Cory Eliason (Diamond Bay Motorsport) claimed a narrow victory in the Western Australian Speedweek series at Perth’s Motorplex Raceway on Jan. 21.
Despite only managing a fifth-place finish in the 30-lap feature at the seventh and final round in the Western Australian capital city, the Californian driver claimed the series by 22 points from fellow American Tyler Courtney (Monte Farms Motorsport).
Eliason was elated with his win in the series as he heads to South Australia and Victoria for the culmination of his Australian tour this week.
Courtney dominated the $15,000-to-win Barbagallo Sprint Car final, named after the six-time Western Australian champion, Alf Barbagallo.
He won the pole shuffle and led shortly after the start of the final.
It was Courtney’s third win on the wide, 550-yard circumference Perth Motorplex and another top three result. His series was only hindered by two ‘non-podium’ finishes at Bunbury Speedway that disturbed his Speedweek title aspirations.
“I really wish we could take back those Bunbury performances as they really stopped us from getting a real shot at the Speedweek title,” Courtney said. “Importantly though the win tonight gives us some real momentum as we head to the races over east next week.”
Callum Williamson (Avalon Group) turned in the performance of the night in a hard-charging drive, almost passing Courtney on the final turn of the exciting finale.
David Priolo (DP Motorsports/Barbagallo Racing) was third, ahead of Kalgoorlie driver Taylor Milling (Totally Workware) and Eliason.
Kerry Madsen, driving for Krikke Motorsport, was sixth.
Madsen joined regular Krikke Motorsports house driver Dayne Kingshott in one of the two Mobil sponsored cars after nearly three years away from the team. Kingshott finished one place behind the veteran World of Outlaws driver.
The summer series attracted large crowds to the host speedways at Perth, Ellenbrook and Bunbury.
With the conclusion of the Western Australian series, the sprint car teams make the 2,100 miles trek across Australia for the lucrative southern Australian series at Geelong and Mt Gambier, culminating with the Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic at Warrnambool next weekend.
While most of the visiting American drivers will return to the states after the Classic, Australian teams then make the arduous journey back across the country for the national championship at the Perth Motorplex in February.