Victoria’s Prelude to the Wingless Title

I’ve been unlucky recently with the weather.  A week before this, I had planned to head to Western Speedway in Hamilton for some Vintage Super Modifieds, but the event got cancelled due to the continued hammering of rain as I was en route.  And a week before that, the Sprintcar action at Wangaratta came to an early end thanks to a storm.

Portland too is not a great place to build not one, but two racetracks that are dependent on good weather for race meetings to occur.  The last time I was here, drizzle cancelled the day’s drag racing for Street Machine Drag Challenge at South Coast Raceway.​

Despite my recent history, and the fact that it was raining when I left my motel, Southern 500 Speedway in Heathmere - just north of Portland - stayed completely dry. Victoria's Wingless Sprintcar Championship would be in full swing as teams and drivers headed to the 370-metre clay bullring.

In the U.S, today's Wingless Sprintcars have a massive following, thanks to having the same 410ci 900hp V8 that the winged Sprintcars do.  So, the same Formula 1-esque power to weight ratio, without the 600kg of added downforce from the wings, making for one hell of a wild ride and an entertaining form of racing.

Down here in Australia, our Wingless Sprintcars are powered by the smaller 3.8 litre V6, derived from the Holden Commodore/Toyota Lexcen VR, VN or VP generations. Despite the size difference, there are still plenty of teams and race fans rocking up to watch these gladiator's race. 

​A strong field of 34 teams would be nominated for the Prelude, a preparation round if you like for the Victorian Wingless Title decider on the 9th of March, which would be held here at Southern 500 Speedway.

Racing alongside the Wingless Sprints were the juniours and Production Sedans, as the Modified Sedans were in the hot seat for the night's feature race.

The Wingless Sprints would go straight into the heats, with only a few laps around prior to get a feel for a track that been made anew since the last time some of these drivers had raced here.  It would take a while for Heat 1 to get started, with Ben Moulden enduring mechanical trouble, as the safety crew cleaned up oil and debris.  When racing finally got underway, it would be Mitchell Broome who would take the win for Heat 1.

At the start of Heat 2, Jack Regan, Craig McDonald and Luke Johnson would tangle bringing out the first of two yellow flags, the second being for Lauren White who spun all on her own in Turn 1.  Out front, Luke Weel and Matthew Symmons traded the lead, with Weel coming out on top at the end of the 10-lap heat.

A spin and contact between Khan Aston and Zack Rogerson, plus some more debris on the track would slow down proceedings for Heat 3.  When racing got underway properly, there was great side by side action for the minor placings, but no one was going to catch Michael Spoljaric who took the win.

There were plenty of battles throughout the field as V43 spun in Heat 4.  In the final laps, Matthew Symmons would leave the door open for Wayne Logue to take the lead and run away with the win, as a battle on the final lap heated up for third place.

In Heat 5, it would be a green to chequered, uninterrupted race, with a great battle between Michael Spoljaric and Mick Rigby, with Christopher Halesworth closely following the pair.  On the final lap, Mick Rigby would steal the lead away from Michael Spoljaric and his chance at a second heat win.

Jack Regan would come from the third row to be in the lead when Jarrod Payne spun in the final laps, calling for an early end to the final Wingless heat.

After the final heat for the Wingless Sprints, there would be a break from track action as we waited for the sun to set.  ​The track crew would also prep the track for the final races of the night, giving drivers a greasy yet fast track.

In the Wingless B-Main the bottom 14 drivers would be given 12-laps to get to the front to advance into the A-Main.  Thomas McDonald, Heat 4 winner Wayne Logue, Chris Halesworth, Cameron O'Brien and Jake Warren and Matt Tuckett who both came from the second last row, would all finish in the top six to make the transfer into the A-Main. 

Michael Spoljaric would lead the twenty Wingless Sprintcars to the green flag, for their final race of the night.  Jack Reagan's night would come to an early end when contact punctured a tyre.  Seconds later, Wayne Logue would head into Turn 3 too hot, making contact with Tom Moulden and rolling over. In an attempt to avoid the crash, Matt Tucker and Cameron O'Brien would run into each other, with Logue landing on the back wheel of Tucker.  As a precaution Logue would be brought into the ambulance and later spend the night in hospital.

After racing finally resumed, Matthew Symmons would take the lead and fend off Mick Rigby as Chris Halesworth retired from the race.  Symmons had come close to a win in both of his heats, but would win the one that counted, snatching the A-Main victory ahead of Travis Millar and Mick Rigby.

The Production Sedans A-Main would be a 30-lap race of attrition, with many drivers suffering mechanical failures throughout the race.  It would be problem free however for Trevor Mills who dominated the race, lapping everyone up to fifth place by the fall of the chequered.  The story would be similar for Brody Chrystie with not only a heat race win, but victory in the pole shuffle allowing him to start in pole position for the Modified Sedan's A-Main, and later take the 30-lap feature race win.

Victoria's Wingless Sprintcars will head next to Laang Speedway for their Club Show on the 28th of December, before a big first week of 2024, with a maxed-out capacity of 60 entrants for the Borderline to Simpson to Premier triple header Summerslam.

Bonus Gallery