The Smarter than Smoking WASCF Junior State Title was held at the Carnarvon Speedway on Friday and Saturday night and what an emotionally charged weekend it turned out to be Racing was extremely fast and not a fraction of fear was shown from any of the 53 drivers. These juniors showed no mercy and weren’t afraid to give each other a push and a shove. These kids came out and pushed it to the limits every heat. In an extraordinary first night of racing, almost every heat saw a driver relegated for jumping the start and or relegated for an unfair move to advantage, or for spinning out. Other heats saw some extraordinary feats from drivers to come through the pack and take victories. Racing was extremely fast and exciting with several blanket finishes. It also resulted in numerous accidents, two of which required ambulance attention, but both drivers where fortunately unharmed. Local boy Allan Harper came out firing and won his first heat convincingly which added valuable points to his tally for the first night of racing. Trent Lyall, the second youngest of 50 + drivers, drove consistently all night and placed fourth in his 3rd heat. Damon started of the night slower than expected but fought back hard and made it up to second place in his third heat. You could feel the tension on Saturday night as drivers and pitcrew focused on the task at hand, to be named 2008 WA # 1 Junior. Trent and Allan had some work to do as they were place in the B main race and only the top four winners of that race would then go on to compete in the A main feature race. Trent started in 11th position with Allan in 8th position. The green light shone and Harper took off hard and fast and made his presence felt, he worked his way through the congestion and mate, he meant business, he was flying around the track. Trent had a battle on his hands and there was no way he was going to let anyone get in front of him. Trent ran a great race and due to his determination and skill did not let a driver pass and managed to gain a position and finished 7th in the B main. Top effort! Allan worked hard and made his way to the top end of the field and was looking promising, an altercation with another car saw Harper spin out which resulted in a restart. The controversial decision of the officials sent Harper to the rear of the field and did the crowd let the officials know they were not happy. Despite Harpers efforts he was unable to regain his initial position. Well done Allan!! Damon was placed in 16th position at the start of the feature race and was eager to get off to a flying start. Again, the green light lit up and the juniors were off and racing, push came to shove and Damon lost a few positions but regained composure and started to make his move. In just a couple of laps Damon had made it up to 8th position, but there was still along way to go. Few more laps and he was up to fourth place and was looking promising for a podium finish. With four laps to go Damon, title favorite Ryhs Brown, Tahlya Spicer and Paul Joss all spun out in turn four while battling it out for second position. In another controversial decision, local hopeful Damon was sent to the rear of the field. Carnarvonites were in an uproar to say the least. Unfortunately there were not enough laps for Damon to make it back up for a podium finish but maintained his composure and still managed to work his way up into 8th position. Super effort Damon!! To Allan, Trent and Damon, the Carnarvon Speedway Club would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you. The three of you raced so well over the weekend and we are all so very proud of you. You all have done us proud. Junior Titles are renowned for several roll overs and I’m sure that the Carnarvon Speedway Club has probably set a record, all due to the fantastic track preparation from volunteers, Les and Rick. The track was awesome for the juniors- not one rut to be seen. Also a huge big thank you to our volunteers, you all have shone yet again. One paragraph can not thank you all enough for all the long hours and hard work you have put in to ensure the weekends success. One thing I will say, the Carnarvon Speedway Club sure knows how to put on a show!! You sure missed a great night of entertainment if you didn’t get your backside trackside over the weekend!
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