Gartner Grabs Dubbo Win Rnd 4 NSSS

05/01/09…NASR/SSA Media Release

In front of a bumper crowd last night (Saturday, January 3) at Dubbo’s Morris Park Speedway, Dave Gartner stormed to victory in round four of the 2008/2009 Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series.  Having qualified his Speedway Autos Pontiac on the outside front row alongside Tasmania’s Brad Smith, Gartner shot to the lead at the second attempt to start the race and was never headed, despite plenty of pressure from several challengers at various stages of the race.

Completing a South Australian quinella, Shane Best advanced from position five on the grid to clinch second spot, moving into the runner-up position on lap 16 and hounding Gartner through the closing stages of the race following a final restart with 10 laps remaining.

Defending champion Michael Doblo consolidated his bid for a second title, advancing from position 10 to finish third ahead of Matt Pascoe, who stormed into the lead from the second row at the first attempt to get the race underway, only to have his efforts negated when a Jack Childs spin in turn two forced a restart.  Pascoe ultimately annexed a fourth-place finish ahead of Jarrod Harper, in another of his typical late charges. After running in second spot throughout the early stages of the race, Brad Smith was banished to the rear of the field following a clash with a lapped car, ultimately salvaging sixth overall in his Little Transport Pontiac GTO.

Michael Hickey picked up the Shock Doctor Lucky Sevens Award, while Tony Barklimore was very impressive in bringing his Parkes Toyota Camry home eighth despite completing 34 laps with a flat left front tyre.  Lismore’s Tania Smith and local ace Darrell McKeown rounded out the top ten, with Colin Hockley the only other driver to go the distance.

New South Wales champion Wayne Brims retired with engine failure just eight laps from home whilst running in fifth spot and Michael Nicola was another who looked set to continue his strong run of results before misfortune intervened.  After starting his National Warranty Company Pontiac on the second row, Nicola made an early exit when he slammed the back straight wall on lap two.

Series leader Darren Kane was an early casualty, an engine breakage forcing him out during the second round of heats, although he still maintains a narrow points advantage over Brims and Best, who sit equal second in the championship standings.

Lachlan Onley also failed to take his place in the feature race field after an impressive heat win earlier in the night, while Ron Pyne experienced a painful end to his evening, being transported to hospital with a serious leg injury after a piece of debris punctured the floor of his Auto One Pontiac.

On a lightning fast multi-lane race track that produced some Super Sedan racing of the highest quality – none better than the superb scrap for the lead between Best and Wayne Brims in the final preliminary – the first ever NSSS visit to Dubbo proved an overwhelming success.         

Heat winners: Dave Gartner x 2, Brad Smith x 2, Matt Pascoe, Shane Best, Michael Nicola, Lachlan Onley, Jarrod Harper

Feature Race: 1. Dave Gartner, 2. Shane Best, 3. Michael Doblo, 4. Matt Pascoe, 5. Jarrod Harper, 6. Brad Smith, 7. Michael Hickey, 8. Tony Barklimore, 9. Tania Smith, 10. Darrell McKeown, 11. Colin Hockley, DNF – Wayne Brims, Frank Armstrong, Chris Bussey, Ron Bergmeier, Michael Nicola, Jack Childs, Bill Miller

Contingency Winners

Shock Doctor Lucky Sevens
Michael Hickey

Oval Express Best Presented Car and Crew
Chris Bussey

Championship standings (top ten) after four of ten rounds: Darren Kane 1790, Wayne Brims 1688, Shane Best 1688, Michael Doblo 1629, Michael Nicola 1541, Jarrod Harper 1497, Matt Pascoe 1459, Dave Gartner 1353, Michael Hickey 1037, Bill Miller 1010

The 2008/2009 Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series is proudly supported by the following sponsors:
Carline Mufflers, Bergmeier Engineering, American Racer Tyres, Shock Doctor, Oval Express Magazine, Art by Mickey, APCO Warrnambool, Comfort Inn and Suites Robertson Gardens, Rocky Resort Motor Inn, Comfort Inn on Raglan, National Association of Speedway Racing (NASR), Speedway Sedans Australia (ASCF