Author : Jason Crowe – SSA Media
The Speedway Sedans Australia, Mental Racewear, National Street Stock Title is less than two weeks away with 134 drivers set to compete in the second largest National Title in Australian Speedway history, at the B & S Earthworks, Timmis Speedway Mildura.
Andrew Burgoyne, from Melton in Victoria will drive his VY Commodore in his third National Title after racing at Redline and Adelaide in recent years.
The fifty year old has only been racing Street Stock for five years after driving trucks for twenty five years. One night upon returning home from an Interstate trip, Burgoyne was amazed with what was sitting in the driveway!
My wife had bought me a Street Stock from a friend of ours and after having a 5 X heart bypass surgery just over 3 years ago, I’m more than happy just to be here, he said.
I started racing Street Stocks five years ago because it was an easy, cheap and competitive class to get me into Speedway. I do not have any particular moment or win that I bang on about, but to go racing and have support from family, especially when you have grandkids cheering you on is a massive buzz, he added.
In the largest title of all time, Burgoyne would finish 63rd overall, an amazing achievement for someone in his first title, while in 2018 at Adelaide Motorsport Park, he was able to go better, making the C Main and finishing 45th overall.
Burgoyne has only raced at Mildura three times, once for a Top Gun and two Paige McCarthy-Beard Memorials, finishing fourth in the most recent visit, much better than two years previously when he had a rollover.
I love the Mildura track, gets a few ruts here and there but makes it interesting as the night goes on, because it pushes the cars high for a bit of excitement, and let us not forget the people, a great bunch who are welcoming to anyone that makes the trek, Burgoyne added.
As sometimes happens, the biggest challenge I find is avoiding damage that can knock your heat results around, it is not hard to have a tyre cut, a strut bent or a broken steering rack when everyone around you is going for that same spot on the track. It is a massive weekend of racing so nobody wants to get drilled by someone and go out early, it does not bother me which direction the racing goes, as long as we all have our share of both ways, nothing worse than going one way for all your heats, then get to a final and go the other way, but that is the luck of the draw, he said.
I originally bought this car as a roller for my son-in law until he got his own, then when I junked my old car at Mildura I got this one going. It has Smooth suspension, IPTA fibreglass and just fitted a Razztech engine and exhaust that my wife bought me for Christmas, Burgoyne said.
Andrew would love to thank the following Sponsors:
Dunlop Super Dealer Melton
Ian Slim Lambrick
Glynn Bryant
Elite Fleet Maintenance
My wife Leanne for funding my racing!
My crew chief is Leanne (wife), with Vaughan Webber and Scott Purdie on the crew as well as he is not competing this year.
I am here for a great time with a lot of ace people, and if I can be competitive along with most that is a plus for me, he concludes.
The National Street Stock Title will be held on Saturday 9 March 2019 and Sunday 10 March 2019, with Speedway Sedans Australias award winning coverage Speedway Sedans Live, set to stream all of the action Live and Free across the course of the weekend.
Photo courtesy of Highside Promotion