"VAN" (Sports Desk - 26.04.2025) :: The final stand for the 2024/2025 ANDRA Regional Sportsman Championship roared into life at Dragway at The Bend today, with qualifying for the ANDRA Grand Final unfolding across Friday 25 April ahead of Saturday’s race day.
After the racers and officials took time to pay their ANZAC Day respects this morning, the first on-track action for what is the sportsman event of the year got underway from 1.00pm, with three qualifying sessions completed across the day to find the winners of the Top Qualifier Medallions presented by New Gen Business Park while providing a perfect preview of Saturday’s final day of championship-deciding action for this season.
While today was full of entertainment and thrilling performances, there’s still plenty of excitement ahead with racing for championship glory, event victory and more than 20 coveted ANDRA Gold Christmas Trees set to kick off from 9.00am.
Taking out the Top Qualifier Medallions presented by New Gen Business Park today were Kenny Stewart (Gallagher Modified), Adrian McGrotty (South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Gas), Darren Whitford (Top Sportsman Competitors Group Top Sportsman), Steve Paech (Super Sedan Competitors Group Super Sedan), Rob Cassar (Lectron Australia Competition Bike), Kevin Cooper (Goodyear Racing Super Street), Cooper Plummer (Langtree’s Machinery Services Junior Dragster), Doina Day (Huntsman Racing Supercharged Outlaws), Dean Jamieson (Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike), and Steve Norman (Jackie Watt Consultancy / Fardella and Watt Racing SuperComp).
Looming rain across the day didn’t dampen the spirits of Goodyear Racing Super Street racer, Kevin Cooper, who had a solid start to the weekend and enjoyed the atmosphere at Dragway at The Bend as much as the racing.
“We had a really good day trialling a couple of different things that worked well for us, and the weather’s been threatening, but good, because it didn’t rain. For tomorrow, we’re going to give it our best shot to continue our run,” Cooper said.
“This is just a fantastic meet. There are 160-odd competitors here, and as I look around, there are barbecues cooking and people camping. It’s a great place to be while doing something that’s really good fun.”
Running over the Super Sedan Competitors Group Super Sedan index in the first qualifier saw Steve Paech and his crew dial it back for the second run, ensuring they remained in the box seat to clinch the Top Qualifier Medallion.
“We’re pretty happy with how the car went today. We obviously went too fast for the bracket in the first qualifier, but we slowed it down and ran an 8.504s. So yeah, I’m very happy with how today went,” Paech explained.
“We’ll go in with less of a tune tomorrow and see if we can just go some rounds. We’ve got it tuned now, so we can keep it under the 8.5s cut-off. The crew have given me a good car and now I just need to do what I need to do.”
Kenny Stewart is chasing second in the Gallagher Modified championship, and while a fuel leak just moments before the second qualifier almost spelled trouble today, the Victorian racer has a positive outlook for tomorrow’s racing.
“The day went really well, and the car was really consistent. We had some really good lights all day, and that made everything a lot easier. We had a little bit of trouble with a fuel leak just before the second qualifier when we were all set to go out. It was spotted in the staging lanes, and the crew got it fixed up pretty quickly, which saved that qualifying pass,” Stewart explained.
“The rain didn’t spoil it for us in the end, and now we’re just about to hook into a barbecue and get ready for tomorrow. Like any drag race, I’m hoping to go rounds tomorrow. We can’t win the championship, but if we can go a couple of rounds, we can hopefully manage to finish second in the points.”
The on-track action was non-stop across the day, with non-championship Langtree’s Machinery Services Junior Drag Bike and fan-favourite Scooter class also joining in on all the fun, with Lucas Bergamin and Neil Mellett claiming the Top Qualifying honours in those brackets.
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