Since winning his maiden feature race at Horsham’s Blue Ribbon Raceway in January, South Australian Dylan Jenkin has become a new driver and showed all of his potential by dominating the 30-lap A-Main event in the eighth round of the Eureka Garages and Sheds Series last night (February 27) at Hamilton’s Western Speedway.

Jenkin made his presence felt in the top six time trial when he qualified fourth highest on points to set quick time on a racy Western Speedway in cool conditions. Mt Gambier round winner Brett Milburn also made his move, being the sixth qualifier after heats to set the second fastest time to start on the front row alongside Jenkin.

Victorian youngster Ashley Bourke was well poised after the qualifying races, setting the third fastest time, while Ryan Davis the second highest qualifier was the fourth fastest. Impressive heat results to South Australian Glen Sutherland earned him the right to be the Elf Racing Fuels top point scorer and he set the fifth quickest time to start alongside Charles Hunter in the top six for the 30-lap final.

Early in the final there were a handful of restarts, with B-Main transferees Eddie Lumbar, Simon Van Ginnekin and Darren Russell all bringing on the yellow light. During this period, Jenkin enjoyed the regular clear air to continue leading Milburn and Bourke.

Second placed Milburn looked comfortable and was itching for lap traffic to play a role, but a minor error on the back straight when he tagged the wall ended his night when well positioned.

This elevated Bourke to second place, while Davis and Sutherland were having an exciting dual for the last podium position. Sutherland squeezed past Davis late in the race and claimed third, while Bourke finished in a career best second behind the now two time A-Main winner Jenkin.

Sutherland was pleased to make the podium, but was the first to admit his time in the top six time trial was not ideal: “The car was set up awesome for the final, however I stuffed up in time trials after being top point scorer which put me in fifth but I’m stoked to fight back and be on the podium.”

A career best result had Bourke grinning when he accepted the trophy and donned the Eureka Garages and Sheds cap.

“We’ve had not a bad couple of weeks and to finish one spot ahead of where we started is good. As long as we can continue to get the right setup on the car hopefully we can get some more good results throughout March,” said Bourke.

Jenkin and his crew started celebrations on the infield, with Jenkin admitted these recent A-Main victories will give him momentum for the rest of the season.

“We’ve waited five years to get our first one and now to get our second win a month later is sensational. After the last win we got some momentum with the rest of our meetings so hopefully we can build on this win going into the end of the season,” said Jenkin.

Entering the KTM top ten battle is Davis after finished in fourth place ahead of Mike Van Bremen. ‘The Flying Dutchman’ was one of the main movers racing from position ten to fifth. Ballarat’s Rod Mathews also passed cars, starting 12th and finished in sixth place ahead of Domain Ramsay, Daniel Pestka, B-Main transferee Jamie Veal who made up eight positions and Brett Smith rounded out the top ten.

Key players in the Eureka Series Charles Hunter finished 11th ahead of series leader John Vogels who came from the B-Main. The result still has Vogels leading the series lead by 113 points. Carl Ludeman and Darren Russell were the remaining drivers to finish.

Prior to the A-Main there was plenty of drama, with Warrnambool’s Tim Morse rolling over at the completion of the B-Main when he finished in a transfer position for the final. This was Morse’s second roll over of the night, earning him the D&F Racing Poducts hard luck of the night award. Youngster Nick Lacey also had a heavy crash in turn one and two in heat racing, ending his night.

Heat races were won by Smith, Hunter, Matthews, Jenkin, Davis and Sutherland.

This weekend the Eureka Garages and Sheds Series will be at its best with two nights of racing at Simpson Speedway on Saturday March 6 and Avalon Raceway Sunday March 7 for the Great Southern Showdown.

Eureka Garages and Sheds Series contingency awards for round 8:
ELF RACING FUELS top point scorer – S20 Glen Sutherland
AMERICAN RACER TIRE random draw between position 6th and 16th – V70 John Vogels (12th)
D&F RACING PRODUCTS hard luck of the night – V72 Tim Morse
CASCADE SOLUTIONS FOR CLEANING 1st competitor not to transfer from B to A-Main – V51 Peter Milnes
SMILEY’S RACING PRODUCTS 1st place in B-Main – V70 John Vogels
JOHN SIDNEY RACING most cars passed in A-Main (end of series) cars passed on night V35 Jamie Veal (8) – OVERALL – Jamie Veal 24 cars
HI ACE WINGS end of series B Main wins, winner on night – V70 John Vogels

Eureka Garages and Sheds Series – KTM Top 10 after round 8:
1st. John Vogels - 2512
2nd. Jamie Veal - 2399
3rd. Mike Van Bremen - 2391
4th. Domain Ramsay 2268
5th. Brett Milburn - 2154
6th. Rod Matthews - 2079
7th. Charles Hunter - 1981
8th. Eddie Lumbar - 1711
9th. Nick Lacey - 1669
10th. Ryan Davis - 1583

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
QSS – www.speedwayspares.com.au