Narrabri speedway racing driver Hunter Smith is going from strength to strength in his debut season on the track, and on Saturday he claimed his maiden feature race victory at the Gunnedah Speedway.
The 14-year-old only lined up for the first time back in October in front of a home crowd in Narrabri, and he has improved rapidly at each racenight since as his confidence and skill both grow.
He currently competes in the junior sedans new stars division, which sees youngsters with less than two years’ experience race against one another.
Hunter placed second at a Gilgandra Speedway Club event towards the end of last year in November and he went one better on Saturday night when he earned the chequered flag and stood in the middle of the podium as the winner at the end of the night.
There were 11 new stars drivers in action at the Gunnedah event.
Hunter placed second in his first heat and then prevailed in heats one and two before taking out the feature race.
The heats were eight laps long and then the feature was contested across 12 laps.
The Narrabri boy told The Courier he was enjoying his new sport and was pleased with his maiden feature race victory on Saturday.
“It’s lots of fun and it’s very community-based,” he said.
“With the spectators and in the pits, it’s all about friends and family.
“It felt very good (in Gunnedah on Saturday night), especially getting to carry the chequered flag around the track.”
Saturday night’s event in Gunnedah was a significant one as a huge crowd rolled in to watch an action-packed lineup that included the AMCA NSW Title, which was taken out by Queenslander Steve Potts.
Also among the winners at the event was Narrabri’s Wyatt Lawler, who won junior sedans all stars division. Wyatt’s father Scott Lawler placed second in the four-cylinder sedans division, and Trent Keeler took out second place in the street stockers.
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