Tatnell Wins Night One of The Classic!
Friday, January 23, 2015
Premier Speedway
Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia
(Eric Arnold) - Brooke Tatnell, the 2006 and 2013 Speed Sport Knoxville World Challenge winner, captured the win on night one of the 43rd Lucas Oil Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at Premier Speedway. Ian Madsen, the 2014 Knoxville Championship Cup Series champion, finished second. Madsen started on the pole and held the lead through lap nine until Tatnell slid by to win by a three second margin.
Halfway through the race, there was a heated battle for the third position between Robbie Farr and Darren Mollenoyux. Late in the race, 2012 Classic winner Ian Loudon daringly passed both of them, grabbing the last podium position. With Loudon in third place, the top three drivers were all Australian natives. Jamie Veal won the B main, and finished 5th from 17th place in the 30-lap, non-stop A main.
Robbie Farr set the pace for the night in qualifying with a lap of 10.961 on the ¼ mile oval, besting the field of 53 cars. The field was split into two rounds of heat races, with a passing point system used to determine the feature lineups. Each event also awards points for each team’s cumulative totals to determine the Championship feature lineup on Sunday night. Robbie Farr, Terry McCarl, Brooke Tatnell, Dan Pestka, Ian Madsen, Matt Dumesney, Danny Holtgraver, Darren Mollenoyux, Brendan Balcombe, and Trevor Green won heat races.
The highest finishing American on night one was Lucas Wolfe in 8th place. Other participating American drivers included Christopher Bell, Terry McCarl, Brad Sweet, Danny Holtgraver, and Tim Kaeding. Participation in the Classic qualified all drivers for the 19th Annual SPEED SPORT World Challenge at the 55th Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals on Friday, August 14.
Lucas Oil Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic Results - Night 1
Preliminary A Main Results (started), 30 laps: 1. W2 Brooke Tatnell (3), 2. T10 Ian Madsen (1), 3. V3 Ian Loudon (7), 4. V77 Darren Mollenoyux (8), 5. V35 Jamie Veal (17), 6. V88 Daniel Pestka (5), 7. Q7 Robbie Farr (6), 8. V81 Lucas Wolfe (10), 9. N11 Trevor Green (12), 10. V47 Tim Rankin (4), 11. USA21 Christopher Bell (15), 12. T22 Callum Zizek (2), 13. S97 Terry McCarl (9), 14. USA99 Brad Sweet (16), 15. N48 Jackson Delamont (11), 16. S19 Brad Keller (13), 17. Q36 Danny Holtgraver (19), 18. S22 Chad Ely (14), 19. V70 John Vogels (18), 20. V21 James Hennessey (20). Lap Leaders: Ian Madsen 1-9, Brooke Tatnell 10-30.
Night two and three of the Lucas Oil Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic will be available for pay-per-view online at www.thecushion.com beginning at 12:30am CST. The Classic is the third and final qualifying event for the 19th Annual SPEED SPORT Knoxville World Challenge during the 55th Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals. The first and second qualifying events were held in New Zealand in December at WXC Speedway in Western Springs, and Robertson Holden International Speedway in Palmerston North.
For more information on the Knoxville Raceway and the 19th Annual SPEED SPORT Knoxville World Challenge during the 55th Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals, visit www.knoxvilleraceway.com.
For information on SPEED SPORT magazine, visit www.nationalspeedsportnews.com.
For more news and results from the Lucas Oil Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic, visit:
Premier Speedway - http://www.premierspeedway.com.au/
Sprintcar World - http://www.sprintcarworld.com.au/
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