James McFadden (Video Highlights from Clay-Per-View)
Avalon Raceway
Lara, VIC, Aust.
President’s Cup
51 cars
The drivers were split into two qualifying groups. Group 1 went to heats one and two, and heats three and four were made up of Group 2. Marcus Dumesny (22nd car out to time) led Group 1 with a time of 12.387 seconds on the bullring. Jock Goodyer (15th car out) was second quick, followed by Carson Macedo (9th car out), Callum Williamson (26th) and Dylan Menz (20th). Lachlan McHugh (4th car out) led Group 2 and was quickest overall with a time of 12.086 secons. Parker Scott (8th car out) was second quick, followed by Justin Whittall (1st), Koby Wright (14th) and Randy Morgan (23rd). Ethan Wyllie and Jordyn Charge failed to get times in in Group 1. Andrew Priolo and Hunter Schuerenberg failed to get times in after getting into the turn one wall.
Heat one (started): 1. Carson Macedo WA60 (2) 2. Menz Q46 (3) 3. Daniel Pestka S27 (7) 4. Max Guilford NZ1 (5) / 5. Ryan Timms V25 (8) 6. Dumesny N47 (1) 7. Ian Madsen S97 (10) 8. Tim Hutchins T7 (6) 9. Brett Hobson NS96 (9) 10. Jeremy Kupsch V47 (12) 11. Stephen Spark V3 (11) 12. Jy Corbet NQ10 (4) / DNS – Ethan Wyllie T15
10-lap heats took the top four to the A. The top two went to the President’s Dash, and the second two to the “B” Dash. Macedo led the distance in this one as Dumesny was shuffled back to fifth. Timms would pass him for that spot on the last lap. Corbet retired early and was done for the night.
Heat two (started): 1. Goodyer T22 (1) 2. Kerry Madsen W95 (4) 3. Tate Frost T62 (6) 4. Brock Hallett Q5 (3) / 5. Tim Kaeding N88 (5) 6. Luke Storer S98 (10) 7. Lachlan Caunt N9 (7) 8. Michael Saller N56 (8) 9. Kaiden Manders W71 (11) 10. Peter Doukas V98 (9) 11. Williamson W3 (2) DNS – Adam Butler Q10, Jordyn Charge V60
Goodyer led the distance. Williamson was running second when he stopped with three to go. Hallett was able to inherit the final transfer, and hold off Kaeding.
Heat three (started): 1. McHugh V2 (1) 2. Morgan Q54 (3) 3. Whittall W21 (2) 4. Aaron Reutzel W17 (4) / 5. Brett Milburn V68 (5) 6. Chris Johns T9 (7) 7. Terry Rankin VA29 (8) 8. Hunter Schuerenberg V88 (13) 9. Chad Gardner T45 (9) 10. Steven Loader V10 (11) 11. Troy Hose V57 (12) 12. Cole Macedo USA40 (6) 13. Andrew Hughes V28 (10)
Hughes flipped on the first lap. He was uninjured. Reutzel got sideways on the second try and collected Cole Macedo, who was done for the night. Hose also retired early. McHugh and Morgan led the rest of the way.
Heat four (started): 1. Scott SA55 (1) 2. James McFadden A1 (5) 3. Bobby Daly V8 (4) 4. Kinser Claridge Q47 (10) / 5. Ryan Newton Q66 (3) 6. Daniel Sayre N16 (6) 7. Wright N78 (2) 8. Jake Smith V72 (9) 9. Dennis Jones V17 (7) 10. Andrew Priolo W8 (4) 11. Luke Thomas N15 (8) 12. Adam Alexander T16 (11)
Scott led Daly, Wright, Newton and McFadden early. McFadden jumped by Newton for the final transfer spot on lap two, and then passed Wright third on lap six. Alexander lost a wing panel at the point, bringing caution. Newton jumped by Wright for fourth, but Claridge bounced back late to pass him for the final transfer. McFadden took second from Daly on lap nine.
B Dash (started): 1. Daly (2) 2. Frost (3) / 3. Reutzel (5) 4. Pestka (4) 5. Whittall (1) 6. Guilford (7) 7. Claridge (8) 8. Hullett (6)
The 8-lapper took the top two to the back of the President’s Dash and the remainder filled the 11th through 16th spots in the A. Daly led Frost for the distance. Pestka grabbed fourth from Whittall on lap two.
President’s Dash (started): 1. Scott (2) 2. McHugh (1) 3. Goodyer (3) 4. Ca. Macedo (4) 5. McFadden (6) 6. Morgan (5) 7. K. Madsen (8) 8. Menz (7) 9. Daly (9) 10. Frost (10)
The 8-lapper set up the starting positions for the first four rows of the feature. It was mostly a single-file affair.
B main one (started): 1. Timms (1) 2. Kaeding (2) 3. Dumesny (3) 4. Storer (4) / 5. I. Madsen (5) 6. Caunt (6) 7. Hutchins (7) 8. Doukas (11) 9. Saller (8) 10. Spark (10) 11. Hobson (12) 12. Kupsch (9) DNS – Manders, Corbet, Williamson, Butler, Wyllie, Charge
Timms led throughout with Kaeding in tow. Dumesny took third from Storer and then passed Kaeding for second, only to have the veteran return the favor on the last lap.
B main two (started): 1. Newton (2) 2. Milburn (1) 3. Sayre (4) 4. Schuerenberg (7) / 5. Rankin (5) 6. Johns (3) 7. Wright (6) 8. Smith (8) 9. Priolo (12) 10. Thomas (13) 11. Gardner (9) 12. Hughes (14) 13. Loader (11) 14. Jones (10) DNS – Hose, Cole Macedo, Alexander
Milburn led Newton, Sayre and Rankin early. On lap three, Schuerenberg moved by Johns for fifth. On lap four, he took the final transfer from Rankin. Newton dogged Milburn the whole way and took the lead with three to go.
A main (started): 1. McFadden (5) 2. Carson Macedo (4) 3. K. Madsen (7) 4. Goodyer (3) 5. Frost (10) 6. Scott (1) 7. Pestka (12) 8. Hullett (16) 9. Reutzel (11) 10. Newton (18) 11. Guilford (14) 12. Sayre (22) 13. Timms (17) 14. Kaeding (19) 15. Morgan (6) 16. Dumesny (21) 17. Daly (9) 18. Milburn (20) 19. Menz (8) 20. Storer (23) 21. Claridge (15) 22. Schuerenberg (24) 23. McHugh (2) 24. Whittall (13)
The 35-lapper paid $12,000 to win and saw Scott lead early over McHugh, Goodyer, Macedo and McFadden. Four laps in, Whittall flipped. He was ok. McFadden passed Macedo for fourth on the restart, and then used the low side to pass Goodyer for the third spot on lap seven. McHugh slid by Scott to take the lead on lap eight. Macedo moved by Goodyer for fourth on lap nine. On lap ten, Claridge spun, bringing caution. McHugh led Scott, McFadden, Macedo and Goodyer back to green. McFadden made a power move in one and two to jump from third to first on the restart. McHugh got into the wall and exited with a flat right front tire 12 laps in. On lap 16, Timms spun. Schuerenberg smacked the wall in trying to avoid him and retired. Timms restarted at the tail. Macedo moved by Scott for second on that restart. K. Madsen shot from fifth to third. Frost entered the top five with a pass of Scott on lap 19 before Claridge stopped and brought the final yellow. McFadden led Macedo, K. Madsen, Goodyer and Frost back to green. Macedo challenged once in the late stages, but it was all McFadden, who had entered traffic with seven to go. Sayre was the hard-charger.