Tonight at the Perth Motorplex was all about honouring ‘The General’ John Day and it certainly was a feature race that befit the legend that John was, with American Logan Seavey, aboard the Travis White Racing #38, claiming his first John Day Speedcar Classic win.

Four different heat winners, a thrilling feature race and a finish that came down to the last corner on the last lap would surely have ‘The General’ smiling, and it certainly left the spectators on their feet!

The night began with twenty cars timing against the clock, Logan Seavey and Tom Payet going fastest in their respective groups.

Payet and Seavey, along with Kaiden Manders and Kiwi Michael Pickens would each claim a heat, Seavey doing enough to qualify into pole position for the thirty-lap final alongside Manders, with Pickens and Payet on row two.

Seventeen cars would greet the starter and Seavey got the jump with Manders and Pickens side by side for second, both desperate to find a way past the leading Seavey on the inside.

Behind them Payet was running high in fourth, with Keenan Fleming also looking for a way by.

The yellows would come out with the field having completed one lap as eighth placed Patrick Watson spun in turn one, setting up a single file restart with twenty-nine to go.

Unfortunately, no more laps would be completed when Payet, Cory Smith and Joel Watson all came to a stop in turn one.

Seavey led away the next restart and would lead lap two, but on lap three Manders made his move and coming out of turn two would take the lead, Seavey now second ahead of Pickens.

Again, the yellows came on and Patrick Watson found himself parked on the infield, while back on track Manders would lead away Seavey, with Pickens, Fleming and Cody Nash now in hot pursuit.

Manders and Seavey broke away from Pickens, the two going side by side on a number of occasions but Manders maintaining the lead.

With eight complete Alfonso Guadagnino spun, with Joel Watson having nowhere to go and driving into him, the duo stuck at the top of turn three.

The race resumed once more and with ten laps completed the yellows were on again as Jake Robinson spun, and it was at this point that disaster struck, Manders heading infield with a flat left rear tyre.

Seavey would now lead away Pickens with Fleming and Nash still going side by side with each other in what was now the battle for third, Payet back up to fifth from the rear.

All at once Nash grabbed third and Payet grabbed fourth as they crossed the line to complete lap thirteen.

Payet then passed Nash a lap later to take third, setting out after Pickens and leader Seavey who by this time had broken out to a 1.5 second lead at the halfway point.

With sixteen laps complete, Robinson found himself in the turn one wall and helicoptering, seeing the race under yellows once again.

Twelve cars would restart with fourteen laps to go, Seavey again setting the pace.

Pickens and Payet went side by side coming out of turn two, Payet sliding by to grab second as just behind them Cody Nah clobbered the turn four wall, but was able to keep going.

A lap later Pickens retook second, and it would remain that way, Seavey 1.3 seconds ahead of Pickens with ten laps remaining, back to Payet in third.

The race would then come under cautions for the final time in the race, with Smith spinning again, this time seeing Guadagnino hit him, both cars coming to a stop in turn four.

We would now have eleven cars remaining for the final nine laps, but this time Pickens put the claw to floor, used the bottom and slid up in front of Seavey on the restart to take the lead.

Seavey slid back under him in turn one the next lap to momentarily retake the lead, but Pickens was having none of it, racing back by and allowing Payet to pick the pieces of Seavey.

Nash made contact with the turn three wall behind them this time but remarkably kept on going, with Nick Rowe now right on his tail.

Back up-front Pickens was nearly a second ahead with only a handful of laps remaining while Payet was well behind Seavey in third.

Rowe would then retire infield while running fifth with three laps to go, with Glen Mears now fifth as he got by Fleming momentarily before Fleming was able to retake the position.

With one lap to go though, all eyes were on the battle for the lead, with Pickens and Seavey just 0.188 seconds apart as they crossed the line for the second last time.

Seavey went high and low on the front straight looking for the best line while Pickens seized his opportunity and dove underneath Seavey for the lead in turn two.

The duo were locked together for the remainder of the lap, Seavey however utilised the highline to retake the lead coming out of turn four and would cross the line in first, winning by just 0.134 seconds in a thriller that saw the crowd on their feet.

Tom Payet would hold on for third while Cody Nash and Keenan Fleming rounded out the top five finishers.

It was another epic race meeting to honour ‘The General’ and we thank everyone who worked hard to make it possible.

In particular, a big thanks to all the sponsors who made this entire event possible: Add Life Home and Commercial Improvements, Air Control Transport Refrigeration, Bennett Motorsport, Graham Jones Racing, Lance Auto Electrics, Speedcars Australia, Asteel Powdercoaters, Oval Track Racewear and Diecast, Dale Concrete, Thermal Dynamics Engine Heaters, Hair Tizz, RPM Race Products, CKN Construction and the entire John Day racing team and family.

Release by DTN Media.

Pics Courtesy Richard Hathaway Photography and Cochrane Photography.

CONTINGENCY AWARDS

Hair Tizz Hear Winners – Logan Seavey, Tom Payet, Kaiden Manders, Michael Pickens

RPM Pole Award – Logan Seavey

CKN Construction Quick Time – Logan Seavey

Asteel 1st Division Two Driver – Cody Nash

Oval Track Diecast Hard Charger – Aron Sharp (+10)

Dale Concrete John Day Encouragement Award – Cody Nash

Thermal Dynamic Engine Heaters Lucky 7th – Aron Sharp

OFFICIAL RESULTS

Qualifying 1, 2 laps: 1. Logan Seavey 15.817, 2. Kaiden Manders 15.900, 3. Vaughan Manders 16.069, 4. Nicholas Rowe 16.180, 5. Tyson Bryden 16.300, 6. Cory Smith 16.716, 7. Alfonso Guadagnino 16.724, 8. Joel Watson 16.849, 9. Beau Doyle 20.112, 10. Aron Sharp NTT.

Qualifying 2, 2 laps: 1. Tom Payet 15.957, 2. Michael Pickens 15.996, 3. Cody Nash 16.093, 4. Keenan Fleming 16.449, 5. Patrick Watson 16.465, 6. Glen Mears 16.592, 7. Jake Robinson 16.737, 8. Gary Mann 17.131, 9. Steven Henderson 17.268, 10. Lee Austen NTT.

Heat One, 8 laps: 1. Logan Seavey, 2. Kaiden Manders, 3. Vaughan Manders, 4. Joel Watson, 5. Alfonso Guadagnino, 6. Cory Smith, 7. Aron Sharp. DNF: Nick Rowe (4), Tyson Bryden (4). DNS: Beau Doyle. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 1.892. Fastest Lap: 16.374 Logan Seavey.

Heat Two, 8 laps: 1. Tom Payet, 2. Michael Pickens, 3. Patrick Watson, 4. Keenan Fleming, 5. Lee Austen, 6. Jake Robinson, 7. Cody Nash, 8. Glen Mears, 9. Steven Henderson. DNF: Gary Mann (6). Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 1.011. Fastest Lap: 16.677 Tom Payet.

Heat Three, 8 laps: 1. Kaiden Manders, 2. Nicholas Rowe, 3. Cody Nash, 4. Tom Payet, 5. Patrick Watson, 6. Jake Robinson, 7. Joel Watson, 8. Cory Smith, 9. Aron Sharp, 10. Steven Henderson. Total Time: 2.17.738. Winning Margin: 2.536. Fastest Lap: 16.739 Kaiden Manders.

Heat Four, 8 laps: 1. Michael Pickens, 2. Logan Seavey, 3. Keenan Fleming, 4. Glen Mears, 5. Alfonso Guadganino, 6. Lee Austen. DNF: Beau Doyle (7), Vaughan Manders (1). DNS: Tyson Bryden, Gary Mann. Total Time: 2.19.340. Winning Margin: 0.701. Fastest Lap: 16.753 Logan Seavey.

Feature, 30 laps: 1. Logan Seavey, 2. Michael Pickens, 3. Tom Payet, 4. Cody Nash, 5. Keenan Fleming, 6. Glen Mears, 7. Aron Sharp, 8. Lee Austen, 9. Alfonso Guadagnino, 10. Steven Henderson (29). DNF: Nick Rowe (27), Jake Robinson (16), Kaiden Manders (10), Joel Watson (, Vaughan Manders (1). DQ: Cory Smith, Patrick Watson. DNS: Tyson Bryden, Beau Doyle, Gary Mann. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.134. Fastest Lap: 16.903 Kaiden Manders.