Alexandra Speedway put on maximum excitement with the first ever running of the Castrol Fist Full of Dollars for Street Stocks incorporating a Holden v Ford Challenge in which Holden took the spoils when they dominated heat racing and then crossed the line in the final with the first four drivers all in Holden’s, the big winner was Mount Gambier’s Anthony Beare winning yet another big event on the Street Stock calendar.

With support from manufacturer dealerships Heritage Holden Lilydale & Yarra Ranges Ford and money up for grabs for top qualifying Holden and top qualifying Ford the racing was fast and furious right from the start.

Steven Gartner (# 32 South East Collision – Ford) from Mount Gambier for the night off to a great start for Ford when he took a heat one victory by some four seconds to get the night kick started whilst on the downside Shane Roycroft was left with a whole in his engine putting his Ford out for the rest of the night.

Gartner took the win in front of Scott Bull, Brooke Ferguson, Shaun Henry (# 23 Wiltshire Takeaway – Ford) who moved forward from ninth, Darren Giacometti, Jake Drewett, Mick Chrystie, Darren Forrest (# 41 Metro Tow – Holden) & Peter Crutchley.

Score Holden 0 – Ford 1

Another South Australian Jason Duell (# 18 Duells Furniture Removalists – Holden) started in seventh position and won the second heat by five second over freshly registered SSA Street Stock driver from Newcastle in New South Wales John Lodge who began the heat at the back of the pack and spanked Mick Dann, Troy Polley & Lloyd Wallace (# 28 Mingbool Restorations – Holden) whom he all had to pass. Dylan Campton, Robbie Tinworth, Emma Bansemer, Darren Paisley & Jamie Crutchley (# 25 Coco Red Hair & Beauty – Ford) rounded out the field in the flag to flag non stop race.

Score Holden 1 – Ford 1

Brad McClure won the third as things got quicker on track when he held out Anthony Beare, Andrew Ratten (# 67 Bark King – Holden), Darryl Atkinson, Darren Flatman, Lewis Clark, Morris Ahearn, Ric Swasbrick (# 74 SRE Race Engines – Ford), Justin Brumfield & Matt Nelson who had mechanical gremlins in his first time out in Street Stock racing. The win was a 1.177 second margin with Beare slightly quicker than McClure as the race went flag to flag.

Score Holden 2 – Ford 1

Daniel Barton (# 71 Healesville Directional Drilling – Holden) closed out the first round with a win on his home venue in a race accidently finished one lap short. Australian Champion Robbie Faux was to finish second ahead of Mick Clark although Barton started in fifth whilst the AUS # 1 started off the front line, Jason Degoldi, Mark Jennings, Paul Threlfall (# 45 Pratty’s Patch Bar & Restaurant – Ford) Megan Cheeseman, Rick Sankey & Steven Hardie as the lap times for the top guns dipped below 24 seconds on the big 635 metre long race track.

Score Holden 3 – Ford 1

Jennings (# 21 Cary Jennings Auto Electrical – Ford) won the first heat in round two as he finished almost 5 seconds ahead of the Faux train he moved up from seventh place on the grid, Mick Clark, Gartner, Duell, Paisley, Swasbrick, Bansemer (# 7 Enzed – Holden) & Forrest as the race ran without a stoppage.

Score Holden 3 – Ford 2

In a race green to chequer Henry got a great front row start in the next heat and made the most of it as he held out Lewis Clark by just .480 of a second at the line. Darwin’s Justin Brumfield (# 5 Streamline Collision Repair Centre – Ford) finished third then Giacometti, Sankey, Ratten, Bull, Wallace, Polley & Hardie (# 94 Pluggers Plumbing – Holden).

Score Holden 3 – Ford 3

From out of seventh position in the field Beare then rounded up Threlfall, Ahearn, Drewett, Campton (# 81 Campton Graphics – Ford), Degoldi & McClure to take out the win in heat seven which went non stop. Barton moved from eighth to finish third behind Ahearn and in front of McClure, Drewett, Degoldi, Campton, Lodge, Ferguson & Threlfall.

Score Holden 4 – Ford 3

Starting from back in the pack Dann (# 0 Bomb Disposal Wreckers – Holden) won a non stop race by less than a second in front of Chrystie (# 29 Kinglake Pub – Holden) when he picked him off on the last lap of the heat. Atkinson Tinworth, Jamie Crutchley, Cheeseman & Peter Crutchley (# 77 Talbot Home Handyman – Ford) were the only other finishers whilst Flatman finished infield after two laps with damage.

Score Holden 5 – Ford 3

McClure (# 24 Fun City Go Karts – Holden) won his final heat from in a green flag start to finish in the process running the fastest one lap time of the night and at times hitting speeds of 125kmph on track. He moved from eighth place passing Wallace, Dann, & Jennings to take the win. Dann trailed McClure in second placed across the line from Atkinson, Bansemer, Sankey, Wallace, Jennings & Threlfall. Margin distance was six seconds between first and second.

Score Holden 6 – Ford 3 (Fords in big trouble at this stage)

Andrew Ratten starting from pole position won the next heat whilst Jake Drewett (# 18 Australian Multi Skill – Ford) ended up and over in turn four. Mick Clark (# 48 Clark’s Upholstery – Holden) finished .815 of a second behind Ratten in a close one with Lodge again coming from tenth to finish in the top three of a heat. Brumfield was fourth, Tinworth, Swasbrick, Jamie Crutchley, Polley (# 75 West End Bin Hire – Ford), & Barton the latter two with mechanical issues to fix.

Score Holden 7 – Ford 3 (Ford fans began folding up their chairs)

Henry put himself at the top of Ford driver qualifiers with a second win flag to flag as he finished in front of Duell, Degoldi, Ferguson, Giacometti, Campton & Chrystie who had a flat tyre whilst the Australian champion Faux crunched the concrete wall coming out of turn two on lap one and his race was finished.

Score Holden 7 – Ford 4

The fastest heat race of the night flag to flag was the last heat race when Beare set a 3 minutes 04.515 race time over 8 laps or 5 kilometres with 32 corner entries if you like. He finished a mere .736 in front of Lewis Clark with Ahearn (# 4 Pekmedia Toys & Novelties – Holden) the next best thirteen seconds further adrift. Flatman (# 12 Ordinate Logistic Services), Bull, Forrest, Cheeseman, Paisley & Peter Crutchley all finished whilst Gartner had to sit in field from lap one with a flat tyre.

Score Holden 8 – Ford 4 and the battle was one by the red team

In the last chance B Main event after the top ten Holden & top ten Ford race drivers had been settled to start the feature event, Giacometti led Sankey (# 68 360 Gearboxes & Diffs – Ford), Forrest, Wallace & Campton into the feature event starting places.

With the top ten Holden’s starting on the pole line and the top ten Fords on the outside line the feature race line up was in order Beare, Henry, McClure, Atkinson, Dann, Jennings, Duell, Lodge, Mick Clark, Faux, Ratten, Gartner, Lewis Clark, Degoldi, Barton, Bull, Ahearn, Brumfield, Ferguson, Tinworth then the B Main transferees Giacometti, Sankey, Forrest, Wallace & Campton

With twenty laps in the anti clockwise direction to start with the Street Stock final got up and going with Beare (# 46 Enzed – Holden), Atkinson & McClure quickly establishing a gap between themselves and the chasing pack whilst current national champion Faux (# 1 Mildura Ice Works – Ford) parked infield with mechanical drama and took no further part in the race.

Six of the first seven cars to strike mechanical issues were Ford machines including Lodge from New South Wales who rejoined the race at the halfway mark, Campton, Gartner, Sankey & Degoldi.

A half time break was taken and then the cars switched direction and went clockwise where more of the same this time with McClure right on Beares hammer even taking the lead for a fleeting moment before Beare got the better of traffic in turn three to assume his place at the front of the field. A good stoush between Lewis Clark (# 19 Track Tech Race Engines – Holden) who had caught up to McClure put the result past doubt leaving Beare alone at the front of the field stretching his lead to over nine seconds whilst Duell & Atkinson(# 37 Johnny Dyno Engines – Ford) had a great battle for fourth and fifth.

Beare took the big $3000 pay check from McClure ($2000-), Clark ($1000-), Duell & Atkinson with the rest of the top ten in order Mick Clark, Mick Dann, Lloyd Wallace, Giacometti & Scott Bull.

Best presented Ford was Jake Drewett & Holden Darren Flatman, Joker Jackpot $500 winner was Mick Dann, most advanced in the feature race was Lloyd Wallace & highest placed traveller award winner was the winner Beare who came from South Australia.

Beare was delighted with the win and the event format. “What a great format well done to all involved. I was lucky to make the finish line I was waiting for the chequer flag to drop for a while and as you seen my car couldn’t even do the victory lap without the push vehicle’s help. I’ve never been to Alexandra Speedway but wow, I can’t wait to come back next year and hope a whole lot more racers come too. Thanks to my family and crew for their support and bringing the car over for me and the sponsors of the event, hope you enjoyed the introduction to Street Stock racing.”

Sponsors of the event:
Castrol Australia
Heritage Holden Lilydale
Yarra Ranges Ford
Campton Graphics
Inaction Photos

Written by
Dean Thompson
DMT Sports Media
for Metro Tow & Alexandra Speedway Club

Lewis Clark at Alexandra came in third (C) Inaction Photos

The winner Anthony Beare (C) Inaction Photos