Official Release, Sunday 13th March 2022
Victorian Brock Atkins has fulfilled a life long ambition tonight at the Heartland Raceway in Moama to become the 2022 Speedway Sedans Australia National Modified Sedan Champion.
Atkins got the better of a outstanding battle with good friend Kye Walters in the concluding stages of a thrilling forty lap main event before an appreciative crowd at the venue which sits on the Victorian/New South Wales border.
Kingaroy’s Brett Barron lead the point standings coming into the final night, with the final round of heats producing plenty of drama.R
eigning National Champion Kye Walters aboard the True Design Homes Ford Falcon locked himself into a second row starting position for the A Main by taking victory in the opening heat of the second night.
A multi car opening corner pile up put Matt Nelson, Ash Parkinson & Marcus Reddecliffe on the out on the opening lap of heat twenty, leaving just seven cars for the resumption.
Nick Cockerill held off the advances of Townsville’s Adam Jorgensen in the very popular Ford Cortina to take the thirty six points.
Queensland’s David “Tangles” Head did a stellar job in heat twenty one to hold off Darcy Wilson, with the battle for the minor placings a great spectacle.
Mick Shelford in the Pro1 Race Parts Holden Commodore found form in heat twenty two in his methanol breathing to claim victory.
Heat Twenty Three had the crowd on their feet as Mick Boyle drove around the outside of the battling Brock Atkins, Jarod Waters & Scott Angus to record a very popular victory.
Former National SSA Junior Sedan Champion Todd Atkins lead all the way in the final heat race of the weekend to lock up an A Main start in his Club 36 Innovations Ford Falcon.
The first two of two B Mains saw Rodney Pammenter, Matt Gerlach & Zac Swanson advance into the A Main after Swanson found a way past Kingaroy’s Alex Sweeney in the concluding stages.
Toowoomba’s Nathan Macdonald entertained the fans on the hill and at home in the second B Main by going around the outside of many competitors to steal the final transfer position from Brad Warren.
Macdonald would start from position twenty two for the main event as Victorians Wade McCarthy & Matt Nelson finished first and second in the final preliminary race of the National Title.
Twenty Two cars would face the green flag for the main event to decide the 2022 SSA National Modified Sedan Champion with the Mercedes C380 of Jarod Waters & Brett Barron sharing the front row.
Waters got the better of the start with Barron falling back to sixth place on the opening lap.
Lap two would see the first stoppage of the race with 2012 National Champion David Smith, Matt Gerlach and Rodney Pammenter all out of the race with heavy damage after coming together.
Waters lead away after the restart as Kye Walters, Max Clarke & Brock Atkins battled for the minor placings.
Atkins moved past Clarke into third and then was soon into second as he found a way past Walters.
The driver of the V0 Ford Falcon set out after the race leader with the 2022 Kings Royal Champion hitting the lead on lap eighteen after a fierce battle with Waters.
The V92 Mercedes was soon back to fourth place by lap twenty four as Walters and Clarke moved past into the poduim positions.
Adam Jorgensen retired with a flat tyre on lap twenty five after sitting in as high as seventh place in what was a disappointing end to the weekend for the North Queensland based driver.
The second stoppage came about after Ty Galley in the N0 Toyota Lexcen collected the concrete wall on lap twenty nine setting up a thrilling run to the flag.
Drama unfolded as the cars rolled around under the yellow lights when Nick Cockerill headed infield with an engine issue while in sixth place.
The final laps of the main event were a thrilling affair as Walters threw everything at the race leader Brock Atkins, as the two Ford Falcons banged panels for the National Title.
Walters hit the lead momentarily on lap thirty three as Atkins fought back on his former Junior Sedan sparring partner.
The V0 Ford Falcon negotiated the final laps to win his maiden National Title in SSA Modified Sedans by 1.863 seconds from Walters & Jarod Waters rounding out the top three.
Todd Atkins drove a smart race to finish fourth after originally starting in position seven with 2011 National Champion Max Clarke officially fifth.
Just eleven cars completed the distance in what was a thrilling conclusion to a great weekend.
Brock Atkins was a relieved winner in victory lane as his thanked his family and friends with particular attention paid to his parents Kellie & Greg along with younger brother Todd who make it all possible for the team to contest major events around the country.
Atkins will defend the SSA National Modified Sedan Title at Albany’s Attwell Park Speedway in Western Australia at Easter 2023.
Final Points
1. V92 Jarod Waters 110
2. Q148 Brett Barron 109
3. A1 Kye Walters 104
4. N15 Max Clarke 104
5. VA11 Nick Cockerill 97
6. V0 Brock Atkins 95
7. V36 Todd Atkins 94
8. Q23 Tim Atkin 93
9. Q25 Adam Jorgensen 91
10. V19 David Smith 90
11. V33 Daniel Simpson 86
12. V5 Darcy Wilson 86
13. V17 Brad Wicks 85
14. V34 Jay Nicolaisen 85
15. V32 Brody Chrystie 84
16. N0 Ty Galley 84
17. Q8 Rodney Pammenter 80
18. V6 Wade McCarthy 79
19. Q108 Alex Sweeney 77
20. Q54 Mick Shelford 77
21. V14 Matt Gerlach 73
22. V56 Graham West 69
23. VA14 Michael Wicks 68
24. V61 Matt Nelson 66
25. VA72 Scott Angus 65
26. Q24 David Head 65
27. VA15 Zac Swanson 62
28. V84 Brad Warren 61
29. V52 Mick Boyle 60
30. V11 Lachlan Fitzpatrick 59
31. V18 Jake Drewett 58
32. V38 Tristan McGraw 53
33. V25 Jamie Paull 51
34. V94 Rachel Pratt 50
35. V8 Lennie Clark 49
36. Q32 Nathan Macdonald 49
37. Q28 Hayden Stephensen 46
38. W32 Mick Johnson 45
39. Q59 Darran Lester 44
40. V88 Ash Parkinson 43
41. V37 Trish Dike 38
42. V28 Matthew Reddecliffe 35
43. Q71 Kev Young 34
44. V9 Lucas Conder 34
45. Q66 Chris Evans 34
46. VA33 Taleah Dolic 32
47. VA18 Chris Reick 31
48. V45 Shaun Thompson 31
49. W74 Allan Mortimer 30
50. VA6 Damien Miller 30
51. V15 Dale Hallett 29
52. V98 Raymond Ussher 29
53. V62 Kasey Garlick 29
54. V87 Aaron Bunton 29
55. V72 Martin Hawson 25
56. V74 Steve Ellis 25
57. S94 Robert Uren 24
58. V55 Nathan Shortis 21
59. V71 Peter Angus 21
60. N97 Liam Murphy 20
61. V67 Corey Knox 19
62. V29 Marcus Reddecliffe 17
63. VA18 Chris Hayden 15
64. V82 Shane Roycroft 15
65. QA28 Aidan Raymont 5
66. VA5 Andrew Dike 3
67. Q2 Mark Carlin 3
68. VB11 Karen Ferguson 0
B Main One, Twenty Laps- 1. Q8 Rodney Pammenter, 2. V14 Matt Gerlach, 3. VA15 Zac Swanson, 4. Q108 Alex Sweeney, 5. V72 Martin Hawson, 6. V25 Jamie Paull, 7. V15 Dale Hallett, 8. V62 Kasey Garlick, 9. VA72 Scott Angus, 10. V67 Corey Knox, 11. S94 Robert Uren, 12. V71 Peter Angus (19), DNF V52 Mick Boyle (13), V8 Lennie Clark (8), VA18 Chris Reick (8), Q71 Kev Young (8), W74 Allan Mortimer (7), DNS Q59 Darran Lester, VA14 Michael Wicks, V37 Trish Dike, Quick Time Q8 Rodney Pammenter 20.651.
B Main Two, Twenty Laps- 1. V6 Wade McCarthy, 2. V61 Matt Nelson, 3. Q32 Nathan Macdonald, 4. V84 Brad Warren, 5. V11 Lachlan Fitzpatrick, 6. V87 Aaron Bunton, 7. Q24 David Head, 8. VA33 Taleah Dolic, 9. V82 Shane Roycroft, 10. V38 Tristan McGraw, 11. W32 Mick Johnson, 12. V28 Marcus Reddecliffe, 13. V56 Graham West, 14. V9 Lucas Conder, 15. V45 Shaun Thompson, 16. N97 Liam Murphy, 17. V74 Steve Ellis, DNF V94 Rachel Pratt (12), V29 Marcus Reddecliffe (12), V55 Nathan Shortis (8), Q54 Mick Shelford (2), DNS V88 Ash Parkinson, Quick Time V6 Wade McCarthy 21.300.
A Main, 40 Laps- 1. V0 Brock Atkins, 2. A1 Kye Walters, 3. V92 Jarod Waters, 4. V36 Todd Atkins, 5. N15 Max Clarke, 6. V33 Daniel Simpson, 7. V32 Brody Chrystie, 8. Q23 Tim Atkin, 9. V17 Brad Wicks, 10. V5 Darcy Wilson, 11. V6 Wade McCarthy, DNF Jay Nicolaisen (37), V61 Matt Nelson (33), VA11 Nick Cockerill (30), Q32 Nathan Macdonald (30), Q148 Brett Barron (30), N0 Ty Galley (29), Q25 Adam Jorgensen (25), VA15 Zac Swanson (15) V19 David Smith (1), Q8 Rodney Pammenter (1), V14 Matt Gerlach (1), Quick Time A1 Kye Walters 20.859.
