MARK Wells is the 27th Annual Michael Nanovich King of Wings after he blitzed the star-studded field to win the epic 30-lap feature race at the Perth Motorplex on Saturday night.

He won from Ryan Farrell and American Tim Shaffer.

It was a great result for the Geraldton Jet who has been struggling with bad luck this season, including a lot of damage.

But the $20,000 first prize went a long way to turning around that bad form and certainly put a smile on the face of the W21 pilot.

“As you know we have been struggling this year,” Wells said.

“I just love this race track and could run it every day.”

He paid credit to his loyal fans from the Claremont Speedway days and made special mention of his father Reg - the key factor in the Wells team.

“Dad has stuck with me through bad times and good times.

“Hopefully this one makes up for it dad….this one is for you.”

Wells said travelling from Geraldton to compete in Perth made it hard to secure local sponsors but said he recently signed up some new backers who joined his long-term sponsors.

As for the $20,000 - Wells said that probably paid for the car they wrecked before Christmas which then saw him return to the familiar white paint scheme - replacing the former yellow outfit.

An exhausted Farrell conceded on the podium he gave it his all but struggled when he lost power steering in the dying stages of the race.

“I reckon I am in pretty good shape but when the power steering went I just about died in the process,” Farrell said.

“I gave it everything I had…I am pretty happy.

“As you know behind the scenes a lot goes on….I am just very fortunate to just drive this car.”

Shaffer said his car wasn’t set up good enough for the track.

“We were really tight and the yellows did not fall into place…it was just not my night.”

“I was not really set up for that and was committed to run two feet off the cushion.”

The start of the race was marred by a big dump to Nygaard who rolled hard in the first corner, putting him out and introducing first reserve Bryan Mann to the field.

“I got tagged on the start, just got out wide and couldn’t get back into it,” Nygaard said of his second big crash in two nights.

When the action resumed Max Dumesny created a few tense moments for Robbie Farr when the motor expired on the V5 on the main straight.

Farr went low to avoid the slowing Valvoline-backed car who kept coming down, forcing Farr to take evasive action on the bike track before rejoining the field in turn one.

The first four - Wells, Shaffer, Farrell and McMahan - were into lapped traffic and enjoyed a buffer back to the next pack of Sartori, Lines, Farr and Brazier.

Shaffer showed his nose inside Wells with 21 laps to go but Wells held on, surviving the first of a number of challenges.

The driver of the USA92 was looking strong on the bottom of the track for a few laps but Farrell then slid under the American with 17 laps remaining.

Seconds later the caution lights came on when David Priolo picked up some debris, cutting his left rear tyre.

McMahan and Sartori ran side by side with 15 laps to go and the fight was joined by McMahan.

Farrell was on the back of Wells and running low with nine laps remaining but Wells shut the gate.

The next lap Farrell tried again on the high line and the cars touched but both managed to hold it and then American Chad Blonde hit the fence in pits bend.

The next casualty was McMahan who had a broken driveline.

On the restart Farrell tried his best to make a move but the night belonged to Wells who held his nerve and claimed one of the biggest wins of his career.

Heat 5
“We had a few dramas last night so hopefully we will get it going tonight,” Monte said after winning the first heat of the night from Farrell and McMahan.

“The track feels quite nice right now,” the driver of the W17 said after admitting there was a lot of pressure for him to perform in the race now named after late friend Michael Nanovich.

Kanne Manuel’s bad run of luck continued when he rode a wheel at the start of the first heat race, forcing a full restart.

Monte got the jump over Farrell and Maher while McMahan was enjoying a good duel with Blonde for fourth early on.

McMahan got the job done on Maher with three laps to go.

Heat 6
“It’s a little about money and a lot about respect,” was how Farr summed up competing in the Nanovich King of Wings after winning heat six from Lines and Green.

It was a pretty eventful heat that saw Warrenne Ekins out of the show when the NT11 turned right in pits bend after clashing with Jamie Maiolo’s right rear tyre.

“Driving with dickheads,” was Ekins blunt comment immediately after getting out the car.

After having a few moments to collect his thoughts and review the incident on the big screen he said it was “just desperate stuff.”

On the restart Green moved into third which was enough to get him into one of the Dashes and shortly afterwards Allan Nash backed the W51 into pits bend but was able to get a restart.

Farr was happy with the win after being in the wars the previous night.

“We are just trying to keep our noses clean tonight.”

Farr said the race meant a lot to him, being close to the Monte family.

“That’s what racing is all about….people sticking together.”

Heat 7
There was plenty of carnage at the start of this heat when Darryl Clayden came together with Jack Dover on the main straight.

The W45 then spun around and hit Kaley Gharst before flipping.

By the time the red lights came on Troy Lawson and Shaun Bradford were also parked on the main straight.

Clayden said he wasn’t too sure what happened, but said there was a bit of hesitation at the start from the front row drivers.

“It doesn’t look all that bad…we may be able to fix it,” Clayden said.

When the mess was cleaned up Nygaard got the jump on fellow countryman Shaffer and Brazier and that’s how they ran to the line.

Nygaard said they needed a lot of luck after the crash in pits bend the previous night.

Little did he know at the time what would happen a bit later on.

He said there was quite a bit of damage but they were able to rebuild.

“The chassis is a little bent but is still working right now.”

Heat 8
“The car felt fast and is obviously getting around pretty decent,” Dumesny said after winning heat eight from Ben Ellement and Wells.

He said crew chief Mouse Green had worked hard on the car all weekend.

“Hopefully we will get a little better in the A Main.”

When asked about the event the former national champion said it was something that got away from him a few times.

Sartori was looking to put a big move on Wells for third after a few laps but was unable to make it stick in the smoking W47.

A Dash:
“It’s fun to drive right now,” Shaffer said after winning the A Dash from Farrell and Dumesny.

“It looks like it (the track) is going to have a bottom and a top groove.

“It’s (the main event) a long race…anything can happen.”

B Dash:
“We need all the money we can get this year….we have had one of the worst years we have had in this sport,” Wells said after winning the B Dash from Lines and McMahan and pocketed $250.

Wells also said the $20,000 to win later in the night would be handy too.

“The old man’s bank balance is a bit low, hopefully we can top it up and put a smile on his face.”

Well we are now guessing father Reg did have a smile on his dial after his boy banked the 20 big ones!

Midpack Madness
Starting from position 13 would be considered unlucky for some but Cameron Gessner said he didn’t mind starting from there for the feature race after winning the Midpack Madness from Danny Reidy and Sartori.

It also gave him something to cheer about after a flight delay, followed by a broken down plane saw the Queenslander only arrive at the track just before qualifying on Friday.

He was collected at the airport by Motorplex staff, a gesture much appreciated by the Q83 driver

“They couldn’t have accommodated us any better,” Gessner said.

“We have had a great time here.

“Hopefully in 13, we can pass 12 cars and see you all back here again (on the podium).”

B MAIN
Shaun Bradford, David Priolo, Jack Dover and Kaley Gharst all made the transfer to the back of the main event after being the front runners in the B Main.
The cautions were on after two laps when Shannon Peet turned around on the end of the back straight.

Dover got back into the transfer spot when he swapped places with Bryan Mann with six laps to and then under Ghast for third with two laps to go, showing plenty of speed in the Greg Fisher-owned W15.

Sprintcars
Heat 5: 1st Luch Monte, 2nd Ryan Farrell, 3rd Paul McMahan, 4th Adrian Maher, 5th Chad Blonde, 6th Bryan Mann, 7th Jason Kendrick, 8th Greg Hall, 9th Robert Watson junior, 10th Veronica McCann. DNF: Kanne Manuel.
Heat 6: 1st Robbie Farr, 2nd Steven Lines, 3rd Trevor Green, 4th Carl Dowling, 5th Danny Reidy, 6th Grant Anderson, 7th Allan Nash, 8th Ricky Maiolo. DNF: Warrenne Ekins, Jamie Maiolo and Shannon Peet.
Heat 7: 1st Wade Nygaard, 2nd Tim Shaffer, 3rd Garry Brazier, 4th Ian Loudoun, 5th Jamie Veal, 6th Mark Hale, 7th Troy Lawson. DNF: Shaun Bradford, Darryl Clayden, Jack Dover, Kaley Gharst.
Heat 8: 1st Max Dumesny, 2nd Ben Ellement, 3rd Mark Wells, 4th Ken Sartori, 5th Cameron Gessner, 6th David Priolo, 7th David Ellement, 8th Kris Coyle, 9th Kye Scroop, 10th Scott Reilly. DNS: Garry Miller.
A Dash: Grid: Farrell/Shaffer, Dumesny/Monte, Nygaard/Brazier. Result: 1st Tim Shaffer, 2nd Ryan Farrell, 3rd Max Dumesny, 4th Luch Monte, 5th Garry Brazier, 6th Wade Nygaard.
B Dash: Grid: Lines/Wells, Farr/McMahan, B Ellement/Green.
1st Mark Wells, 2nd Steven Lines, 3rd Paul McMahan, 4th Robert Farr, 5th Ben Ellement, 6th Trevor Green
B Main: Grid: Bradford/Gharst, Dover/Mann, J Maiolo/Priolo, Ekins/Kendrick, Anderson/D Ellement, Coyle/Clayden, Nash/Hall, Watson/R Maiolo, Milling/Scroop, Hale/Peet, McCann/Reilly.
1st Shaun Bradford, 2nd David Priolo, 3rd Jack Dover, 4th Kaley Gharst, 5th Bryan Mann, 6th Jamie Maiolo, 7th Kris Coyle, 8th Robert Watson junior, 9th Kye Scroop, 10th Ricky Maiolo, 11th Jason Kendrick, 12th Greg Hall, 13th Allan Nash, 14th Scott Reilly, 15th Mark Hales, 16th Scott Milling, 17th Shannon Peet, 18th Veronica McCann. DNF: David Ellement, Cameron Gessner, Grant Anderson and Troy Lawson.
A Main: Grid: Shaffer/Wells, Farrell/Lines, Dumesny/McMahan, Monte/Farr, Brazier/B Ellement, Nygaard/Green, Gessner/Reidy, Sartori/Dowling, Maher/Loudoun, Veal/Blonde, Bradford/Priolo, Dover/Gharst.
1st Mark Wells, 2nd Ryan Farrell, 3rd Tim Shaffer, 4th Robert Farr, 5th Ken Sartori, 6th Steven Lines, 7th Trevor Green, 8th Carl Dowling, 9th Garry Brazier, 10th Danny Reidy, 11th Kaley Gharst, 12th Ben Ellement, 13th Jack Dover, 14th Luch Monte, 15th Shaun Bradford, 16th Adrian Maher, 17th Ian Loudoun, 18th Jamie Veal, 19th Cameron Gessner, 20th Bryan Mann. DNF: Paul McMahan, Chad Blonde, David Priolo, Max Dumesny, Wade Nygaard, Jamie Maiolo.


FORMULA 500s
Race 4: 1st Steven Ellement, 2nd Steven Gay, 3rd Brad Chapman, 4th Dean Terry, 5th Peter Blight, 6th Brad Warwick, 7th Mark House, 8th Todd Nathan, 9th Daniel Harding, 10th Jeff Hedington, 11th Shane Devonshire, 12th Malcolm O’Keefe.
Race 5: 1st Steven Gay, 2nd Steven Ellement, 3rd Brad Warwick, 4th Brad Chapman, 5th Jeff Hedington, 6th Dean Terry, 7th Mark House, 8th Wayne Dymock, 9th Todd Nathan, 10th Peter Blight, 11th Jayden Higgs, 12th Malcolm O’Keefe, 13th Shane Devonshire. DNF: Daniel Harding, Ash Marriott and Andrew Charles.
Race 6: 1st Steven Ellement, 2nd Steven Gay, 3rd Mark House, 4th Jeff Hedington, 5th Brad Warwick, 6th Dean Terry, 7th Brad Chapman, 8th Wayne Dymock, 9th Todd Nathan, 10th Andrew Charles, 11th Jayden Higgs, 12th Shane Devonshire, 13th Peter Blight, 14th Daniel Harding, 15th Malcolm O’Keefe, 16th Ash Marriott.
Points: Steven Ellement 596, Steven Gay 588, Mark House 580, Brad Chapman 580, Jeff Hedington, Brad Warwick 574 each, Dean Terry 569, Todd Nathan 548, Shane Devonshire 545, Wayne Dymock 539, Daniel Harding 516, Malcolm O’Keefe 514, Jayden Higgs 512, Andrew Charles 508, Peter Blight 506, Ash Marriott 498, David Sinagra 490, Dave Bott 481, Todd Broadwood 474.

LATE MODELS
Race 4: 1st Marc Giancola, 2nd Warren Oldfield, 3rd Brad Ludlow, 4th Brad Blake, 5th Ben Ludlow, 6th Ryan Halliday, 7th Jay Cardy, 8th Phil Richards, 9th Craig Vosbergen, 10th Jeremy Hale, 11th Daniel Green, 12th Kevin Bell. DNF: Jason Moyle, Matt Nylander, Bert Vosbergen.
Race 5: 1st Craig Vosbergen, 2nd Bert Vosbergen, 3rd Ben Ludlow, 4th Ryan Halliday, 5th Jeremy Hale, 6th Warren Oldfield, 7th Jay Cardy, 8th Phil Richards, 9th Jason Moyle.
Points: Craig Vosbergen 488, Jay Cardy 473, Warren Oldfield 469, Marc Giancola 466, Brad Blake 465, Bert Vosbergen 463, Jeremy Hale 460, Ben Ludlow 459, Phil Richards 459, Jason Moyle 455, Ryan Halliday 447, Brad Ludlow 444, Kevin Bell 439, Matt Nylander 436, Daniel Green 434, Brian Litchfield 395.

Uh Oh: American Chad Blonde was hoping his bad luck ran out on Friday night - unfortunately it didn't with another dumper on Saturday night.

Black weekend: It wasn't a good one for black cars with Kalgoorlie's Kanne Manuel of one several drivers enduring bone-crunching flips.

Smokin!: Ken Sartori appeared to have his 'mojo' back after buckling up in his family-owned #47 again. He was fifth in the King of Wings feature race. Pics by Peter Roebuck.