The night started strong for the team, Waters topping the timesheets and achieving his first quick time (the sprintcar equivalent of pole position). At a time of 13.215, Waters was four-tenths quicker than the rest of the field. This result demonstrates the constant improvement the 360 car is making, as such the team is hopeful for an A-Main win soon.
Unfortunately, the heats were not as successful as time trials. Heat 1 started strong, starting from pole, Waters was leading the pack for the first two laps. A crash between two other cars lead to a restart, where things started to go wrong. Waters had a bad restart that put him back. In an attempt to catch up, Waters spun out and a second car crashed into him with nowhere to go. The V6 McQuinn Electrical sustained damage to the chassis, the front upright shocker mount breaking clean off; the front hub, three radius rods, a torsion arm all being irreparably damaged. It was quite amazing to see those from other teams come over to the Chief Racing transporter and lend a hand in getting the chassis repaired in time for heat 2.
Heat 2 would ultimately result in the same ending. Starting from 10th position, Waters struggled to make ground. His attempt to move forward would be futile as he became tangled up in an incident.
After two DNFs, Waters started from last position in the A-Main. As there were only 18 nominations for the event, there wasn't a B-Main. The 30-lap race ended up being full of carnage, with a restart almost every 3 laps. A field that started at 17 cars, ended with only 10. Luckily, Waters was part of that 10, finishing 7th. A terrific effort to avoid all the incidents and stay focused despite earlier dramas.
The team now looks toward the 19th of February, when we'll be racing at Heartland Raceway with the Australian Sprintcar All Stars.
Driver's Point of View:
"Well, we started and finished the night in Nyora pretty strong. Just had not a very good run through the heats. Heat 1, spun out. Heat 2, couldn't move forwards from the rear and got tangled in an incident. Started from the rear in the A-Main and worked out way up to 7th. Not a bad night, but could've gone better if the heats went somewhat better."
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