Speedway Sedans Australia News
Author : Jason Crowe – SSA Media
Ben Riley has won a thrilling Street Stock A Main at the Gulf Western and Independent Oils Raceway, Latrobe on Saturday night, coming from almost the back row of the capacity field to take victory.
With the format placing the highest qualifiers at the rear of the field for the thirty five lap A Main, the race was always going to be spectacular, and so it proved.
The race went from flag to flag, with Craig Weaver getting the best of the start, leading the opening lap after starting from the third row.
Half the field would also fail to finish with Brian Morice, Greg Smith and Nathan Burr all early retirees.
After five laps, Weaver would lead Jeremy Green and Jarrod Rogers who would be the first big mover through the field, having started on the seventh row. At this time, Nick Anderson and Troy Russell also found themselves on the infield, with Russell fourth at the time, having started at the very back of the field.
Weaver continued to lead, but the challengers from further back in the field kept on coming, as second placed Jeremy Green slipped back through the field and out of the race. Jarrod Rogers momentarily found himself in second place before Dale Riley Jnr passed Rogers and then a lap later, Weaver.
Not to be done, Ben Riley followed Dale Riley Jnr through the field and with fifteen laps remaining Ben Riley hit the lead, with Weaver now in third.
The Riley duo were inseparable for the remaining laps, while Weaver and Rogers swapped third place several times in the concluding stages.
Ben Riley would prevail by a mere 0.272 after thirty five laps, with the pair more than half a lap ahead of Craig Weaver and Jarrod Rogers, who had their own thrilling finish, with just 0.147 separating the pair for third place. No one else would finish on the lead lap, with ten of the nineteen finishes making the finish. Shaun Burgess and Victorian Troy Polley would round out the top six, with three times National Champion, Brad McClure officially twelfth, failing to finish.
:: Street Stock
Heat 1, 10 Laps: 1. T24 Ben Riley, 2. T18 Craig Weaver, 3. T68 Troy Polley, 4. T63 Shaun Burgess, 5. T28 Dale Riley Jnr, 6. T66 Nick Anderson, 7. T25 Damien Hall, 8. T39 Michael Zeitzen, 9. T45 Gregory Smith. DNF: 10. T13 Jeremy Green (6), 11. T15 Daniel Cunningham (2). Time: 3.05.664, Winning Margin: 1.400, Fastest Lap: 18.085 T24 Ben Riley
Heat 2, 10 Laps: 1. T5 Troy Russell, 2. T74 Brad McClure, 3. T2 Jarrod Rogers, 4. T19 Brian Morice, 5. T44 John Riley, 6. T11 Aaron Bradley, 7. T85 Brett Henri, 8. T41 Hayden Purdon, 9. T62 Nathan Burr (9). DNF: 10. T32 Terri Farrell (8). Time: 3.00.203, Winning Margin: 0.505, Fastest Lap: 17.235 T74 Brad McClure
Heat 3, 10 Laps: 1. T25 Damien Hall, 2. T28 Dale Riley Jnr, 3. T24 Ben Riley, 4. T68 Troy Polley, 5. T63 Shaun Burgess, 6. T66 Nick Anderson, 7. T18 Craig Weaver, 8. T45 Gregory Smith, 9. T13 Jeremy Green. Time: 3.00.080, Winning Margin: 0.014, Fastest Lap: 17.365 T28 Dale Riley Jnr
Heat 4, 10 Laps: 1. T5 Troy Russell, 2. T44 John Riley, 3. T2 Jarrod Rogers, 4. T74 Brad McClure, 5. T11 Aaron Bradley, 6. T19 Brian Morice, 7. T85 Brett Henri (9 laps), 8. T41 Hayden Purdon (9), 9. T62 Nathan Burr (9), 10. T32 Terri Farrell (9). Time: 2.51.908, Winning Margin: 6.194, Fastest Lap: 16.834 T5 Troy Russell
A Main, 35 Laps: 1. T24 Ben Riley, 2. T28 Dale Riley Jnr, 3. T18 Craig Weaver, 4. T2 Jarrod Rogers, 5. T63 Shaun Burgess (34 laps), 6. T68 Troy Polley (34), 7. T25 Damien Hall (34), 8. T41 Hayden Purdon (33), 9. T85 Brett Henri (33), 10. T32 Terri Farrell (32). DNF: 11. T44 John Riley (31), 12. T74 Brad McClure (24), 13. T11 Aaron Bradley (11), 14. T13 Jeremy Green (11), 15. T5 Troy Russell (7), 16. T66 Nick Anderson (5), 17. T62 Nathan Burr (4), 18. T45 Gregory Smith (1), 19. T19 Brian Morice (0). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.272, Fastest Lap: 17.510 T74 Brad McClure
Ben Riley wins by less than a car length after 35 laps. Photo courtesy of Angryman Photography