Crowds flock to speedway opener
Blue Ribbon Raceway was packed to the brim for a night of open wheel action to start the new race season off in style.
Featured events at the meet were the Formula 500 – the continuation of speed weeks – with 33 cars making their way to Horsham from the previous night’s action at Hamilton, with most teams arriving with few issues from the night before.
The formula 500 cars look similar to sprintcars with their large wings, but are powered by 500cc motorbike engines, and the speeds are impressive.
With the formula cars divided into three fields and competing in six heat races the action started early, with perfect weather greeting all involved.
Blue Ribbon’s crew had the track surface in great condition and times in the heats showed, with wheel-towheel and wing-to-wing action pitting the best formula 500 drivers against each other.
The highlight of the first heat was the victory by Frank Galusha, a native of Nebraska in the United States, his first win of his summer tour.
Other heat winners were Josh Buckingham, Jack Bell, James Kennedy, Leigh Van Ginneken and Ryan Skennar, setting up a good battle in B main where the first and second placegetters were to transfer to A main.
The B main was run and won without any major issues or stoppages, but with the track starting to turn black in both corners, traction was beginning to change, with the cars moving around more and testing the drivers’ nerves.
The final laps saw the V69 of Stephen Bell secure the first transfer spot followed by the V9 of Jordan Rea.
Nineteen cars lined up for the 20-lap final that saw the USA 12 of Frank Galushan take the holeshot on the field and top spot during a number of stoppages early on, only to see his night come to an end when his drive chain broke and he rolled to a stop on the infield after the second lap.
South Australian Brad Stell in the SA 33 took advantage of the situation and battled through the remaining laps, with the Vic 49 of Josh Buckingham and the Vic 4 of Jack Bell taking the win – with only meters between Stell, Buckingham and Bell.
Battle of the Brands
This season will see a battle of engine manufacturers in the AMCA cars with the introduction of the Chevrolet small block ‘crate’ engine coming into the series to compete against the original 253cu in Holden V8.
Geelong’s Jamie Collins continued his winning ways by taking out two of the heats, with the third heat win going to South Australian Jeremy Moore.
The final saw Collins and Moore, both running crate engines, battle from the drop of the green flag. It continued through a very quick final with Moore finally drawing away from a hard-battling Collins to take the win, followed by Collins and Matthew Mills.
Limited sportsman
Pimpinio’s Jock Baker continued his dominance in the class from the drop of the green flag in the first heat by taking all three heats, setting up a great final.
The 18-lap final turned out to be a battle of the Bakers, with Jock, Clint and Dean qualifying.
Jock separated himself from the pack to take a comfortable win from Chris Ansell and Clint Baker in third.
Vintage demonstration
As a contrast to the modern classes, a demonstration was staged with a number of vintage restored and replica cars showing young and more seasoned fans what it looked like ‘back in the day’ with a variety of driving styles.
Next meeting
The track in the paddock at Kalkee will light up on February 3, with the All Star 360 Sprintcars returning to the wide open spaces, supported by the Robin Thomas memorial for V8 trucks, three-litre sedans, street stocks, open sedans and ladies and the Les Mcmaster Limited Sportsman Memorial.