Archerfield Sprintcar

Hotlap Time:

N/A

Time Trials:

11.942

Heat 1:

Finished: 3rd

Heat 2:

Finished: 6th

Dash/Shuffle:

Finished: 2nd

Feature Race:

Finished: 1st

April 4, 2022
10:44 am

Victory at Round 12 of the East Coast Logistics Sprintcar Track Championship at Archerfield Speedway on Saturday 2^nd April.

We were the 3^rd group out for Time Trials on a track that was still drying out. I managed to time in at 11.942, the first car to go under 12 seconds. I was fastest in my group and also quickest overall at that point. I didn’t stay fastest overall as the track got faster but I ended up 6^th quickest overall which was a good start to the night.

Heat 1 I started in 7^th due to an inverted field, so the fastest time trials were off the back. Managed to go around the outside of a few cars on the start and come out in 3^rd, staying there for the rest of the heat race.

I started again from 7^th in Heat 2 due to having good points – sitting 2^nd on points overall due to my good heat race and the fact I made up so many places. This time though, the track was a lot harder to pass on and I only managed to get forward 1 spot finishing in 6^th. This was still good as it gave us enough points to be 4^th overall putting us into the dash.

I started the Dash on the second row from 4^th. This dash style was a heads race over 6 laps. I made a great start and railed around the top through turns 1 and 2, coming out a little sideways but managing to keep the power down and shoot out the corner into 2^nd place. I was close enough to have a go for first but being a dash, it wasn’t worth the risk, so I settled in for second.

Starting from 2^nd place on the front row in the Feature, as the green light dropped, I took off. Making a good start I railed the top whilst first place shot to the bottom. We came out of turn 2 together but I was sideways too much – he slid up and his right rear hit my left hand side crash bar bending it but we came up the straight together and the orange lights came on.

There was a crash on the first corner back in the field and because it was on the first lap the rules are it has to be a full restart. They fixed the cars up and we gridded back up ready for a full restart. This time I drove it in even harder into turn 1 and on the exit of turn 2 I came down the track a little too much where the grip was and shot out of the corner with about 5 car lengths on 2^nd place.

I stayed on the top for about 10 laps but as we got to traffic, I had to come back down to get past a few cars that I’d got held behind which allowed 2^nd and 3^rd place to catch up to me. The 3 of us were just about side by side at one stage but I was just managing to stay in front before a car had spun out so a yellow came on.

Ryan Newton Racing Winner At Archerfield

Ryan Newton Racing Wins Feature Race At Archerfield

As I was still in front, I led the field around for the restart, getting a cracking start and putting my head down with the clean air out in front. There were about 10 laps to go, so I knew we would struggle to catch the back of the field as the lap times were quite fast. I made a few errors with about 5 laps to go which allowed 2^nd place to catch up to me. With only 2 laps to go I made a few more which allowed him to get right onto me. I made a really good clean run through 1 and 2 on the final lap but through 3 and 4 I missed my mark causing me to be sideways on the exit. I just managed to straighten it up enough to get the power down and came across the line in 1^st place. Woohoo!!!

I was over the moon as this was my FIRST EVER WIN in a Sprintcar and to do it at Archerfield was very special too. This was my 32^nd race meet in a Sprintcar – I have had about 6 4^th place finishes, so I have been very close to a podium several times and being able to go straight to 1^st place was really something else.

My crew chief Michael Gee and crew Todd Doyle and Dad – thank you so much, the car was impressive! We have been working very hard off the track on my driving style and how and what to do in different situations and today it all paid off, we got the WIN ….

It was also very special to have my family at the track for my first win. They come all the time but this time my family wasn’t going to as we were going away very early the next day on a family holiday. I am so glad my Mum, Sister, Nan and Pop decided to come and watch at the last minute and get no sleep before we went away.