Heading into Saturday’s NSW SSA Street Stock Title at Gilgandra Speedway, Peter Thompson wasn’t considered one of the favourites but that didn’t stop him from taking out an upset victory.
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The Queensland-based racer grabbed control of the 30-lap NSW Title deciding feature race on the penultimate lap and was able to hold on through to the fall of the chequered flag.
In what was an upset win, Thompson, who had started from the outside of row four in the feature-race field, was thrilled to pick up the biggest win of his speedway career.
The win also eased the memories of tough runs during the National and Queensland Titles recently.
NSW’s Glenn Mitchell had to settle for second in a pleasing SSA Street Stock debut after starting from sixth place.
Western Australia-based Andrew Norton rounded out the podium finishers in third after enjoying a consistent night from position five on the grid.
Youngster Andy Maxwell Jnr, from Whyalla in South Australia, finished fourth ahead of Nathan Dunn and John Roycroft (both Victoria).
One of the hard-luck stories of the feature race was defending NSW champion Brad McClure. After qualifying on pole position, the three-time Australian Champion from Victoria set the pace for much of the race but he was sidelined on lap 16, due to a locked right-front brake.
Tasmanian Matt Hammond, who had started from position four, took the lead following McClure’s departure but five laps later he too was forced infield, due to a plug lead falling off.
After being a front runner all night, Victorian Matt Nelson was battling for the feature-race lead before he collected the back straight wall and crashed out in spectacular fashion.
Nelson had collected a pointy end of the fence, which damaged his car irreparably, ripping off the right-front wheel and also that side of the panels. Thankfully, Nelson wasn’t seriously injured and was able to walk away.
Another high profile retirement was John Lodge Jnr. The current Victorian champion and national number three qualified second but retired on the opening lap after sustaining damage in his final heat.
Kiona Sunerton didn’t take long to get up to pace in her SSA Street Stock debut, winning her heat but she was one of the many forced to retire during the main feature race.
Earlier, the heat-race wins were claimed by McClure (twice), Nelson, Hammond, Sunerton and Lodge Jnr.
Despite the low car count for the second running of the NSW SSA Street Stocks Title, it was a case of quality over quantity.
The event also saw every state in Australia represented by drivers and the racing throughout the night was hotly contested but at the same time very clean.