The 7Mate Northline Speedway held night 2 of 2017 Chariots of Thunder Sprintcar Series tonight with the “Defend the Top End” feature event and that was exactly what they did as the locals ran 1-2 with Chace Karpenko leading home Jason Gebert in the 30-lap finale. Third place went to Geelong racer Domain Ramsay who was extremely impressive in the final running in the second spot until late in the race.

“It’s a bit of redemption for last week as I thought I could have won that one too. This is a great start to the Chariots of Thunder points and a great reward for the late nights that the team has put in recently” added Karpenko on the podium.

After being caught up in an opening lap crash, that required a right rear tyre change and broke the Jacobs ladder, Warrnambool’s Tim Van Ginneken fought back to finish fourth with Ben Atkinson, who had struggled all night, finding his way into the top five as the chequered flag fell. Last weekend’s winner Ryan Davis had another strong run to finish sixth with Mitch Wormall, pole sitter Jason McIver, Luke Oldfield and Hayden Pitt completing the top 10.

The night was a tough one for several the leading teams, including James McFadden, who was leading the race comfortably with six laps to go until the car lost power. Following the race McFadden was unsure of the issue suggesting that it could have been a faulty magneto.

Dave Murcott had another night to forget as he ended on the infield for the second night in a row with car damage after slamming the wall after the front end gave way.

Western Australian Kaiden Manders was the third major casualty as he rolled hard on the initial start with Jake Beard-Miller also tipping over. The incident also involved Van Ginneken, but he was able to continue after the tyre change.

Earlier the heat winners were McIver (2), Rusty Hickman, Murcott, Karpenko and Beard-Miller. Jason McIver was the Eliminator Wings Pole Sitter while Kaiden Manders was the KSA Couriers Quick Time Winner.

The action continues at the 7mate Northline Speedway on Saturday August 19, 2017 with the Pope 65 Race, with tonight’s winner Chace Karpenko going into the race as the defending event champion.