Dayne Kingshott has once again shown why he is the best in Australia as he tonight claimed his sixth Laurie Matthews Memorial at the Make Smoking History Collie Speedway, but he certainly didn’t have it all his own way,  having to come from position seven on the grid.

Dan Golding was the man who qualified on pole, courtesy  of being the highest points scorer and then winning the top six pole shuffle. WASDA President Glen Mears would start alongside him while Alfonso Guadagnino and Chris Telenta would fill the second row.

Nine of the original eleven starters on the night would take the green in the feature, with Travis White suffering mechanical dramas in his second heat despite a second- place finish in the first heat, changing a water pump between races but unable to fix the issue, while Phil Jeffrey rolled out onto the track for the start but headed infield before the green flag flew.

The first attempt at a start didn’t go well as the red lights came on immediately for Beau Doyle who for the first time in his career went upside down in the opening turn. Beau emerged unhurt, but his tough night came to an early end  after missing both of his heats with mechanical issues and starting from the rear of the feature race grid.

Take two and it was Golding who got the jump and edged to the lead out in front of Mears and Guadagnino as Australian Champion Kingshott worked his way into fourth  by the end of the first lap.

Mears was able to close the gap on the second lap, but couldn’t pass Golding; the top four then bunching up and  pulling away slightly from the rest of the field. Dave Perry then worked his way into fifth place and also began chasing down the leading pack.

Kingshott dove under Alfie for third on lap four, with the top six now closing on each other and forming a high speed freight train as everyone looked for a way through past the car in front.

Mears went high through turn one on lap eight which allowed Dayne to have a sniff underneath but Mears quickly dropped back in behind Golding as he couldn’t see a way through. A lap later Mears found that gap and dove underneath Golding going down the back straight and from here he very quickly began to pull away from the rest of the field.

A lap later Kingshott did the same to get under Golding and grab second but it was all for naught as Dave Perry spun with Chris Telenta also getting caught up to bring on the yellows with nine laps complete.

The restart order would be Mears, Golding, Kingshott, Guadagnino, Lee Redmond, Gary Mann, Telenta and Perry, with Mears holding the lead on the restart while Kingshott took his opportunity to fly past Golding and grab second.

For the next few laps Mears would do his best to hold off Kingshott while behind them Guadagnino managed to sneak underneath Golding to move into third place.

Kingshott was really hounding the tail tank of Mears at the half way point but Mears still was putting in an awesome set of laps to hold him at bay as Guadagnino settled into a lonely third, with Redmond doing all he could to get by Golding, finally skidding by on lap twenty.

With nine laps to go Telenta spun in turn four to bring out the yellows and set up the second restart of the race, but unfortunately it didn’t go well on the resumption with a number of cars coming together before the cone, Telenta and Perry coming to a stop on the main straight.

The next start would be vital as Kingshott got the better of it and scooted past Mears to take the lead, Mears left to chase down Kingshott once again.

The next few laps saw Kingshott pull away to over one second ahead of Mears, but again it amounted to nothing as the yellows came on again, this time for Lee Redmond who spun in turn four and set up a three-lap dash to the finish.

Kingshott caught them all napping on the restart and raced away, streaking away to take his sixth win in the Laurie Matthews Memorial. Mears came home second while Alfonso Guadagnino was third. Dan Golding was fourth with Gary Mann putting in a career best drive to finish fifth while Chris Telenta rounded out the finishers in sixth.

The win now puts Kingshott second on the all-time Laurie Matthews Memorial list, just one win behind the legendary Neville Lance.

Speedcars will return to action next weekend at the Perth Motorplex!

Release by DTN Media. Pictures Courtesy Mel Fleming.

Contingency Awards HRP Hard Charger Award – Dayne Kingshott ASteel QuickTime Award – Glen Mears

Official Results

Heat One, 8 laps: 1. 17 Dan Golding, 2. 38 Travis White, 3. 16 Alfonso Guadagnino, 4. 97 Garry Mann. DNF: 52 Lee Redmond (0). DNS: 51 Beau Doyle. Total Time: 2.18.610. Winning Margin: 0.448. Fastest Lap: 16.990 Travis White.

Heat Two, 8 laps: 1. A1 Dayne Kingshott, 2. 12 Chris Telenta, 3. 10 David Perry, 4. 23 Glen Mears, 5. 37 Phil Jeffrey (7). Total Time: 2.18.458. Winning Margin: 1.113. Fastest Lap: 17.102 Chris Telenta.

Heat Three, 8 laps: 1. 23 Glen Mears, 2. 16 Alfonso Guadagnino, 3. 17 Dan Golding, 4. 10 David Perry. DNF: A1 Dayne Kingshott (0). DNS: 51 Beau Doyle. Total Time: 2.21.903. Winning Margin: 0.252. Fastest Lap: 17.450 Alfonso Guadagnino.

Heat Four, 8 laps: 1. 52 Lee Redmond, 2. 97 Garry Mann, 3. 12 Chris Telenta, 4. 37 Phil Jeffrey. DNS: 38 Travis White. Total Time: 2.22.807. Winning Margin: Not Available. Fastest Lap: 17.324 Chris Telenta.

Pole Shuffle 1, 2 laps: 1. 10 David Perry, 2. 97 Garry  Mann. Total Time: 35.217. Winning Margin: 1.982. Fastest Lap: 17.543 David Perry.

Pole Shuffle 2, 2 laps: 1. 12 Chris Telenta. DNF: 10 David Perry (1). Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: Not Available. Fastest Lap: 18.077 Chris Telenta.

Pole Shuffle 3, 2 laps: 1. 16 Alfonso Guadagnino, 2. 12 Chris Telenta. Total Time: 35.852. Winning Margin: 0.839. Fastest Lap: 17.826 Alfonso Guadagnino.

Pole Shuffle 4, 2 laps: 1. 23 Glen Mears, 2. 16 Alfonso Guadagnino. Total Time: 35.669. Winning Margin: 0.532. Fastest Lap: 17.700 Glen Mears.

Pole Shuffle 5, 2 laps: 1. 17 Dan Golding, 2. 23 Glen Mears. Total Time: 36.173. Winning Margin: 0.986. Fastest Lap: 18.011 Dan Golding.

Feature, 30 laps: 1. A1 Dayne Kingshott, 2. 23 Glen Mears, 3. 16 Alfonso Guadagnino, 4. 17 Dan Golding, 5. 97 Garry Mann, 6. 12 Chris Telenta. DNF: 52 Lee Redmond (26), 10 David Perry (21), 51 Beau Doyle (0). DNS: 37 Phil Jeffrey, 38 Travis White. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 1.405. Fastest Lap: 17.570 Glen Mears.