Sweet success
American legend Brad Sweet has risen back to the top, getting his first win on Australian soil this summer at Perth.
Having fought hard during the High Limit International, but fell short, Sweet saved his best for the 11th round of the 2024-25 Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series.
He started third in the 30-lap final and only needed six laps to hit the lead.
However, the race was far from over as both local stars Callum Williamson and Dayne Kingshott threw assaults, but were unable to make them stick.
Sweet said it was a hard-fought win.
“People don’t realise probably how good they are when you travel all the way over here to Perth to their stomping ground, they are really hard to beat,” he said
“They were hot on my heels all night and we were good early, I kinda found the right line and drove to the lead and these guys were breathing down my throat at the end, so just happy to get the win,” Sweet said.
“I could just tell my car wasn’t getting down the straight aways, I wasn’t getting off the corner and I was kinda protecting, I wasn’t sure where to be and when you are like that, you know somebody is coming.
“I have been doing this a long time and I tried to put the last few laps together the best I possibly could.”
Kingshott won the battle for the lead on the first lap having starved off fellow front row starter Brock Zearfoss.
The race only lasted six laps before the first cation where Kerry Madsen and Ryan Lancaster came together.
From there it was a drag race until the closing stages and this is where Sweet made the difference.
As Zearfoss fell from second to seventh, Sweet surged to second also ahead of James McFadden.
The American then hit the lead by passing Kingshott and controlling the rest of the race.
The battle for minors was interesting with Williamson making early moves sixth to second, a position he held until Lap 24 when Kingshott regained the place.
James McFadden slotted into fourth after jumping Jock Goodyer, who fell from fourth to sixth in the closing stages.
The caution lights returned with a handful of laps left when Matt Egel was pushed to the outfield.
Shortly after, the red lights were activated after Taylor Milling crashed in turns 1-2 and was collected by Jason Kendrick who was unable to stop in time.
This left a late burst to the flag where Sweet held on by a tenth over Kingshott and Williamson, who was also less than half a second away.
Teams have a night off before returning for round 12 at Bunbury on Saturday night.
Results
Qualifying 1: James McFadden 13.423, Luke Oldfield 13.492, Kaiden Manders 13.541, Andrew Priolo 13.551, Matt Juhl 13.605, Aaron Chircop 13.620, AJ Nash 13.814, Joel Ettridge 13.881.
Qualifying 2: Cole Macedo 13.394, Ryan Newton 13.414, Dayne Kingshott 13.458, Matt Egel 13.487, Michael Keen 13.516, Myles Bolger 13.617, Kris Coyle 13.691 and Jaydee Dack 13.824.
Qualifying 3: Brock Zearfoss 13.233, Justin Whittall 13.325, Callum Williamson 13.383, Jack Williamson 13.452, Taylor Milling 13.522, Jason Pryde 13.559, Cory Eliason 13.559, Jamie Maiolo 13.655, Wayne Russell 14.347.
Qualifying 4: Brad Sweet 13.208, Daniel Harding 13.215, Jason Kendrick 13.385, Jock Goodyer 13.440, Ryan Lancaster 13.442, Kerry Madsen 13.485, Gio Scelzi 13.485, James Inglis 13.504 and Brad Maiolo 13.545.
Heat 1: 1st Luke Oldfield, 2nd Andrew Priolo, 3rd James McFadden, 4th AJ Nash, 5th Kaiden Manders, 6th Matt Juhl, 7th Aaron Chircop, 8th Joel Ettridge.
Heat 2: 1st Dayne Kingshott, 2nd Cole Macedo, 3rd Matt Egel, 4th Ryan Newton, 5th Michael Keen, 6th Kris Coyle, 7th Jaydee Dack, 8th Myles Bolger.
Heat 3: 1st Callum Williamson, 2nd Brock Zearfoss, 3rd Justin Whittall, 4th Jack Williamson, 5th Jason Pryde, 6th Taylor Milling, 7th Cory Eliason, 8th Jamie Maiolo, 9th Wayne Russell.
Heat 4: 1st Jock Goodyer, 2nd Brad Sweet, 3rd Kerry Madsen, 4th Ryan Lancaster, 5th Daniel Harding, 6th Gio Scelzi, 7th James Inglis, 8th Jason Kendrick. DNF: Brad Maiolo.
Revolution Racegear A Dash: 1st Dayne Kingshott, 2nd Brad Sweet, 3rd Callum Williamson, 4th Cole Macedo, 5th Andrew Priolo, 6th Justin Whittall.
Revolution Racegear B Dash: 1st Brock Zearfoss, 2nd James McFadden, 3rd Luke Oldfield, 4th Jock Goodyer, 5th Daniel Harding, 6th Ryan Newton.
King Racing Products Midpack: 1st Matt Egel, 2nd Kaiden Manders, 3rd Kerry Madsen, 4th Jack Williamson, 5th Michael Keen, 6th Ryan Lancaster.
B Main: 1st Cory Eliason, 2nd James Inglis, 3rd Jamie Maiolo, 4th Kris Coyle, 5th Jaydee Dack, 6th Joel Ettridge, 7th Aaron Chircop, 8th Myles Bolger, 9th Wayne Russell. DNS: Brad Maiolo.
A Main: 1st Brad Sweet, 2n Dayne Kingshott, 3rd Callum Williamson, 4th James McFadden, 5th Brock Zearfoss, 6th Jock Goodyer, 7th Kaiden Manders, 8th Andrew Priolo, 9th Cory Eliason, 10th Cole Macedo, 11th Ryan Newton, 12th Kris Coyle, 13th James Inglis, 14th Michael Keen, 15th Justin Whittall, 16th Daniel Harding, 17th Matt Juhl, 18th Jason Pryde, 19th Jamie Maiiolo, 20th Joel Ettridge. DNF: Luke Oldfield, Jason Kendrick, AJ Nash, Taylor Milling, Matt Egel, Jack Williamson, Ryan Lancaster and Kerry Madsen.
Hoosier tyre draw: AJ Nash.
Victory 1 Quick Time: Brad Sweet 13.208.
Kincrome Hard Charger: Kris Coyle – 27th to 12th.
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