Kyle Hirst Wins The Classic!
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Premier Speedway
Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia
(Eric Arnold) California-native Kyle Hirst won the 43rd Lucas Oil Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic on Sunday night at Premier Speedway! Hirst led all 40 laps of the much-delayed event – rain showers pushed the green flag of the A-Main to nearly 2:00am local time Monday morning in Warrnambool.
The most significant rainfall came halfway through the first B-Main, delaying the event and making for a fast, narrow track by the end of the night. 2014 Knoxville Champion Ian Madsen challenged Hirst for the lead briefly, but made contact with the fence and fell to fourth at the checkered flag. Pole sitter David Murcott pulled into the infield with mechanical problems late in the race. Rounding out the top five were Aussies Brooke Tatnell, Grant Anderson, Ian Madsen, and Kerry Madsen. Daniel Pestka was the hard charger finishing 9th after starting 17th.
At the start of the event, the 106 car field was split into ten heat races. A passing point system was used and tallied to each respective qualifying night’s totals to determine the feature lineups. Heat race winners were Brad Sweet, Nick Lacey, Stephen Bell, Glen Saville, Corey McCullagh, Peter Milnes, Steven Lines, Lee Nash, Dylan Jenkins, and Jason Pryde. C-Main winners were Stephen Bell and Terry McCarl, with Daniel Pestka and Jamie Veal winning their respective B-Main's.
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.
Americans competing in The Classic this year were Kyle Hirst, Daryn Pittman, Randy Hannagan, Jac Haudenschild, Jason Sides, Lucas Wolfe, Christopher Bell, Terry McCarl, Brad Sweet, Danny Holtgraver, Tim Kaeding and Sheldon Haudenschild. Competing in the New Zealand qualifiers were Jonathan Allard and Kraig Kinser. All of these drivers are now eligible to enter the 19th Annual SPEED SPORT World Challenge.
Lucas Oil Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic Results -
A Main Results (started), 30 laps: 1. W17 Kyle Hirst (2), 2. W2 Brooke Tatnell (6), 3. V37 Grant Anderson (3), 4. T10 Ian Madsen (4), 5. N29 Kerry Madsen (5), 6. USA71 Jac Haudenschild (7), 7. USA9 Daryn Pittman (8), 8. Q7 Robbie Farr (12), 9. V88 Daniel Pestka (17), 10. NQ5 Daniel Reidy (10), 11. N38 Max Johnston (11), 12. V81 Lucas Wolfe (9), 13. USA99 Brad Sweet (14), 14. V35 Jamie Veal (18), 15. V77 Darren Mollenoyux (15), 16. USA21 Christopher Bell (19), 17. N11 Trevor Green (21), 18. S22 Chad Ely (23), 19. S63 Ryan Jones (13), 20. USA7 Jason Sides (24), 21. V5 Max Dumesney (20), 22. S81 Luke Dillon (16), 23. V3 Ian Loudon (22), 24. A1 David Murcott (1). Lap Leader: Kyle Hirst (1-30)
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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