J-Mac is back – Wins Round 3 of World Series of Sprintcars!

Despite being in considerable pain (McFadden spent most of the day in hospital leading up to the night) from an aggravated rib injury the defending WSS champ sped his Totally Workwear #25 COOL to an uninterrupted victory in the 35 lap A-Main final.

The race was run at a frenetic pace due to a very speedy racing surface that was ‘juiced up’ from light rain that fell in the B-Main (last chance qualifier) only half an hour before.

“The track was fast,” McFadden explained, “really, really fast. You could still move around a bit and pass lapped cars but the speed of the place tonight was amazing. I’m so glad I could get a win for the team tonight after the disappointment at Murray Bridge.”

(Two nights earlier at the previous round in Murray Bridge he had been leading the A-Main when two lapped cars crashed in front of him and he ran out of emergency routes to avoid contact with them. The impact aggravated a previous rib injury and also saw him have to restart at the rear of the field before storming back to third by race’s end).

At Mt. Gambier there would be no such complications as McFadden zipped between the lapped cars with arch-rival American Jason Johnson and Mt. Gambier local hero Steven Lines hot in pursuit.

“I really have to take my hat off to James, he doesn’t make many mistakes and he didn’t tonight either, no matter how hard I chased him.”

Johnson was back to his brilliant best in the HM Racing GT Bobcats Maxim after two frustrating previous nights with engine problems.

“The HM Racing team worked real hard on this car all week and tonight we’ve got our car speed back. I feel we’re in for a really good shot at the next two rounds of Speedweek now for sure.”

Local hero Steven Lines locked in his third consecutive podium finish in the Halls Motorsport #3 KPC with third place behind Johnson and although the quietly spoken hard charger was pleased with ‘our consistency’ he was definitely not pleased with another to chance to win slipping by.”

“We set fast time in qualifying and we started on the front row,” he explained, “but that’s never enough in these deals, you have to finish off. In World Series everyone brings their A-Game and you have to put in 35 laps of your best to get the win. Full credit to James and Jason for a good race, I just hope we can get a win.”

Robbie Farr was once again very consistent with a strong fourth place in the East Coast Pipeline / Vermeer Maxim edging home ahead of American Shane Stewart in the Monster Energy / Milwaukee Tools J&J and South Aussie young gun Daniel Pestka in the Gawler Farm Machinery J&J.

Pestka made it across the line with seconds to spare as his left rear tyre literally had not one single patch of tread left.

“We ran pretty close to the edge I guess, I could feel the vibration but thankfully we scraped home.”

Following Pestka home was David Murcott (who changed a motor after the Vortex Wings Top 8 Shootout) in the Horrell Motorsport #83 Eagle, Matt Egel in the Rapiti Earthworks #29 COOL, two-time Speedweek feature winner Luke Dillon in the Action Line-marking #81 Eagle and Tim Kaeding in the Krikke Motorsport / Toyota Genuine Parts COOL rounding out the top ten.

For Kaeding tenth was a welcome relief for another gruelling night that included his third consecutive rollover (a flip earlier in the night when he got caught up in someone else’s spin) and plenty of work to do for his KMS team.

“I won’t say I’m happy with tonight’s result, but at least we got a result for our guys. I’m more determined than ever to get a win for these guys sooner rather than later,” quipped the Californian.

Shaun Dobson was again busy in the Downing Brothers #97 COOL to finish 11^th, ahead of onion farmer Wayne Rowett (Kynoch Produce ART) in 12^th, South Aussie rising star Brad Keller (Fatchen Cartage #19) in 13^th, American legend Danny Smith 14^th in the Luke Nash owned Bottle-O #55 Maxim, Eddie Lumbar (Rapiti Earthworks #36) 15^th, seventeen year old Jake Tranter (Kynoch Produce ART) in 16^th and WSS debutant Adam Sealey’s Valvoline #S7 home in 17^th.

South Aussie Phillip March pulled infield before the chequers in his Maxwill Motors #3, whilst hard charging West Aussie Shane Bradford slammed the track cushion in turn four and peeled the left rear tyre off the beadlock on the rim to also DNF.

American Kyle Hirst looked set for his best WSS result in the Ruhs Racing #99 ART out of Broken Hill but ironically a broken bolt in the front end took him out before he could even lock in one lap, despite starting on the second row.

Spectacular moments, both good and bad, came thick and fast in the frantic night of action with Nick Lacey’s scary fire in his first heat race when the fuel line came undone in the Video Ezy #26 and the car erupted into flames.

Lacey alighted from the car but was also on fire and had to be smothered by fast moving fire crew as he rolled on to the ground.

Steven Lines set the Revolution Racegear Quick Time in Qualifying much to the delight of the partisan home crowd with a lap record of 10.651s.

Championship points after three nights of Speedweek for the top fifteen are as follows:

For the complete points standings please visithttp://www.worldseriessprintcars.com.au/season/standings/

Round Four of the ENZED World Series Sprintcars, presented by Hogs Breath Cafe, is scheduled for tonight, Sunday, December 30 at Avalon Raceway Lara.

Ends release…