South Australian driver Matt Egel has charged away with the Sprint Car Stampede at Murray Bridge Speedway.
Having finished third to Brock Hallett in the Bill Wigzell Battle of the Bridge the night before, Egel relished the longer 40-lap A-main, adding his win to victory in Darwin’s Chariots of Thunder weeks earlier.
The 30-year-old Adelaide driver stalked Hallett for much of the race after starting from fifth.
Driving the Specialized tire/McLeod Toyota car, Egel ran to the top with seven laps remaining before going on to claim the $10,000 winner’s check.
Brock Hallett (GW Racing) held off Jock Goodyer to finish the runner-up.
The top three were followed home by Jy Corbett and Brendon Quinn and Tate Frost.
“The longer race suited us,” said Egel after the win. “The car improved as longer the race went. Last night’s race went away too soon.”
Starting from second, Hallett crossed Tate Frost to lead, just ahead of the fast moving Marcus Dumesny, who flipped in turn four early in the race. At the restart Hallett led Frost, Jordyn Charge, Corbett and Egel who soon after charged to the lead. Daniel Parker was the next driver to have an altercation with the wall on turn four, with Dillon and Quinn also in trouble at the top of the frontstretch. Charge had similar problems but raced on.
Egel claimed second running after Frost was untidy on lap 26. Goodyer continued to advance through the field , eventually climbing to third with nine circuits remaining.
With about seven laps to race, Egel passed Hallet, holding the lead to the checker in a very tightly run feature.
Battle of the Bridge
Portland’s Brock Hallett opened the South Australian Sprint Car season in style the night before as he led from start to finish to claim the Annual “Bill Wigzell Battle of the Bridge” at the Murray Machining and Sheds Murray Bridge Speedway.
Wigzell was a champion super modified and sprint car driver from the 1950s to 1980s, winning both the Australian title and the Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic Championship in the 1970s.
After setting the quickest time in qualifying Hallett just fell short of a clean sweep after finishing second in his heat and with the dash being cancelled, due to rain, starting the 25-lap finale from the front row.
Hallett elected to start on the outside of the front row, elevating Luke Dillon onto the pole. Hallett led the field into turn 1 on the opening lap, a position he would never relinquish. Dillon would run second to Hallett for the opening 10 laps with Matt Egel and Marcus Dumesny in tow.
With the track being extremely fast and difficult to pass on the conditions would put an end to Luke Dillon’s run as the leaders caught the tail of the field but were simply unable to lap Jason Wilson.
With 15 laps remaining Hallett led away from Dumesny, Egel, Kaiden Manders and Tate Frost. From this point Frost was the big mover, with Egel claiming the final spot on the podium. Dumesny, who was driving the Rowett Motorsports No. 47, ended up fourth after running second with a lap and a half remaining.
Kaiden Manders was an impressive fifth on his Murray Bridge Sprint Car debut. Goodyer was sixth after getting the better of Jamie Veal.
The two-night meeting marked the opening of the southern sprintcar season.
Queensland Sprint Car Series
On the same weekend, Lachlan McHugh (Dondex/Leigh Smith Yachts) claimed the first round of the Ultimate Sprintcar Series at Toowoomba’s Hi Tec Oils Speedway.
The 28-year-old defeated Luke Oldfield (Advanced Mobility) and Harry Stewart (Titan Garages) to top the podium.
The Australian No. 1 was untroubled in the lead with Michael Pickens, Harry Stewart and Cody O’Connell battling behind him.
Oldfield was impressive, racing from 10th position to finish behind McHugh.
The series returns to Toowoomba on Nov. 2.