January 26, 2015 - Not rain delays or even the clock ticking past midnight and into the nation’s birthday could stop American driver Kyle Hirst winning Australia’s most prestigious speedway race, the Lucas Oil Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at Warrnambool.
A bumper crowd of over 10,000 people watched as Lucas Oil's Hirst dominated the A-main final, leading the 40-lap race from start to finish, and smashing the race record by more than a minute.
He beat three-time Classic winner Brooke Tatnell and a hard charging Grant Anderson to the line to claim the biggest win of his career — the flag falling at close to 2:00am on Monday morning.
“I thought I would get a win Speedweek, but to get this one, the Classic, is just unbelievable. It’s absolutely awesome — somebody pinch me!” Hirst said.
“The track was wide open and fast. It was tough to get through traffic, so I just had to pick cars off and try on top of them if they messed up.
“There’s more than 100 of Australia’s best cars and many of the world’s best drivers here and we came out on top — I’ve just won the Classic.”
Second-placed Tatnell he gave it his all in the final, but couldn’t close the gap to Hirst due to unsuitable track conditions.
“We gave it everything we had, and moved from sixth to second; which is not an easy feat on any racetrack,” Tatnell said.
“We had one of the best cars, if not the best car of the weekend, even if the result doesn’t show it.”
Sydney tearaway Ian Madsen challenged the Californian for the lead in mid-race but tagged the wall after getting offline. Madsen eventually finished fourth, one place ahead of his brother, Kerry.
The night was marred by a massive accident in the final heat, with South Australian Brad Keller flipping his car end-over-end.
Keller had to be cut from his car, delaying the event by over an hour, and reported lower back pain. He was transferred to Warrnambool hospital for precautionary scans.
Some of the sport’s biggest names failed to make the 24-car final, including defending champion Tim Kaeding, World Series champion James McFadden, and US stars Terry McCarl and Randy Hannagan.
Kaeding was not expected to race after being hospitalised following a nasty crash on Friday evening, but returned for the final night only to exit early in the D-main.
Current Australian champion, David Murcott started the final from pole but lasted just 10 laps in the due to mechanical issues — the winner of the Night Two final left heartbroken;
“It hurts so much because I want that Classic win so damn much,” Murcott said.
With the track at its capacity by 5:30pm Sunday evening, Premier Speedway officials locked the gates for the second year running — the three-day event attendance close to 30,000.
Attention for Australia’s leading teams now turns to the national Sprintcar title, which will be held at Bunbury Speedway in Western Australia on February 13-14.
