Speedway: Australians take out title at International Sprint Car Championship

Shane Stewart. Photo / Jeremy Ward

American driver Shane Stewart claimed first honours in the Porter Hire International Sprint Car Championship at Springs Speedway on Saturday night.

The regular visitor to New Zealand shores bounced back from a disappointing World of Outlaws campaign to win the feature at the Springs, beating out rival drivers from Australia and New Zealand.

Kiwi Jamie Larsen finished second while Australian Jamie Veal was third.

The Australians triumphed overall however with the Veal-David Murcott pairing scoring a combined 106 points across the three-race test matches. New Zealand placed second on 104 points with Aucklander Daniel Eggleton the pick of the local drivers.

The United States managed 90 points in third with Jonathan Allard having a disappointing run.

Zach Daum ensured both feature races titles would head back to the United States after he took a memorable win in the midget feature. He battled with local drivers Hayden Guptill and Brock Maskovich for much of the race but managed to ease to victory in the closing laps. A fast-finishing Guptill managed to sneak by Maskovich for second place.

Lindsay Gate lowered the 10-lap F2 midget record in heat one to 2:34.882, beating Nathan Howard's record set earlier this year. Travis Buckley recorded a break-through feature win. His 15-lap time of 3:56.856 lowering another Howard marker of 3:59.811 set last year.

Scott Baker won his second TQ feature of the season while Keiano Weir enjoyed a successful night in the quarter midgets with Cole Robertson joining Weir in the winner's circle.

RESULTS

Sprintcars

Heat 1 - Jamie Larsen, Dean Cooper, Rodney Wood, Craig Dollansky, Jamie Veal

Heat 2 – David Murcott, Jonathan Allard, Glen Torpey, Jayden Dodge, Stephen Taylor

Heat 3 – Shane Stewart, Daniel Eggleton, Jamie Veal, Stephen Taylor, Dion Kendall

Heat 4 – Dean Brindle, Brian Edwards, Jamie Larsen. Dave Witton, Craig Dollansky

Semi-Main – James Dahm, Dean Cooper, Matthew Leversedge, Daniel Rogers, Dave Witton

Feature – Shane Stewart, Jamie Larsen, Jamie Veal, Daniel Eggleton, Jonathan Allard

Test 1 – Larsen, Stewart, Murcott, Veal, Allard, Eggleton

Test 2 – Stewart, Eggleton, Murcott, Veal, Taylor, Allard (DNF)

Test 3 – Allard, Veal, Larsen, Murcott, Eggleton, Stewart

Australia (106) – Jamie Veal (53), David Murcott (53)

New Zealand (104) – Daniel Eggleton (50), Jamie Larsen (38), Stephen Taylor (16)

USA (90) – Shane Stewart (54), Jonathan Allard (36)

Midgets

Heat 1 – Kayne Buck, Ryan O'Connor, Brock Maskovich, Hayden Guptill, Brett Morris Jr

Heat 2 – Zach Daum, Hayden Williams, Michael Brunt, Matthew McCutcheon, James Earl

Heat 3 – Brock Maskovich, Peter Hunnibell, Breyton Davison, Max Guildford, Jayden Worthington

Heat 4 – Hayden Guptill, Shayne Alach, Brett Morris Jnr, Travis Buckley, Hayden Williams

Semi-Main – Michael Brunt, Ben Cometti, Brad Hollier, James Cossey, Hamish Dobbyn

Feature – Zach Daum, Hayden Guptill, Brock Maskovich, Brett Morris Jr, Matthew McCutcheon

F2 Midgets

Heat 1 – Lindsay Gate, Sam Cometti, Leyton Kendall, Brynn Jackson, Mike Driver

Heat 2 – Mitch Osborne, Brad McCutcheon, Travis Buckley, Kenny Roberts, Jordan McDonnell

Feature – Travis Buckley, Mitch Osborne, Lindsay Gate, Leyton Kendall, Daryl Webster

TQ's

Heat 1 – Jeremy Webb, Shaun Cooke, Gina Harris, Paul LeCren, Ryan Baker

Heat 2 – Ryan Barry, Cole Morrison, Ryan Baker, Aaron Humble, Peter Hunnibell

Heat 3 – Scott Baker, Ben Morrison, Shayne Minchington, Morgan McHugh, Josh Melrose

Feature – Scott Baker, Jeremy Webb, Ryan Barry, Ryan Baker, Morgan McHugh