By Ebony McQuinn.
Last night Chief Racing competed in the second last round of the Eureka Garages and Sheds series with the SRA. Dave McFadden set the car up in his Warrnambool-based workshop, making changes following the previous round a month ago in Hamilton.
Hot laps and engine starts to open the night before heading straight into time trials, Waters being in the first group to qualify. Between hot laps and time trials, the crew made some changes to the rear end to try and extract some more power out of the car. Following the changes, Waters put down a time of 10.458s, allowing him to achieve Quick Time as the fastest in his group.
The format of the evening involved a reverse grid for the four heats of the night. Being in the first qualifying group, Waters was in the first heat, being relegated to the back row of the starting grid following the reversed grid. Being so far back, the crew elected to make set-up changes to 'free up' the car. Waters was quick to make positions up, jumping to 3rd within the first three laps. With two laps to go, Waters made a final pass for second, where he finished the race.
The points built up so far qualified Waters straight into the gold shootout; the last of three shootouts to determine the front eight positions of the A-Main. Of the four cars in the shootout, Waters clocked a time of 10.719s putting him on the front row of the A-Main, one of his best qualifying results to date. Brock Hallet took the front spot with a 10.559s lap.
Lining up for the A-Main, Waters got the better start and passed Hallet, although sadly short-lived as a yellow flag on the second lap saw Hallet take back the first position. Waters managed to stay close behind throughout the A-Main, but Hallet had more pace and held on to the top spot for the remained of the race, Waters being the first runner up.
The crew are elated with the result and are very happy to finally have another trophy. It was the best night in a 410 for Waters so far. We now look ahead to next week in Avalon for the final round of the Eureka Garages and Sheds series.
Driver's Quote:
"Great to be back in a sprintcar! Had a great night here in Warrnambool. Time trialled quickest in my group, then ran from 6th to 2nd in the heat. It put me straight into the gold shootout, which was really cool. Second-quickest in the shootout to start on the front row. Got a great start and led for a few laps. Ran a little bit high for that point in the race and got passed. Held my own for second in the race. The car was great! Can't thank all the crew and sponsors enough, but also to Dave for subbing in as crew chief. Had a lot of fun tonight, bring on Avalon!"
Gallery:
Photos by Ebony McQuinn