Press Release by Speedway Sedans Western Australia.
After night one of the 2023 Total Tools and Safety SSA Street Stock WA State Title at the Port Hedland Speedway it is Bullsbrook’s Hayden Norman and Carnarvon’s Jace Kempton who are tied at the top of the points table after a rough and tumble eighteen heats were held.
Just three drivers would manage multiple heat race wins across the evening, with former WA Champion Norman and Kempton claiming two wins and a second apiece to lead the standings, while another former Champion in Jack Barnewall claimed two wins and a fourth to be third outright.
The night started on a good note, Lenny Bates leading the opening heat all the way to claim the win while Cody Avins would race through from position seven to finish second. The second heat race would see Reece Jones leading early before Paul Briggs put in a great drive to grab the lead and go on to take the win from Dylan Curley who was also able to get past Jones.
Heat Three was an epic showdown, with cars battling for every position, advancing then dropping back. In the end it was Derby’s Jake Hoath who took the win from Kalgoorlie’s Kayne Dellar and Karratha’s Stevie O’Dowd in a race of the states.
Jace Kempton would steal the lead on the last lap from Shay Roberts to claim the win in heat four while in heat five Matt Hammond led early and set the fastest lap of the race before succumbing to a flat tyre, leaving defending WA Champion Damon Lyall to inherit the lead, racing away with the win and getting his campaign off to the best possible start.
The final heat of the opening round saw Ben Norman making the most out of his pole position start, racing straight into the lead. The fastest man in last night’s official practice, youngster Donny Davis, fought hard into second and closed the gap on Norman in the dying stages but was relegated two positions at the end of the race, leaving Ben the winner over brother Hayden, who had started from the back to finish second.
Round two kicked off with Jakob Doust the early leader before he was run down by Jamie Oldfield. With four laps complete a number of cars came together, Lucas Fry appearing to blow a tyre and leaving Lenny Bates, Ray Leonard and Josh Stewart nowhere to go, Stewart launching skyward and lucky to not roll. The race resumed, then with three to go Oldfield got a flat tyre, Doust also succumbing, leaving five cars for the final three laps and Shay Roberts the winner over Matt Hammond.
Heat eight saw Jamie Goodwin leading and holding off Jace Kempton who tried everything to get by, but couldn’t quite make the move, Goodwin able to get the win and in the process recording the fastest overall time for ten laps of the night.
Heat nine saw Peter Dowie lead early but after the demise of a number of drivers caused a restart, Blake Iwanow went straight to the outside on the restart and passed a multitude of cars, going three wide to take the lead. He went on to win over Northern Territorian visitor Jack Yates and Dowie.
The tenth heat saw cars three wide at the start, Trent Lyall coming out the best followed by Hayden Norman, the lead duo pulling away as they battled. Norman grabbed the lead on lap four and although there would be a number of stoppages across the remainder of the race, Norman went on to win ahead of Lyall.
Heat eleven took a while to get underway, but when it did, Donny Davis was the one setting the pace, recording a fine win over Esperance’s Zane Humphrys while heat twelve was much the same as eleven, taking a bit to get underway. Collie’s Cody Avins would move into the lead ahead of former state champion Barnewall and after fighting for a number of circulations, Barnewall would grab the lead on the seventh lap and even another stoppage wouldn’t stop him from claiming the win over Avins and Matt Lowe.
The first heat of the final round saw more stoppages, but it was Jamie Oldfield who, after suffering rack issues in heat one and other mechanical woes in his second race, moved into the lead ahead of Matt Hammond. The lead duo pulled away as well behind them was a battling pack of cars and the order remained unchanged.
Heat fourteen saw Barnewall in the lead, but the yellows were on after one lap with Daniel Flavel and Jack Yates hit the turn one wall heavily, both out of the race. Ben Norman made the most of the restart moving from fourth to second, but he didn’t have enough to get Barnewall, Jack becoming the first dual heat race winner as he defeated Norman and Goodwin.
Ray Leonard would lead much of heat fifteen, with Damon Lyall succumbing to a flat tyre and heading infield behind him after trying to work his way through the field. A restart would bunch the competitors back up once again, with Jace Kempton taking his chance to steal the lead, Trent Lyall also coming from the clouds into second.
Lyall then made a mistake which allowed Leonard back through for second and Craig Clayton into third, a great battle taking place until Clayton slowed suddenly, Lyall cannoning into the back of him and Clayton finding himself in the turn three wall with only two laps remaining, both cars out of the race.
As if this wasn’t enough, the race resumed, but only momentarily as Ray Leonard found himself drifting high coming out of turn two, clouting the concrete wall and rolling heavily down the back straight three times before landing on his wheels. He would emerge unhurt.
Eventually it would be Kempton claiming his second win of the evening, defeating Dowie and Aaron Doust in a fine performance.
Heat sixteen saw the entire field almost come undone coming onto the back straight the first time, then on the restart drivers lined up single file, causing another attempt at a start. Finally the race got underway with Linton Dickerson leading the rest away. Cars would drop away behind him and it looked like he was set to claim the win before he too suffered a flay tyre, allowing Jack McAuley by to go on and take the win in the dying stages.
The penultimate heat saw more cars drop out early but up front it was Jake Williams getting the jump on Brinley McGaffin to take the lead. At the halfway point McGaffin pulled alongside Williams and using the highline managed to grab the lead, while Briggs was also able to pass Williams for second before the chequers flew.
The final heat of the night saw Hayden Norman race away from pole position while behind him Cody Avins moved into second to lead a snarling pack of seven cars. The order would remain the same until with two laps to go when Stevie O’Dowd made his way past Avins for second, the order remaining unchanged from here.
With night one now in the books, Norman and Kempton officially lead the points, separated only by the fastest time while Jack Barnewall, Cody Avins and Jake Hoath round out the top five.
All drivers have one heat race remaining tomorrow prior to the all important finals, with the Grand Parade at 5.45pm and the racing starting in earnest at 6pm.
OVERALL POINTS AFTER NIGHT ONE
1. WA6 Hayden Norman 100
2. W55 Jace Kempton 100
3. WA16 Jack Barnewall 89
4. W31 Cody Avins 79
5. W29 Jake Hoath 72
6. W52 Shay Roberts 70
7. W66 Ben Norman 69
8. W12 Paul Briggs 69
9. W74 Lenny Bates 67
10. WX4 Blake Iwanow 66
11. W96 Jack McAuley 66
12. W616 Jamie Goodwin 64
13. W88 Peter Dowie 61
14. W9 Matt Hammond 59
15. W3 Donny Davis 58
16. W24 Jake Williams 56
17. W39 Zane Humphrys 55
18. W19 Stevie O’Dowd 55
19. W0 Jamie Oldfield 54
20. WA9 Kayne Dellar 54
21. WA4 Ethan Genev 53
22. W23 Matt Lowe 53
23. WA15 Wayne Thomson 51
24. WA88 Wade Mason 50
25. WA1 Damon Lyall 46
26. W35 Craig Clayton 46
27. W6 Brinley McGaffin 45
28. W411 Reece Jones 45
29. W73 Ray Clifton 44
30. W16 Aaron Doust 44
31. NT15 Jack Yates 42
32. WA3 Trent Lyall 41
33. W10 Damon Thomson 40
34. W94 Robert Dunbar 40
35. W30 Jamie Landrigan 39
36. W4 Dylan Curley 39
37. W18 Gary Leeson 39
38. W222 Joshua Ellis 36
39. W22 Jakob Doust 35
40. WX12 Ray Leonard 31
41. WA19 Josh Stewart 30
42. WA31 Tristan Stroet 29
43. WX15 Adam Power 29
44. W11 Matthew Iwanow 28
45. W99 James Hunt 28
46. W15 Daniel Flavel 26
47. W56 Ethan Cooper 24
48. W13 Thomas Pahl 24
49. W36 Joe Wilson 24
50. W82 Dale Roberts 23
51. W47 Colm O’Riordan 22
52. W100 Linton Dickerson 20
53. W25 Harry Wingfield 20
54. WA55 Paul O’Dwyer 20
55. NT92 Lucas Fry 19
56. W48 Jim Dixon 19
57. W89 Hunter Downs 18
58. WA47 Curtis Harris 17
59. W26 Ashton McClintock 17
60. W51 Justin Melhuish 16
61. W32 Ben Ferris 14
62. W44 Daniel Oreo 12
63. W78 Shayne Doust 9
64. WX19 Paul Joss 8
65. W95 Lachlan Dellar 3
