Clayden takes West Coast Rewind Wingless Classic

August 10 - After a tough day of racing by the 10 cars in attendance, The D-Train Daryl Clayden has taken out the 2009 West Coast Rewind Wingless Sprints Classic at Ellenbrook Speedway. Following a consistent performance throughout the 3 heat races, Clayden started the 20 lap feature race off the pole, and despite the best efforts of eventual runner up, Liam Dowling, went on to score the victory. Kevin Clayden bought the #9 home in 3rd to round out the podium, with Trevor Jolly in 4th, and Phil Moylan, Nikki Nash and Merv Lowther rounding out the finishers.

A sunny sky welcomed everyone to Ellenbrook on Sunday morning, a well received development after recent rain outs, and a forecast earlier in the week that threatened a repeat. 8 cars greeted the frst green flag of the day after Merv Lowther pulled his Sinsations Promotions Eagle to the infield and was joined by the Jolly Good Auto Electrics #18 of Trevor Jolly, with Glenn Sharpe leading the first heat away in the Sharpe Racing #17. Dowling soon worked the Consolidated Diesels #91 to the front and set about building a lead, as Clayden worked his way to the front of the pack and set out after him. Trevor Reynolds also passed Sharpe before the chequered flag, bringing the ATR Fabrication #10 home third in his first outing. Sharpe came home 4th, followed by Clayden (K), Nash and Moylan.     

The second heat got off to a flyer, literally for Sharpe. As the field raced into the first turn, Reynolds fell victim to the deepening rut in turns 1 and 2, and was moved offline. In attempting to correct the path of the ATR Chassis, Reynolds found himself sideways in front of the tightly packed field. Lowther hit the spinning Reynolds, and in the melee that ensued, Sharpe launched up and over one of the stricken cars at the scene. Also caught up in the incident was the #46 of Justin Clayden and the Jolly Good Auto Electrics #18. Doing a wonderful job of avoiding adding another car to the mix up was Nash, who courtesy of a rear of field start was last onto the scene and pulled up just in time to see the restart unscathed.

At the re-run it was once again Dowling who worked his way to the front, and went on to score once again over the D-Train in the #45, with Jolly 3rd. With 4 cars on the infield after the first turn incident, the finishers were rounded out by Clayden (K), Moylan and Nash. The pits became a hive of activity as attention turned to the cars involved in the Heat 2 pile up, with a front end swap on the Lowther car gathering helpers to get the car back on track in time for the next event.    

The third heat of the day did indeed see all 10 cars take the green, and in another close fought race it was the D-Train jumping out to a lead, without Dowling for company. Instead it was Reynolds who provided the pressure with Justin Clayden in 3rd. Dowling finished in 4th to cement a front row start for the final, ahead of Jolly, Kevin Clayden, Moylan, Sharpe, Nash and Lowther.

Come feature time, and Clayden lined up in the prized position 1, with Dowling alongside. Only Sharpe was missing from the initial field, a broken engine mount the culprit following his earlier roll over. After a tight run into the first turn, Clayden asserted himself at the head of the pack as the race got off to an incident free start. Dowling quickly settled into a spirited chase, never losing sight of the West Coast Rewind #45 ahead. Kevin Clayden and Jolly started off the second row and battled for 3rd over the 20 laps with Clayden winning out, while Lowther was the main mover in the final, eventually ending the day 6th after a DNS and a DNF in the heats hurt his starting position. Ahead of Lowther was Moylan who completed a consistent day in 5th, while the field was rounded out by Nash who got through the day unscathed with around 50 laps experience under her belt. Reynolds ended his first day in a Wingless Sprint on the infield with a broken throttle linkage, while Justin Clayden suffered a rocker arm failure.    

A happy Daryl Clayden accepted the winner's prize in the pits and posed for some photos with Dowling and Kevin Clayden, along with his crew. It was yet another good day's racing from the Wingless Sprint, and with more cars nearing completion or gearing up for summer, the competition is getting tougher and tougher for the division.