Last night at Supercheap Auto Archerfield Speedway, Round 12 of the KRE Sprintcar Series hit a rather wet, rough and hooky track, with 20 cars set to do battle. It may have been the smallest field of Sprintcars seen at the Brisbane venue for a number of years, but it was strong star-studded field and the competition all night was some of the fiercest of the season. Bryan Mann started the night with a strong, fast car, and set quickest time in qualifying, while Andrew Scheuerle had a couple of solid heat runs and led the points chase entering the Dash. The pre-Dash draw saw Scheuerle invert the top six qualifiers for the event and from the rear of the six-car dash field, Scheuerle found it difficult to move forward. Ben Hilder and Mark Pholi shared the front row for the start of the Dash and while Hilder completely dominated the Dash, it was Pholi who took charge in the A-Main. Pholi had a truly magnificent run in the Darra Mechanical #14 racer and lead the opening laps of the A-Main event. Victorian Jamie Veal stole the lead and looked to have the race well under control until lapped traffic came into play and a moments hesitation from Veal was all the invitation Pholi needed to slip straight back into the race lead. Mark Pholi, who has previously only won a Winter Series round, went on to take his first open competition win, with Jamie Veal and Luke Oldfield rounding out the podium. Andrew Scheuerle and Bryan Mann completed the top five.

Four qualifying groups hit the track with Bryan Mann in the first group of hard chargers setting quick time, a blistering 11.616 seconds. Mann proved too quick for his rivals, with Jamie Veal, the second quickest of the qualifying cars, 0.187 seconds slower with an 11.803 second lap. Danny Reidy was back trackside last night after devastating engine dramas a fortnight ago that cost him dearly in the points battle, and was in fine form ready to try to make up lost ground. Reidy was third quickest overall in qualifying, stopping the clock at 11.814 seconds only a fraction slower than Veal. Mark Pholi has really improved in his qualifying runs lately and last night was fourth at the end of the qualifying sessions, setting himself up beautifully for a night he and the entire team won’t soon forget. Andrew Scheuerle completed the fastest five of the qualifying session. Brad Ayers had a very solid run to qualify in sixth and was the last car in the 11-second bracket, while Kevin Titman, Darren Jensen and Ben Hilder all missed the top ten. Steven White and Todd Wanless both made their return to Sprintcar competition, qualifying in 11th and 15th respectively. Unfortunately things didn’t quite run smoothly for Melissa Boyes though and almost a lap after setting the quickest time of her qualifying group, Boyes drifted too high in turn three and slammed the wall and tipped the #8 racer over. Melissa walked away from the crash but would unfortunately take no further part in the nights competition.

Heat one hit the track with Anthony Lambert from pole position and Darren Jensen alongside. Jensen got a brilliant start and quickly settled into an unassailable lead while the battle really heated up behind him. Lambert settled into second but immediately came under fire from a very hard charging Mick Sauer. Sauer had Kevin Titman on his tail as well, until Luke Oldfield joined the battle by the end of the first lap, with Titman now on the defensive as Oldfield ran the high side beautifully. Titman and Oldfield had a breath-taking battle, with Andrew Scheuerle close behind and ready to strike, until Titman managed to pull away and little and put the pressure on Mick Sauer leaving Oldfield and Scheuerle to fight amongst themselves. Oldfield and Scheuerle exchanged positions several times as they gradually closed the gap to the battle in front, while at the rear of the field Mark Pholi and Bryan Mann were embroiled in their own battle. By the time the race was drawing to a close, Jensen was way out in front, leading by about half a lap, but the field behind him was like a freight train with less than one second separating the next five cars. Darren Jensen went on to take the win with Luke Oldfield just managing to steal second from Mick Sauer as they drag raced side-by-side across the line, second and third separated by only one hundredth of a second. Anthony Lambert, Andrew Scheuerle and Kevin Titman followed them across the line in quick succession, with Mark Pholi, Bryan Mann and James Grady rounding out the finishers.

Todd Wanless, this weekend driving the Q67 racer of Paul Morris, started heat two from pole position with young Ben Hilder alongside. It was a side-by-side drag-race into turn one for the leading duo, with Wanless leading the way through turn one, but when Wanless ran a little wide in turn two Hilder seized the opportunity and quickly slipped into the race lead. Wanless tried to fight back but quickly found himself under pressure from Steven White, with both Wanless and White having sensational runs in their first competitive drives back behind the wheel of the Sprintcar. As Wanless managed to open a margin of several car lengths over White, White inturn pulled away from the rest of the field, leaving Brent Kratzmann, Jamie Veal, Jamie Bricknell and Danny Reidy to fight over mid-field positions. Ben Hilder went on to take the win with Todd Wanless a comfortable second and Steven White in third. Brent Kratzmann and Jamie Veal crossed the line side-by-side in a nail-biting finish with only the transponder results able to say who had managed to cross the line in fourth. It was one of the closest ever finishes in a race situation with just one thousandth of a second (0.001) separating the pair, with Kratzmann officially fourth ahead of Bricknell, Jamie Veal, Danny Reidy, Brad Ayers, and Joel Millar. Tony Michell did not start the event.

With the smaller than normal car count there were two rounds of two heats, with heat three being next up. This time it was Anthony Lambert and Ben Hilder who shared the front row with Hilder again getting a brilliant start and quickly securing the race lead. Darren Jensen quickly followed Hilder on the high line, moving into second by the end of the first corner, while Steven White came under fire from both Andrew Scheuerle and Mick Sauer. Scheuerle managed to get past White on the high side, while White and Sauer had a close battle for a few corners with neither holding back. White soon managed to open a small margin over Sauer and spent the rest of the race chasing down Scheuerle. Hilder was very comfortable in the race lead but was quickly approaching lapped traffic. Jensen, Scheuerle and White were quickly closing the gap and when Jensen made a small mistake in the final corner of the race Scheuerle was quick to take advantage and steal second only moments before the chequered flag fell. Ben Hilder took the win, his second heat race victory of the night, with Andrew Scheuerle across the line in second with Darren Jensen managing to hang on to finish third. Steven White had another solid race to come home in fourth and led Mick Sauer, Danny Reidy, Jamie Veal, James Grady and Anthony Lambert across the line.

The fourth and final heat event of the night saw Kevin Titman and Todd Wanless share the front row for the start with Wanless initially securing the lead. The race was brought under caution though and Wanless was relegated to the second row for the restart after being deemed to have jumped the initial start. This gave Brad Ayers a front row start alongside Titman, with Titman getting the jump when the lights went green. Ayers settled into second but it was not long before Todd Wanless came through to steal second while further back in the field Brent Kratzmann, Bryan Mann, Jamie Bricknell and Luke Oldfield were putting on show. Mann ran high into turn three, allowing Bricknell the chance to dive underneath, but unfortunately for Bricknell he couldn’t quite get the car through turn four on the ideal line and both Mann and Oldfield were able to duck underneath. Mann set about chasing down Kratzmann but got it all wrong coming out of turn two and let both Oldfield and Bricknell through. Bricknell struggled in turn four for a few laps, giving Oldfield the chance to open a comfortable margin and close in on the tail tanks of Brent Kratzmann and Mark Pholi. Kratzmann and Oldfield had a thrilling battle for the final few laps of the race, Oldfield trying everything to find a way past and Kratzmann putting in a brilliant drive, both drivers showing true professionalism as they put on a breath-taking show. Kevin Titman went on to take the win ahead of Todd Wanless, Brad Ayers, Mark Pholi, Brent Kratzmann, Luke Oldfield, Jamie Bricknell, Bryan Mann and Joel Millar.

Andrew Scheuerle led the points going into the Dash event but inverted the top six in the pre-Dash random draw, handing front row starts to Mark Pholi and Ben Hilder, both of whom are very good from the front. Hilder got a brilliant start in the Dash and was untouchable out in front while Pholi settled into second and the battle over third heated up behind him. Danny Reidy and Jamie Veal ran wheel-to-wheel for the entire opening lap before Veal was able to pull in front and open a small margin over his rival. By the end of the second lap Reidy had Luke Oldfield on his tail, putting all sorts of pressure on as he searched for a way past. Reidy and Oldfield had a close, clean and professional battle for a couple of laps before Reidy was able to pull just a fraction in front and create a small but comfortable margin. Ben Hilder went on to take the win with Mark Pholi a strong second and Jamie Veal, Danny Reidy, Luke Oldfield and Andrew Scheuerle rounding out the finishers.

With both Melissa Boyes and Tony Michell out of the night’s competition and the field of 20 cars reduced to just 18, there was no need for a B-Main and eighteen cars took to the track for a frantic A-Main event. Ben Hilder and Mark Pholi shared the front row and while Hilder stumbled on the start, a moments hesitation that cost him several positions in the first half lap, Pholi got a brilliant start and was a clear and strong leader by the second corner of the race. Jamie Veal got a great start out of position three and was quick to switch to the high side to get around Hilder when the lights went green. Danny Reidy soon followed Veal and made his way into third by the time the race was just half a lap old. Mid-field chaos unfolded as the field tried to settle into position, with Mick Sauer, Darren Jensen, Jamie Bricknell and Kevin Titman all having a tough time, and very fierce competition through turn two, with Todd Wanless, Steven White and Brent Kratzmann close behind. Titman, Bricknell, Wanless and White had a great battle in the opening laps of the race, with Wanless trying to find a way past on the inside of Bricknell. When both Bricknell and Wanless ran a fraction too wide in turn four, White made his move, managing to get past Wanless and attempting to relegate Bricknell a position further back as well. Bricknell fought back hard on the high line though and managed to maintain his position until a series of small mistakes opened the door for White, then Wanless, to slip through. Its hard to believe it was only three laps into the race when Brad Ayers slowed to a stop in turn two, the power-steering having gone in the NQ11 racer, and brought the race under caution.

Mark Pholi led the restart with Jamie Veal and Danny Reidy right on his tail. Wanless, White and Bricknell resumed their battle mid-field, while closer to the front Kevin Titman and Darren Jensen exchanged positions several times and young guns Luke Oldfield and Ben Hilder held nothing back in a spectacular duel that kept the crowd entertained. Pholi was commanding out in front, and while he made several small mistakes, easy to do in the difficult track conditions, he was quick to correct and remained focused on the task at hand and cool under pressure. Lapped traffic proved challenging for some of the leaders and Veal almost managed to secure the lead when Pholi made a mistake in turn two. But Pholi was not going to let anyone steal the lead without a fight and came back strong to maintain his position. Veal did eventually manage to get past and secure the lead, but the race was a long way from over and Pholi was most certainly not out of contention, with a little local knowledge and experience on his side. Meanwhile Mick Sauer, Todd Wanless, Jamie Bricknell, Darren Jensen, Steven White and Brent Kratzmann were all boxed in behind the lapped cars of James Grady and Joel Millar, and with race leader Jamie Veal closing in fast things were getting pretty hectic mid-field. When Grady spun in turn four and brought the race under caution, the restart that followed gave Veal the clear track he needed.

Jamie Veal led the restart from Mark Pholi, Luke Oldfield, Andrew Scheuerle and Danny Reidy with ten laps left to run. Veal was on a mission and blasted away from the rest of the field when the lights went green, but as he edged closer to lapped traffic, Pholi closed the gap and when Veal got caught up with a lapped car, Pholi didn’t hesitate and in a perfectly timed passing move, stole the lead from the V35 racer. With three laps left to run the race was brought to an abrupt stop when Anthony Lambert flipped the Q90 racer in turn one. Lambert walked away from the wreck but his night of competition was over.

Mark Pholi led the restart with only three laps to run and hard chargers Veal, Oldfield Scheuerle and Reidy right behind him. But Pholi is remarkable with clear track in front of him and last night was not going to let anything, or anyone, get in his way when so close to victory. Pholi was unstoppable and went on to take the win, a hard fought and well-deserved maiden KRE Series victory with Jamie Veal and Luke Oldfield joining him on the podium. Andrew Scheuerle finished an ever-consistent fourth with Bryan Mann crossing the line in fifth. Danny Reidy had a solid run to finish sixth ahead of Kevin Titman and Ben Hilder, while Todd Wanless eventually managed to get the better of Bricknell and White to come home in ninth. Jamie Bricknell, Steven White, Darren Jensen, Mick Sauer and Joel Millar rounded out the finishers. Anthony Lambert, Brent Kratzmann, James Grady and Brad Ayers all failed to finish the event.

Sprintcars Queensland will return to Supercheap Auto Archerfield Speedway next Saturday night, 5th April 2014, for Round 13 of the KRE Sprintcar Series. We will be joined by some of the biggest names in Sprintcar racing in Australia when James McFadden, Robbie Farr, David Murcott join Jamie Veal and the Brisbane locals to put on a thrilling show that will be sure to keep the whole family entertained. The list of potential winners for next weekends show is almost the entire nomination list, with each driver more than capable of getting the job done if a little luck is on their side. Get yourself trackside at SuperCheap Auto Archerfield Speedway next Saturday night and see all the action for yourself, cheer on your favourite drivers, and pop on down the pit area after the racing has concluded and say hello. See you all trackside next weekend and from everyone at Sprintcars Queensland, Congratulations to Mark Pholi and the Spence Racing team on their win last night.