Sam Walsh proved a popular winner when he chased down former national champ Marcus Dumesny to take out round 13 of the 2022/2023 Sprintcar Track Championship at Eastern Creek Speedway on Saturday night (March 11). When Walsh swept past Dumesny to assume the lead with nine laps remaining, Walsh became the third different driver to lead the race, leaving Dumesny to fend off Kaidon Brown, who put his Australian Midget Championship disappointment behind him with a strong run into third. Brown moved ahead of Dumesny on more than one occasion but was unable to lock down the runner-up spot. Troy Little finished fourth without really threatening the leaders but still proved too quick for Daniel Sayre, Luke Stirton and Michael Saller, with Jordyn Brazier, Zac Pacchiarotta and Jessie Attard completing the top ten.

Divided into three flights, 36 cars took to the track for Sprintcar qualifying and it was Robbie Farr who set the early pace in flight one, stopping the clock at 12.119 in his return to the Saller Motorsport #7, although he would ultimately fall outside the top twelve overall as the track quickened for subsequent sessions. With the times tumbling, it was Lachlan Caunt who would ultimately emerge with Fast Time, lodging a best lap of 11.646 in the penultimate group. Luke Stirton (11.677) was second quickest overall ahead of Walsh (11.754), Dumesny (11.832) and Michael Stewart (11.876), with Sayre, Brazier, Saller, Little, Ben Atkinson and Pacchiarotta the best of the rest.

Jessie Attard won the opening heat of the night in advance of Brown and Farr, with Brendan Scorgie besting Little and Saller in heat two.

When Atkinson spun in the back straight on the opening lap of heat three, a glancing blow from Caunt would see his strong start to the night count for nothing as a flat right-rear tyre would put him on the infield, while Atkinson would also head to the grass three laps into the restart. In a throwback result to days of yore, the names Brazier and Dumesny would fill the first two positions, with Stirton third to the flag.

Farr looked to have heat four safely in his keeping until he encountered Paul McKenna and Alex Orr dawdling along the back straight, the latter having already spun twice, the second of which was a 360-degree gyration in turn four. With Farr momentarily delayed, Jessie Attard pounced to snatch the lead and secure another heat win, securing himself a front row start in the feature. Farr finished second and it was Warren Ferguson third on this occasion.

Sayre swept aside Walsh and Little to win heat five before an action-packed start to the final heat saw Stirton ride over the front of Dumesny as they squabbled over the lead through turns three and four on the opening lap. Whilst Stirton would take no further part in the event, Dumesny was able to restart from pole position, however a flattened front wing would leave him unable to keep pace with Stewart. Leading every lap, Stewart would finish more than 4.5 seconds clear of Dumesny, with Brazier third.

Having rounded up both Jeff Lawler and Luke Thomas within four laps to assume the lead in the B Main, Caunt found himself in trouble again when was unable to find a clear passage between the parked pair of Starr Kopa and Paul McKenna, both of whom had stopped in turn two in an incident that was seemingly separate to that which resulted in Ashleigh Jack getting upside down in the back straight. Banished to the rear for the restart and with just 10 laps remaining to secure a spot in the feature race field, Caunt wasted no time in his charge and was back inside the top four after just three circulations. Atkinson and Orr were untroubled in securing the top two spots as Caunt rounded up Luke Thomas on the final lap to grab third as Lawler dropped out of contention, falling to seventh behind Blake Skipper and Brett Hobson.

With some concern that rain might be closing in, the Dash was scrapped and the feature race field assembled in qualifying order, putting Farr on pole alongside Jessie Attard, with Sayre, Dumesny, Walsh and Stewart filling out the first three rows. It was hardly a surprise to see Farr leading the field through the opening laps with Attard occupying second momentarily until Dumesny moved ahead on lap four and closed in on the leader. The next lap would see Farr and Dumesny swap the lead, only for Attard to throw away third spot with a spin in turn four that would bring about a restart for which he would be relegated to the back of the pack, a fate that also befell Brazier when he replicated the move in turn one to further delay proceedings. Back underway and Dumesny was able to slide-job Farr for the lead, only for a spin from Alex Attard to trigger another yellow that would see Farr reinstated to the lead for the restart with 24 laps still to run. This time, Dumesny adopted a much more patient approach to his pursuit, eventually making his way to the front on lap 15 and then enduring another restart a lap later when Stewart stopped on the main straight. The complexion of the race changed over the next half a dozen laps with Farr heading infield on lap 17, elevating Walsh into second spot, which would become the lead when Dumesny faltered exiting turn two on lap 22. Having started ninth, Brown had climbed to third and found himself second momentarily when Dumesny again found himself bogged down in turn two. Over the remaining laps, Dumesny and Brown would swap second spot, enabling Walsh to extend his advantage and secure his first feature win for the season. Dumesny would ultimately prevail over Brown, with Little advancing four positions to finish fourth. Sayre, Stirton and Saller were next in line as Brazier proved the best of the banished boys in surging back to salvage eighth ahead of Pacchiarotta, with Jessie Attard also climbing back into the top ten. Jackson Delamont, Warren Ferguson, Aaron Kelly and Blake Skipper were the best of the rest. Completing the finishers a lap, or more, in arrears, were Alex Attard, Atkinson, Mark Attard and Luke Sayre.

Establishing a big lead in the early laps ensured Lachlan Onley was untroubled in winning the first of the Late Model heats despite a late charge from Daniel Cassidy that saw him close to within a second at the fall of the chequer, with Damien Hodges home third.

Cassidy went one better in the second heat when he downed Ben Nicastri and Darryl Grimson, before Nathan Disney wrapped up the preliminaries with a win in the final heat over Grimson and Matt Croker as Onley surged from the back of the field to finish fourth.

The opening couple of laps of the feature race saw the front row-starting pair of Cassidy and Onley remain side-by-side before Cassidy upped the pace and moved ahead. It proved an emphatic display from Cassidy and, although a series of late-race restarts had no impact on his control of the race, they did prove costly for Onley as Grimson pounced to grab second spot, while a last-corner pass would elevate Disney to fourth at the expense of Hodges. Joel Carrig, Ben Nicastri, Ed Borg, Matt Croker and Greg Hodges completed the top ten, leaving Josh Gorman as the only other finisher.

Liam Murphy outpaced Brad Wise and Chris Crocker to win the first of the Limited Sedan heats, with Wise prevailing in heat two over Jaiden Healey and Mitch Duggan.

In the 10-lap feature race, Murphy locked in the lead from the outset and was able to expand his advantage with a minimum of fuss, winning more than three seconds clear of Healey, with Wise taking third ahead of Chris Croker. It was the battle for fifth that provided all the action with Mitch Duggan securing the spot, leaving Jacob Croker to launch a last-lap pass that would take him past the Cortina-mounted Brett Schmidlin for sixth.

Mark Alexander downed Shannon Alexander and Rick Aberley in the opening Street Stock clash, with Troy Dawes downing Shaun Davoodi and Matt Alexander in heat two.

Shannon Alexander led home Steven Walsh and Anthony Attard in heat three, while the final heat went the way of Davoodi over Mat Alexander and Dawes.

As has been the case on so many occasions in Sydney and elsewhere, Davoodi was a cut above the field in the feature race and wasted no time in building a margin between himself and the field. The race for the minor placings was very much a family affair with a trio of Alexanders dueling with Dawes for the two remaining spots on the podium. In the end, Dawes was both outpaced and outnumbered as Shannon Alexander snared second ahead of Matt Alexander and Mark Alexander. Sixth home behind Dawes was Walsh, who in turn was followed by Rick Aberley, Attard, Sean Isherwood and Danny Glover.

Racing continues at Eastern Creek Speedway next Saturday night (March 18) with a feast of open wheel action featuring round 14 of the Sprintcar Track Championship, plus Midgets and Wingless Sprints.

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