By Dean Thompson, DMT Sports Media for Nyora Raceway Inc
NYORA Raceway pulled off the biggest speedway show in years with entertainment aimed at bringing new people into the venue to see monster trucks, rollover cars, a jet van, and fireworks.
Traditional speedway racing and a demolition derby added to the spectacle.
Nyora’s number one Dirt Modified race driver Daryl Hickson continued his winning ways, Victorian Standard
Saloon Champion Rhys Lansdown won the feature and three times state champion driver in the Unlimited Sedans, Warrick Taylor, won the feature for the class.
On the night, fans were thrilled by the stunt show with Clive Featherby and his team in monster trucks, rollover cars, and a jet powered van.
The stunts and fun had the crowd fully invested in the entertainment which was later topped off by a huge fireworks show.
The racing portion of the show saw the following results.
In throwback to many years of racing at Nyora, Hobson led the early laps in both the first and second heat before being overtaken, taking many back to when he was out front in most races against the likes of Brett Neylan, Travis Smith, Geoff Hurst, Bob Anderson, Murray Atkin, Colin Jones, and others, in the late eighties early nineties.
Hickson took the lead from Hobson and won heat one of the Dirt Modifieds ahead of Michael Ardley and Bendigo racer Paul Tindal.
Nyora and Hot Rod legend Lloyd Hobson was back behind the wheel of the family Dirt Modified normally driven by his son Todd and finished fourth.
Matt Reddecliffe picked up a win ahead of visiting racer Kevin Greene in the second heat, with Reddecliffe timing under the 15 second mark on one lap.
Reddecliffe backed up and won heat three, this time finishing in front of Hickson and Greene.
Results for heat four saw Hickson also double up with heat wins, locking in victory ahead of Tindal and Shane Ardley.
At the last Dirt Modified event at Nyora a 20-lap final ran flag to flag.
For the second show in succession the class did the same, with Hickson last time setting a new distance record and this time falling just four seconds short of that time.
Reddecliffe set the fastest lap in the feature; however Hickson finished around 80 metres ahead of him at the chequered flag with Michael Ardley in third, Greene next and Hobson in fifth spot.
There were plenty of local racers in the Standard Saloon action with Bunyip driver Mitch Blencowe winning heat one of the night with a five second margin back to Chris Miles and Jack Yeomans further back.
Coming back after a crash wrecked much of the front end on his race car, Mornington Peninsula based racer Ash Dean started with a win in his first heat race in front of Mark Miles and Jeff Blencowe.
Poowong’s Owen Cecil won heat three of the night in front of Andrew Miles and Brodie Robertson.
Victorian champion Rhys Lansdown, visiting from Wahgunyah on the Murray River, claimed victory ahead of Matt Leek and Mitch Blencowe in the fourth heat race before Owen Cecil’s younger brother Harry won the fifth heat race in front of Mark Miles and Mitch Blencowe.
Wrapping up the qualifying results, Chris Miles claimed a win in the sixth heat race ahead of Gus Argoon and Owen Cecil.
Standard Saloon feature action began with Catani’s Mark Miles leading early from Owen Cecil and Lansdown, with Lansdown overtaking Cecil on lap seven to move into second.
A move on Miles didn’t come until lap 13 of 15 and from there Lansdown created a little gap between himself and Miles to win, with Cecil in third, Chris Miles in fourth and Harry Cecil in the fifth spot.
With a Victorian title coming up at Nyora Raceway, the Unlimited Sedans got some laps in on the racetrack, with times for one lap getting close to the track record.
Nyora member Warrick Taylor, driving a car for Bendigo friend Peter Farley, claimed the first win of the night in heat one in front of Darren Forrest and Victorian champion Peter Cox.
Another Nyora member, Travis Ramsdale, won the second heat race by almost half a lap ahead of Cox and Taylor.
Showing that he is ready to defend his championship, Cox won the third and final qualifier in front of Daryl Nicolson from the nearby Drouin club, and Travis Ramsdale.
A 15-lap final finished the night off for the Unlimited Sedans.
Cox led the early laps with Travis Ramsdale in second before Taylor came through to the front.
Forrest and Ramsdale exchanged spots as Cox dropped out of the race and Forrest found himself in second before Ramsdale snatched the spot back.
The race finished with Taylor wheeling the big Late Model chassis car around consistently under 16 seconds, finishing two seconds ahead of Travis Ramsdale, Forrest, Cory Ramsdale and Gavin Ough.
Ending the night’s competition was the demolition derby.
The massive crowd were in full voice for the big event with a number of their local heroes among the entrants, including Batman in the Bat Mobile, the Stig, and others.
Taking the win was Jackson Basten a regular on the demolition derby circuit.