Murcott Wins Night Two at The Classic!
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Premier Speedway
Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia
(Eric Arnold) - David Murcott, the reigning Australian National Champion, was victorious on night two of the 43rd Lucas Oil Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at Premier Speedway. Murcott led all 30 laps of the Oval Express Australian American Challenge feature event, and won with a narrow margin of 0.468 seconds over runner-up Kerry Madsen.
The A-Main was filled with action. Steven Lines transferred from the B-Main and was working his way through the field. On lap two, his right rear tire went down after making contact with Tim Hutchins, ending their race. On lap 21, Luke Dillon was challenging Murcott for the lead when Ryan Jones crashed in turn four directly in front of the leaders. Murcott was able to escape, splitting the crashing car of Jones and the concrete fence, while Dillon crashed into Jones. Third place running Jac Haudenschild was involved in the crash as well.
Murcott led Kerry Madsen and Daryn Pittman to the green flag on the restart, and the drivers took that order on the podium as well. The name David Murcott may sound familiar to Knoxville Raceway fans as he was the driver of the KIDD program #20 car in 2002.
Daryn Pittman set quick time in qualifying with a lap of 10.536 on the ¼ mile oval, besting the field of 53 entries. 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. Daryn Pittman, David Murcott, Kyle Hirst, Kerry Madsen, Danny Reidy, Jack Lee, Terry Kelly, Brent Aprile, Dennis Jones, and Brett Milburn won heat races on Saturday night.
The highest finishing American on night two was Daryn Pittman, finishing third. Other Americans competing were Kyle Hirst, Randy Hannagan, Jac Haudenschild, Jason Sides, and Sheldon Haudenschild, making them eligible 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 2
Preliminary A Main Results (started), 30 laps: 1. A1 David Murcott (1), 2. N29 Kerry Madsen (1), 3. USA9 Daryn Pittman (6), 4. W17 Kyle Hirst (4), 5. NQ5 Danny Reidy (8), 6. N38 Max Johnston (13), 7. V37 Grant Anderson (7), 8. V25 Jack Lee (10), 9. N93 Sam Walsh (17), 10. V5 Max Dumesney (12), 11. USA55 Randy Hannagan (20), 12. V67 Luke Walker (15), 13. NQ42 Brent Aprile (19), 14. USA71 Jac Haudenschild (2), 15. S81 Luke Dillon (4), 16. S63 Ryan Jones (9), 17. T7 Tim Hutchins (14), 18. W3 Steven Lines (18), 19. USA7 Jason Sides (11), 20. V36 Tim Van Ginneken (16). Lap Leader: David Murcott 1-30.
The third and final night of the Lucas Oil Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic will be available Sunday morning for pay-per-view online at http://www.thecushion.com beginning at 12:30am CST. All cars will compete in one more round of heat races before the feature lineups are set.
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 its 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 on 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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