By the barest of margins

Outside of sprintcars, there was plenty of enjoyable racing at Perth Motorplex, led by the Wingless Sprints, which produced the closest finish in the venue’s history.

On January 11 Daran Humfrey put in a titanic drive to fend off Brendon Wedge and win by the insane margin of 0.001s.

Humfrey did from sixth on the grid as Wedge and Blake Scarey shared the front row.

Wedge led the way as the race burst into life after going low and shutting the door, but was unable to build a gap across the first three laps before the first caution on Lap 3 caused by a standard Edward Owen.

Only one more lap was possible before the yellows returned for a spinner.

At the restart Britton went for it and launched an attack on leader Wedge down the inside.

However, Wedge responded and held firm a lap later moments before the latest caution for Geoff Underdown head first in the wall.

At the restart third placed Sharpe locked onto the back of Britton and found a way underneath at Turn 3.

As this panned out Wedge built a 1.5s lead and looked to be in a strong position as the second half of the race accelerated.

But as the laps wound down Sharpe began to close the gap on Wedge, and then a caution arrived at the perfect time.

With five to go Wedge had opened up the gap once again but Sharpe put the right rear up on the wall and used his momentum to again peg away the gap.

A tense fight for third was also brewing as Britton and Humfrey were side by side.

This was where Humfrey’s insane fightback began, jolting into the top three with three to go.

Humfrey did not mess around, picking off Sharpe for second, leaving him with on the next lap.

This left him with two laps to chase glory and he gave everything.

He was right on Wedge’s tail as they took the white flag and after the negotiated the first two turns, he launched a big run down the back straight.

Humfrey saved his glory moment for the final turn where he went underneath Wedge and snatched the victory in dramatic style.

The 20-lap race was now a drag race lasting no more than 100m and Humfrey won by the barest of margins.

It was an epic finish that left the crowd on its feet.

Sharpe was third and had the best seat in the house ahead of Britton.

Joe Chalmers dominated Late Models at Perth Motorplex. Image: Richard Hathaway

It was also a special night in the WA Late Model Racing Pro Dirt Series, which celebrated its 300th round milestone.

Australian Champion Joe Chalmers used the occasion to show his prowess by dominating the event and being undefeated.

However, despite starting on the front row he did not lead the early stages as Rod Musarra led the way.

After eight laps slower traffic became a factor and allowed Chalmers to hunt Musarra down.

It was not until Lap 11 when Chalmers made his move.

The Australian champion went high and even collect the outside wall.

Despite the moment seeing Chalmers lose some momentum, he still had enough speed to charge into the lead by turn 2.

Now in the lead Chalmers quickly set about driving into the distance and cruised to victory.

Jamie Oldfield mangled to steal second from Musarra in the closing stages.

The next event is the WA Late Models title at Perth Motorplex on February 15.

Images: Richard Hathaway Photography

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