A roaring opening night
Northline Speedway roared back to life on Saturday night 29th April 2023 albeit a week later than planned due to seasonal rain here in Darwin.
Nevertheless after a superb effort by a hearty band of Committee Members, Volunteers, Officials, Drivers and Riders and a host of other people the track was in mint condition for the opening night.
Classes represented included AMCA Nationals, Go Karts, Junior Sedans, Solos and Street Stocks with 3 rounds of Heats and a Feature Race in each Division.
AMCA Nationals was dominated by Mark Allcorn who recorded 2 Heat Race wins followed by the Feature Race win. Drive of the night for me was that of Deegan Sherwood who claimed 2 x Second Place results in the Heats and 2nd Place in the Feature Race. Deegan made his debut in the AMCA Nationals section after progressing through from Junior Sedans last year. A very impressive display and he is one to keep an eye on into the future. The evergreen Jimmy Keane was thereabouts with a first, second and third place result in the Heats followed by a 3rd placing in the Feature.
Go Karts saw a small field greet the green flag with a strong representation from the Brown family. Tony Brown recorded a Heat win and a second place followed by taking out the Feature Race. Yazmin Brown was very competitive with a Heat win and a second place also plus 2nd place in the Feature race. Michael Brown also shared a Heat win and a third place along with being 3rd place in the Feature race.
Solos arrived with a good contingent of 5 riders where throughout the Heats it was Connar Bridgeford, Steven Hutchinson and Kurt Baxter sharing the honors for First Place along with Bradley Niven. Two Feature races witnessed Bridgeford taking out the A Feature whilst Hutchinson was leading the B Feature until snapping 2 primary chains.
Junior Sedans began with a healthy field of cars including some newcomers to the Division. It was however a very fruitful night for River Spitzbarth who claimed 3 x Heat Race wins along with the Feature race in the #43 racing 1.5 litre Mitsubishi Mirage. Harrison Turnbull completed a consistent night with a 2nd place and two 3rd places in the Heats whilst Blake Overend picked up a 2nd place and runner up spot in the Feature race. Newcomer Brodie Costello was first of the Future Stars in 4th place in the Feature race to earn himself a podium placing. Zack Czolloszynski also had a good start to the season with a 2nd and a 3rd place in the heats. But it was River Spitzbarth clean sweeping the night in the Feature Race ahead of Blake Overend and Caiden Weaver home in 3rd place. Spitzbarth was 0.130 off breaking the one lap record again in the feature which outlined his dominance on the night.
Street Stocks were down on their usual high numbers but saw reigning NT #1 Justin Brumfield clean sweep the Heat races. Kane Lloyd provided some resistance in the Heats with Samantha Radford and Megan Henderson taking out minor placings through the heats. Justin Brumfield was to start at the rear of the field and half a lap behind for the Feature race. Very interesting to see him plough through the field to eventually finish not too far behind Kane Lloyd in 2nd place. Lloyd drove a very good race to earn the top spot on the podium.
Northline Speedway resumes racing this Saturday night 6th May which sees the return of the mighty Sprintcars and Wingless Sprintcars for their first outing for the year, whilst the Street Stocks will be battling it out for the Darwin Street Stock Title. Support comes also from the Junior Sedans, Solos and Go Karts.
Article by Scott Kernahan