Narrabri speedway sensation Scott Connole has claimed his second NSW Formula 500 series after being named the champion at the division’s recent state presentation night, which was held in Singleton.
The series was spread across five rounds this season, all of which were contested in 2022.
Connole accumulated the most points during those five rounds, with Cameron Jewel placing second and Kenny Norman placing third.
Following a successful go-karting journey, Connole debuted in the Formula 500 racing arena in 2016 and has since gone from strength to strength.
He won his first NSW Series crown back in the 2018-19 season and then looked set to claim another in the 2019-20 campaign before the COVID pandemic ended that season early.
The Narrabri man was then runner-up in the series last season.
After being edged out by Kurri racer Errin Lambert for top spot, Connole told The Courier he was determined to win the series again in 2022.
It was a sweet feeling when his name was called out in front of his peers at the annual awards presentation.
“We are pretty happy with the result, obviously,” Connole said.
“We’ve worked hard this year, and we changed a lot of things on the car, and that seemed to work for us.
“We set the goal that we were going to win the state series, and we’ve come away with it.”
The series victory was not the only prize that Connole brought home from Singleton. He was also awarded best-presented car over the series and best-presented driver and pit crew alongside his father-in-law Graeme Baxter at the presentation night.
It was the third consecutive season that Connole and Baxter had claimed that honour, and the driver said that he could not thank his father-in-law enough for his contributions to the success of Connole Racing.
“Those awards are voted by our peers, so for them to recognise the effort we put in not only on the track but off it is a feather in the cap, it’s good,” he said.
“It’s three years in a row now we’ve won the best-presented driver and pit crew.
“There’s a lot of people behind the scene who contribute to that, from graphic designers to sticker people to working with clothing people. It’s a big team effort to pull it off.
“I’ve been with Graeme for 20 years now. He’s always been there on the spanners and we just both know what works for me.
“In the early days, in the go-karting days, we were listening to a lot of people on setup, which didn’t work for my driving style. Graeme took charge, and we did it our way. He’s been on the spanners ever since. Like I said, he knows what works for me.
“It’s always good to know he’s on the spanners. He does a thorough job and I wouldn’t be accepting these awards without him in my corner. In 20 years I’ve never had any failure with the car due to mechanical issues.”
The 44-year-old acknowledged he is becoming one of the senior drivers in the division but declared that he would be going around for at least one more year.
“This year was pretty tough. We had a couple of juniors graduate into the senior ranks, and straight out of the box they were pretty quick,” Connole said.
“We had a few good tussles with them.
“Next year it’s looking like another couple of quick juniors are coming up. I’m turning into one of the old men, but we’re still holding our own so we’ll keep going around.”
Connole also thanked his loyal and supportive sponsors, who he said had played a key role in his success not only this season but during his entire journey on the track.
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