It was an action-packed night at the WTC Group Speedway on Saturday as Northwest Speedway Club Narrabri hosted their second race meeting of the 2023/24 season and their first of the calendar year.
There were 40 cars in action across five divisions as the meeting included SSA production sedans, RSA fender benders, RSA fast fours, RSA junior sedans and RSA street stockers.
Club officials predicted the crowd number was somewhere between 400 and 450, and they had plenty to cheer about during the night as there were several local drivers in action.
Narrabri junior sedans stars Wyatt Lawler and Hunter Smith continued their impressive form as they claimed the all stars and new stars feature race victories, respectively.
The night was especially memorable for Narrabri junior Olivia Shoobert. She placed third in the junior sedans new stars division, and three of her family members also placed third in other divisions. They included her cousin Tanisha Perrett in the fast fours, uncle Daniel Cronin in the fender benders and her second cousin Doug Squires in the street stockers.
It was also an event to remember for 10-year-old Narrabri new star Mya Keeler, who raced for the first time on her hometown track following her debut in Gunnedah last month. She earned the encouragement award on Saturday night.
Northwest Speedway Club Narrabri president Glen Braithwaite told The Courier that it was an entertaining event with brilliant racing as well as exceptional crowd behaviour.
“It was unbelievable,” Braithwaite said.
“Everything went to plan and we finished early. We didn’t have a great big car count, but we still managed to go pretty well.
“The standard and quality of the racing was hard and fast, and the track was fast and held together very well.
“Most of the racing was very good. There were a few little incidents, but they weren’t caused by anyone, they were just little racing incidents.
“I don’t know exactly how many people were there but it was a pretty reasonable crowd up there.
“We had 40 cars nominated, and the cars generally have two to three people with them. There might have been 400 people up there on the hill, so there was about 500 to 600 people there in total. It’s a very good event for the town.
“I’ve got to applaud the crowd too. It was unbelievable how they left the venue when everything was over. It was very clean up on the hill.”
Braithwaite also thanked his hard-working committee, who he said all chipped in to make the event a great success, and he thanked the drivers, volunteers and sponsors, who he said the club’s race nights could not go ahead without.
Podium results from the night are as follows:
Street stockers: First – Matt Cobb, second – Todd Keeler, third – Doug Squires.
Fender benders: First – Damon Neilson, second – Jye Pope, third – Daniel Cronin.
Four cylinders: First – Ed Newton, second – Michael Barton, third – Tanisha Perrett.
SSA production sedans: First – Jordan Biviano, second – Geoff Hayes, third – Brendon Hayes.
Junior all stars: First – Wyatt Lawler, second – Zac Walker.
Junior new stars: First – Hunter Smith, second – Clinton Hall, third – Olivia Shoobert.
Encouragement award – Mya Keeler.
All photos used in this story were taken by Dirt Track Angel Photography’s Wendy Goninon.
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