Inglis fends off Goodyer in Aussie title opener

The chase for the 2024 Australian Sprintcar Title has begun at Warrnambool’s Premier Speedway with James Inglis landing the first blow, but only just.

The 25-lap opening night A Main went down to the wire with Inglis holding off defending champion Jock Goodyer by just 0.160s after the pair had a massive arm wrestle for the win.

Despite a mistake at the start of the final lap bringing Goodyer into the hunt, Inglis prevailed as James McFadden was a notable victim of some late-race drama.

Having been a star in WA, winning a big event at Premier Speedway was a big deal for Inglis.

“I was puffed during those last five laps and just hung on, having these guys on your tail is pretty nerve racking,” he said.

“We have struggled at this place so I am just glad we had good pace and hopefully we can roll it on to tomorrow night.

“I made a few errors in those last two laps and when I saw the white flag I was like ‘I cannot let this go’.

“The treacherous track was brutal out there but that might have worked to my advantage because it was a bit like home.”

With a big 80-car field contesting 14 heats the showpiece race got off to a busy start.

After the time trials and all the heats Brock Hallett emerged with the most points ahead of Inglis with Jamie Veal, Alex Orr, Jock Goodyer and Cameron Waters also showing speed.

The Prelim B Main was a clean affair where Jordyn Charge went unchallenged winning by 2s over Grant Anderson and Daniel Pestka.

A total of 18 cars lined up for the Prelim A Main but only 17 greeted the starter after speedy Supercars star Cameron Waters suffered the heartbreak of pulling off to the infield during the warm up laps.

James McFadden was on fire in the A Main cutting through the field until he found the wall. Image: Richard Hathaway Photography

Hallett got the jump on the inside to head the field through turn 1 but Inglis used his momentum on the high line off the exit of turn 2 to wrestle back control down the back straight.

Inglis and Hallett continued to use the high and low line respectively as the race got off to a fast and clean start with Goodyer, Alex Orr and Jamie Veal rounding out the top five.

On lap 7 Hallett utilised lapped traffic to close the gap and mount a sudden challenge for the lead.

He swooped down the inside of turn 1 but could not make it stick as he checked up allowing Inglis to immediately regain control.

As they battled side by side, Goodyer joined in and pounced on Hallett’s mistake on lap 11 to steal second on the inside of turn 4.

This allowed Inglis some breathing space as he sliced his way between the lapped Daniel Pestka and Sam Walsh in an impressive move. 

Despite the smart driving, Goodyer had enormous pace to burn along the bottom and the heat was on with nine laps to go.

The #A1 dived down the inside of Inglis to snatch the lead at turn 2, only for the #W26 to fire an immediate response, winning a drag race down the back straight.

When they arrived at turn 4 Goodyear made another move and charged through to the lead along the bottom before a race-changing red.

The race was stopped when Ryan Newton rolled after he “got caught in the cushion” and the car dug itself in up high on turn 3.

Due to a completed racing lap not being completed with Goodyer in front before the red, Inglis headed the field when racing resumed with 9 laps to go.

Inglis and Goodyer wasted no time in gapping the rest of the field as attention turned to Hallett, Veal and McFadden as they fought for third.

After Hallett held them off, Veal and McFadden were going at it for fourth, running side by side.

McFadden pulled off a nice move on the inside, only for Veal to hit back on the back straight.

When they started a new lap McFadden was now lining up a move on the outside but “misjudged the entry” to turn 1 and suddenly the new Hodges Motorsport chassis fired into the wall.

Having started 13th and charged all the way up to the brink of fourth, it was another tough pill for McFadden to swallow being the latest heartbreak story of a tough 2023/24 season.

The red flag was also waved setting up a eight lap dash to the chequered.

Inglis perfected the restart and looked comfortable until the final corner of the penultimate lap when a mistake suddenly opened the door for a hungry Goodyer.

Goodyer made a last gasp look along the bottom of the final corner but fell a tenth short as Inglis took the chequered flag.

Hallett kept grip of his podium position as Lachie McHugh snatched fourth from Veal.

All is set for the big one with the 2024 Australian Sprintcar Championship to be decided tonight with cars on track at Premier Speedway from 17.30 AEDT.

2024 Australian Sprintcar Title Night 1 A Main results

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