Mt Gambier star Steven Lines pulled out a stunning drive to hold off a gallant Matthew Reed in the fourth round of the Eureka Garages and Sheds Sprintcar Series, which doubled at the 41st running of the Fireball Derby last night (December 5) at Geelong’s Avalon Raceway.

On a track that produced an advantage on the highline, a number of drivers put their hand up to make an impact, including the consistent John Vogels. In three rounds, Vogels has finished third in each A-Main and the most recent result now has him as the new Eureka Garages and Sheds Series leader over Mike Van Bremen.

After qualifying heat races, Warrnambool’s Darren Mollenoyux was the Elf Racing Fuels top point scorer leading into the top six time trial ahead of Lines, Reed, Ballarat’s Rod Matthews and impressive youngsters Nick Lacey and Ashley Burke.

The only change in the starting grid for the 30-lap A-Main was that of Lines after a blistering 11.8 time rocketed him to pole position, with Mollenoyux starting from position two.

On the opening lap, Matthews, starting from position four spun and was all the way back to position 18 for the restart. A handful of laps later, Matthews again lost control and this time was sent infield, in a disappointing end to a promising night.

Lines was faultless on the starts, while Reed made his move immediately, getting by Mollenoyux for second on the opening lap.

Nine laps in and Vogels was making ground, racing from position 12 to fourth. With two yellow light stoppages in succession courtesy of Carl Ludeman and Chris Campbell spins, drama struck for Lacey.

While on the single file restart, Lacey was poised in third position, but driveline issues forced him to pull out of the race, robbing him of a potential podium result in his second full season of Sprintcar racing.

B-Main transferee Peter Milnes enjoyed the majority of the night racing wide open on the highline, until he slammed the wall and rolled over at half race distance in turn two.

In the last ten laps it became the Lines and Reed master class, with the two smart drivers peeling their way through lap traffic. Whenever Reed went for the winning move, Lines seemed to use a lap car to his advantage.

Right until the last lap Lines was pushed, something he enjoyed.

“I knew Matty Reed would be there, I did see him a couple of times up on the inside. I knew I’d be pushed all the way and it turned out to be a great race, which is what we are after.

“The car was really nice, it was a little slick on the bottom but you just try and move your way through the traffic. Sometimes they move for you, sometimes they don’t but everything fell into place for me, everything flowed,” Lines said.

Multiple Eureka Garages and Sheds Series champs Reed and Vogels were pleased to fill the podium, while Jamie Veal made a return to form with fourth ahead of front row starter Mollenoyux in fifth place. Round two victor Brett Milburn finished in sixth position, ahead of Mike Van Bremen who had a tough night.

Van Bremen failed to fire a shot in the heats and started the B-Main from position seven. He did enough to qualify for the A-Main and made the most of the opportunity to finish seventh, but has relinquished the series lead.

South Australian Glen Sutherland has never passed so many cars, starting from 15th in the B-Main to finish in sixth and qualify. From position 18 in the final, he made up ten positions to finish eighth in an incredible run. Domain Ramsay and Eddie Lumbar rounded out the top ten, while Burke, Phil Lock, Campbell and Chris Solomon all finished the journey.

The D&F Racing Products hard luck of the night went to Charles Hunter. The Bacchus Marsh driver, fourth on points leading into the round, failed to finish a heat race and started from 18th position in the B-Main. In a gutsy performance, Hunter raced himself into sixth position, only to drop out of the transfer position in the dieing stages.

Earlier in the night heat wins went to Mollenoyux, Lacey, Burke, Ramsay and Matthews.

The Eureka Garages and Sheds Series will return to Avalon Raceway for the fifth round on December 26.


Eureka Garages and Sheds Series contingency awards for round 2:

ELF RACING FUELS top point scorer – V52 Darren Mollenoyux
AMERICAN RACER TIRE random draw between position 6th and 16th – V26 Nick Lacey (16)
D&F RACING PRODUCTS hard luck of the night – V73 Charles Hunter
CASCADE SOLUTIONS FOR CLEANING 1st competitor to not transfer from the B-Main to A-Main – V44 Ron Dalton
SMILEY’S RACING PRODUCTS 1st place in B-Main – V83 Chris Solomon
JOHN SIDNEY RACING most cars passed in A-Main (end of series) cars passed on night – S20 Glen Sutherland (10) OVERALL – V73 Charles Hunter, V68 Brett Milburn, V6 Mike Van Bremen, V70 John Vogels (11)
HI ACE WINGS most B-Main wins (end of series) winner of B-Main – V83 Chris Solomon


Eureka Garages and Sheds Series – KTM Top 10 after round 4:
1st. John Vogels - 1117
2nd. Mike Van Bremen - 1085
3rd. Brett Milburn - 1054
4th. Jamie Veal - 976
5th. Eddie Lumbar - 947
6th. Domain Ramsay - 917
7th. Rod Matthews - 894
8th. Nick Lacey - 825
9th. Charles Hunter - 807
10th. Matthew Reed - 792

The Sprintcar Racing Association of Victoria thank the following
Eureka Garages and Sheds Sprintcar Series sponsors:
EUREKA GARAGES & SHEDS, KTM AUSTRALIA, CAMDEN NEON SIGNS, AMERICAN TIRE & RACING SERVICES, HI ACE WINGS, JOHN SIDNEY RACING, CASCADE SOLUTIONS FOR CLEANING, D&F RACING PRODUCTS, SMILEY’S RACING PRODUCTS, ELF RACING FUELS, COREY GIBSON PHOTOGRAPHY, MAXAM PRINTING, SPRINTCARWORLD, QUEENSLAND SPEEDWAY SPARES.

Eureka Garages and Sheds – www.eurekagarages.com.au
KTM Australia - www.ktm.com.au
SprintcarWorld – www.sprintcarworld.com.au
John Sidney Racing – www.johnsidneyracing.com.au
Camden Neon Signs – www.camdenneon.com.au
Corey Gibson Photography - www.gibsonphotography.com.au
ELF Racing Fuels – www.racefuels.com.au
Queensland Speedway Spares - Speedwayspares.com.au