his roots in Koo Wee Rup, and claimed a win driving for Chris Greaves, heading Keven Stoopman to the line.
Stoopman last raced at Wahgunyah forty years ago, the young fella showing his age.
He won heat two in front of Victorian champion Beau Stuchbery, with Stuchbery reversing the result for heat three.
Stoopman then led all fifteen laps to win the final from Stuchbery, Fraser Crittenden, Mel Tatterson and Lansdown, with a margin of just .176 seconds at the finish.
Shannon Meakins had to wait until lap four to assume the lead in heat one of the Speedway Drivers Association of Victoria Hot Rods.
He escaped the grasp of Brendan Roberts to finish comfortably in front.
In heat two he was declared the winner after a racing incident saw the demise of then leader Daniel Chesterfield, with Meakin’s wife Kali Hovey declared second in the result.
Meakins then led all the way across eight laps in heat three to claim victory.
With top point scorers reversed in the feature field to start at the back, it took 12 of the 15 laps before Meakins hit the front.
Phil Jenkins led the race until then, with Meakins and Roberts both getting by him late.
Tony Green finished in fourth, with Hovey in fifth.
In Junior Sedan racing, Lucas Williams won two of the three heats, with Kade Brockley winning the other.
One of the races was the closest of the night with .119 seconds separating Williams from Brockley in heat two.
Brockley then led all twelve laps of the final to win ahead of Williams, Amelia Henskens and Lucas Magor.
The final meeting of the season will be June 7 with the Production Sedan 1000, Amca Nationals, and Grand Prix Midgets among classes competing on the night.
