Boxing night racing at its finest !!!

This coming boxing night race fans the Polar Ice Midget Series returns to Archerfield Speedway and in conjunction with the 18/19 Danny Davidson Memorial we have a great field of cars nominated.

Adam Clarke returns from a stint in WA where he made the podium in the John Day Memorial from the rear of the field , Darren Vine will be back in the ex-Clarke car along with Bradley Harrison in the ex-A1 Rico Abreu bullet/TRD.

Braydan Willmington returns along with DJ Raw from NSW both in their Spike Esslinger’s
Plus the regular local hard chargers of Brown , Dawson , Rooke and Callum Whatmore Jnr

The Nupave/Nexgen QuickTime award returns as well as the Revolution Racegear Sunshine Coast lucky 4th place is back !

So race fans don’t miss this one it’s the first of two big shows with the Stan Burrows Stampede on Friday the 4th of January

Nominations include

Q3 Mitchell Rooke
Q6 Darren Vine
Q11 Charlie Brown
N15 DJ Raw
Q18 Nathan Mathers
Q21 Bradley Harrison
Q29 Adam Clarke
Q36 Cal Whatmore
Q44 Corey Stothard
Q45 Tom Clauss
Q46 Glenn Wright
Q67 Riki Harrison
Q69 Gary Hudson
Q77 Bodie Smith
Q81 Brad Dawson
N89 Braydan Willmington
Q89 Rusty Whittaker
A89 Scott Doyle
Q95 Gavin McDowell

With the first of the local series “draw and invert” rounds the hot laps session was underway on a rather heavy track with everyone gingerly pacing around the circuit not wanting to join the prestigious honours roll on the tilt tray after the timed sessions.

Rusty Whittaker topped the times with a 15.100 followed by HLR’s Charlie Brown, current compact speedcars A1 “lightening” Tim Farrell, returning to the Midget ranks from compacts was Gary Hudson in 4th and rounding out the top 5 was eventual main event succeeder Darren Vine.

Mitchell Rooke for Rodney Singleton Racing would lay down the quickest speed in the first heat race of the night at 105.332 kph chasing down heat race winner Vine while holding out the pressure of Callum Whatmore JNR in 3rd, Chris Singleton in 4th, Bodie Smith returned after some damage sustained in the previous round feature crossed with a 5th, Scott Doyle was in 6th after feeling some pressure from Tom Clauss finishing in 7th and Nathan Mathers rounded out the 8 car field.

The night’s second heat saw a bit of carnage mid turns 3 and 4 with the end result being 3 cars knocked out of the 8 lapper those cars of Brad Dawson, Tim Farrell and the unlucky one having nowhere to go was Gary Hudson all relegated to watching the event infield, Unfortunately the Hudson crew worked hard to have the 69Q car repaired for the reminder of the night but there was too much damage sustained and they would ultimately be done , Rusty Whittaker took out the event ahead of Charlie Brown who was trying to bring the top line in buzzing the fence but it was to no avail as he was now under pressure towards the end from Riki Harrison with Audie Malt and Gavin McDowell both having clean runs to the end.

Heat race three was another event that knocked a car out for the night up in turn 2 the Chris Singleton car had a spin leaving Scott Doyle zero real estate to pull up the 89A car and that was murder she wrote for the Doyle’s, Darren Vine went on to lead home the field of Whatmore JNR , Clauss , Rooke and Bodie Smith.

Brown continued to try the high line in the final heat race on the programme whilst attempting to run down Rusty Whittaker but again the top was offering zero and again towards the end of the 8 lapper Riki Harrison was applying the blow torch to the 11Q car of Brown, Farrell, Malt and McDowell and Mathers all crossing in that order at the chequered.

Darren Vine got the jump at the start of the 20 lapper leading the field into turn one with Whittaker and Brown in tow Chris Singleton was an early retiree without a lap completed ,Tom Clauss would find himself infield with just two revolutions down and Nathan Mathers was the only other “DNF’er” after completing 12 laps , Charlie Brown continued to crop dust the top line this time Riki Harrison bolted into 3rd settling into a rhythm behind Whittaker and Vine with the trio crossing in that order , Vine lead all of the 20 taking the Paul McManimm owned Spike to victory lane.
Charlie Brown picked up the nights Revolution Race Gear Sunshine Coast “Lucky 4th place” voucher, Rooke was home in 5th ahead of a great drive from Bodie Smith in 6th The Farrell Team had repaired the 51Q Racer from the earlier heat race carpark wreck for him to round out the 20 lapper in 7th Cal Whatmore JNR , Audie Malt and Gavin McDowell put in a tidy race to round out the 10 finishers.

The nights highlights had Gary Hudson showing great promise in the ex-Dillion Eagle now 69Q, Gavin McDowell and Audie Malt both running in some very tidy laps.

Huge shout out to JBR’s Adam Clarke , the team ventured over to the West and competed in the John Day Classic Saturday night after winning the right for the P1 start after the heats and pole shuffle Clarkie opted for a rear of field start and if he made the podium after the 40 lapper memorial race he would pick up an extra 7k bonus payday ……. Clarkie took the 29Q to 3rd at the flag!!!
Well Done Adam and JBR!

One person who was noticeably missing from last night was our pit marshal Barry Lane, Our thoughts and prayer are with Life Member Barry and Family at this stage.

Our next outing will be boxing night at Archerfield for Polar Ice R5 in conjunction with the 2018/19 Danny Davidson Memorial and then just days later on January 4th 2019 will be the annual Stan Burrow Stampede!

So some big shows heading your way

Have a safe Christmas see you all on the 26th !

Dwayne.

Photo supplied by Darren Vine Racing

Revolution Racegear Sunshine Coast lucky 4th place getter is Charlie Brown !

Thanks to Nupave and Nexgen tonight’s QuickTime setter with a 15.100 is Rusty Whittaker !!!

***QSRA Notice***
Just letting all QSRA financial members know Lance Towns has stepped aside from the Presidential role for business/personal reasons.
Vice President elected Gary Greenwood has filled the President role and Chris Foreman has now taken the VP slot vacated by Gary.
Sid Whittaker has been appointed Speedcars Australia Delegate. Two new committee members have been appointed by the commitee and are Dylan Byrne and Bradley Harrison.
So to recap as following
Gary Greenwood – President
Chris Foreman – Vice President
Dwayne Neilson – Secretary Treasurer
Sid Whittaker – Speedcars Australia Delegate
Brad Young – Committee
Brock Dean – Committee
Dave Williams – Committee
Dylan Byrne – Committee
Bradly Harrison – Committee
Catch you all this weekend trackside it’s full steam head racing as normal

Queensland Speedcar Racing Association

This weekend race fans will see the Spike Ed Pink 77Q of Bodie Smith return after a feature race wreck in the last outing as well as “Singo” Chris Singleton in his 26Q Spike Esslinger.
Yes in case your wondering that’s Chris in pink shorts and a captains hat
#polarice #nexgen #nupave

Polar Ice Midget Series returns to Archerfield on the 8th of December race fans and again we have a great line up for open wheel action.
The Nexgen and Nupave QuickTime is on the programme as well as the listed drivers below all eager to have a crack at it !
Don’t miss it race fans this is the prelude to some big local shows !
Q3 Mitchell Rooke
Q6 Darren Vine
Q11 Charlie Brown
Q18 Nathan Mathers
Q26 Chris Singleton
Q27 Audie Malt
Q36 Cal Whatmore
Q45 Tom Clauss
Q51 Tim Farrell
Q67 Riki Harrison
Q77 Bodie Smith
Q81 Brad Dawson
A89 Scott Doyle
Q89 Rusty Whittaker
Q95 Gavin McDowell
#polarice #nupave #nexgen #archerfieldspeedway

After a slow start to the season, for many varied reasons, Rusty Whittaker led from the green to the chequered to win Round 3 of the Polar Ice Midget Series at the Ausdeck Patios Archerfield Speedway on Saturday November 24.

Whittaker’s night started well carrying the new Polar Ice livery and even before he had turned a wheel, when he drew the right marble at the driver’s briefing to make it the double points round for the season. He then set the fastest time (14.170) during hot laps to get 66 valuable points. He then finished top of the qualifying points to garner the pole position for the 20 lap A Main. After three days of high winds the track was dry and slick for the feature despite John Kelly’s best efforts to keep some moisture in it. Consequently, the initial start only made it to the first turn when New Zealander Ricky McGough (position 3) spun around but was miraculously missed by all the following cars. The bad news was he was ROF for the second start.

The field was away cleanly on the restart with Whittaker leading the pack while Harley Smee (NSW) jumped from the second row to get ahead of Braydan Willmington (NSW) during the opening lap to snare second. Further back Mitchell Rooke, Chris Singleton and Cal Whatmore were doing their best to stay in touch with the lead group while McGough was on the charge from the back. Whittaker opened a small break while Smee had Willmington all over his rear push bar trying to find a way past with Rooke now on Willmington’s tail.

McGough had fought his way back to ninth just before the half way point when an unfortunate incident occurred at the end of the back when McGough and rookie Bodie Smith tangled and rolled together finishing near the pit exit gate. Both cars suffered damage but the important thing was that both drivers, although shaken, were uninjured.

Whittaker continued to dominate from the next start to claim his first feature of the season ahead of New South Wales duo Smee and Willmington with Rooke and Whatmore next. Smee is the nephew of former Australian Speedcar Champion Nathan Smee, one of the best slick track drivers in the country, and obviously has learnt some things from his uncle.

Whittaker won the opening heat after starting from the fourth row with Tim Farrell following him home. Farrell showed no ill effects of the heavy tumble he took at Toowoomba a couple of weeks prior. Rookie Tom Clauss joined the ‘wheels up’ club when he slapped the wall in the main straight and rolled on to his side. His night looked to be over with a bent rear axle but Dylan Byrne, owner of the Nexgen Transport # 46 driven by Ricky McGough, came to the rescue and offered his spare diff and Clauss was ready for the feature. Charlie Brown was also a non-finisher with his engine not sounding right and he took any early mark so that the problem could be properly investigated. Smee won the second heat with Darren Vine a DNF after his Turbo Esslinger dropped onto three cylinders before the race began and he decided to park the car for the remainder of the night.

Mitchell Rooke chalked up a win in Heat 3 and then Willmington was successful in the last qualifier to give four different winners for the four preliminaries. Willmington is an enthusiastic individual who recently contested the BC 39 midget race at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway and is keen to get more American experience in the future.

Bodie Smith is the nephew of former Brisbane compact and speedcar racer, Craig Smith. At just 16 years of age he is the youngest driver to join the ranks since Rusty Whittaker some years ago. He has served his apprenticeship in F500 (Juniors) and Compacts and will continue to contest all the Compact events for the season and will race the speedcar when his schedule permits. In difficult conditions he kept the bigger more powerful car straight and steady and was able to pass cars when openings became available. His accident during the feature race was most unfortunate. All the Brisbane speedcar fraternity are pleased to have him as part of their group and know that he has a bright future in the sport.

Things didn’t go right for the other driver who had travelled the 1000 kilometres from Sydney, D J Raw. An engine miss hampered him during the preliminaries but after some quick work the car was sorted for the feature. He started from the back but kept moving forward for a top 10 finish.

Brad Harrison fronted for his first night of the season with his new car, an American Bullet chassis with a Toyota engine. Unfortunately, a couple of opening night gremlins struck but ‘Watch this space’ as the season progresses and the ‘Most Improved Driver’ from the 2017/18 season gets the Toyota running right. His brother, Riki, is also making his presence known despite only a couple of shows in a midget so look out for the Harrison brothers in the future. Brisbane speedcar racing has seen a lot of brothers in action over the decades including the Jeffersons (Twins), Brian and Ian Finglas, Kelvin and Rob Hamilton and the McDowells, Gavin, Jason and Shane.

The midgets return to Archerfield in a fortnight (December 😎 for Round 4 of the Polar Ice Midget Series. With still more cars to appear for the season and a couple of new drivers set to make their debut around Christmas time the racing will just get better and better.

The annual Stan Burrow Stampede is scheduled for Friday January 4 at Archerfield and will again offer some significant prize-money. It is a race in memory of former long-time speedcar driver Stan Burrow and it is planned that a special unveiling will take place on the night. Once it is confirmed details will be revealed. It is a night not to be missed by every midget follower.

Timed Hot Laps
Rusty Whittaker​14.170
Ricky McGough (NZ)​14.217
Charlie Brown​14.253
Heat 1
1​Rusty Whittaker​ 2​Tim Farrell​ 3​Mitchell Rooke
Heat 2
1​Harley Smee (NSW)​ 2​Ricky McGough (NZ)​ 3​Braydan Willmington (NSW)
Heat 3
1​Mitchell Rooke​ 2​Harley Smee (NSW) ​3​Chris Singleton
Heat 4
1​Braydan Willmington (NSW)​ 2​Brad Dawson​ 3​Rusty Whittaker
Feature
1​Rusty Whittaker​ 2​Harley Smee (NSW)​ 3​Braydan Willmington (NSW)
4​Mitchell Rooke​ 5​Cal Whatmore ​6​Riki Harrison
7​Chris Singleton​ 8​Brad Dawson ​9​D J Raw (NSW)
10​Tim Farrell​ 11​Tom Clauss ​12​Audie Malt
13​Gavin McDowell