James McFadden won his fifth career WSS title by winning the series finale at Perth Saturday (Richard Hathaway Photo) (Video Highlights from SpeedShiftTV.com)
James McFadden has sealed his fifth QSS World Series Sprintcars Championship with a breathtaking win at the Perth Motorplex, after series combatant Kerry Madsen failed to finish with a broken front end.
McFadden entered the final event of the season with a 42-point lead over Madsen, and expanded the gap to 64 after securing Revolution Racegear Quicktime and logging a 3rd and 4th in his heats.
Madsen however had a nightmare start to his campaign, battling motor issues in time trials to qualify 16th, which sparked a motor change prior to the heats that thankfully produced a 1st and a 3rd but only enough to slot into the 11th spot on the main event grid.
McFadden lost his provisional front row start to Brad Maiolo and Cory Eliason in the Gold Shootout, however he wasted no time in assuming the 2nd spot behind Eliason from the start of the main event before Taylor Milling brought on the first caution driving over Madsen’s right rear and crunching the wall.
The contact with Madsen cast concern over the fitness of the #W2, however the car looked fine on the restart, locking in to 4th within two laps until he rolled to a stop in turn three with a broken right front stub axle and ending his campaign for a maiden World Series championship victory.
Ben Ellement endured a large spill shortly after the restart to bring on the third and final caution of the race, and with Madsen out of the picture, McFadden threw away any need for conservation on the restart, and aggressively pursued Eliason who produced another blistering launch to leave behind the field.
Eliason was amazing in traffic and had fans nervously watching on as he systematically disposed of everyone in his path, with passes on any and every line of the track while McFadden watched from behind, contemplating his move.
Meanwhile Dave Murcott was chipping away from 9th on the grid to usurp Maiolo’s hold on 3rd on lap 23, as Jason Kendrick was working his way forward from 12th to 5th along with Brock Hallett who’d eventually claim the American Racer Hard Charger award climbing from 19th to 8th.
McFadden was looming in the closing stages and with three laps remaining started to hint at being within striking distance of Eliason after exploring a higher groove, and on the final lap closed in and breathtakingly drove around the #W26 to claim the win by just 0.097 of a second.
Brooke Tatnell finished 9th and locked in his overall 3rd place for the series for the Ray Scott Transport team, while Lucas Wolfe finished 11th ahead of Jock Goodyer in 12th, handing Goodyer the Rookie of the Year honours by just three points.
The Black-tie Gala Dinner will be held tonight in Perth, where the coveted peer-voted awards such as Driver’s Driver, Crew Chief and Sportsman of the Year will be presented in addition to the Top Ten point scorers.
World Series Sprintcars / Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series
Perth Motorplex
Kwinana Beach, WA
Saturday February 22, 2020
Qualifying:
1. W17-James McFadden, 13.478
2. W77-Bradley Maiolo, 13.641
3. V40-Rusty Hickman, 13.659
4. W97-Mitchell Wormall, 13.683
5. W25-Taylor Milling, 13.703
6. V88-David Murcott, 13.730
7. W9-AJ Nash, 13.859
8. USA26-Cory Eliason, 13.870
9. W3-Callum Williamson, 13.874
10. W75-Ben Van Ryt, 13.884
11. V55-Brooke Tatnell, 13.956
12. W42-Ben Butcher, 13.968
13. W20-Ryan Lancaster, 13.991
14. USA1J-Lynton Jeffrey, 13.995
15. W11-Jason Kendrick, 14.003
16. W2-Kerry Madsen, 14.027
17. W8-Andrew Priolo, 14.037
18. T22-Jock Goodyer, 14.081
19. W80-James Inglis, 14.094
20. W88-Adrian Haywood, 14.096
21. S60-Brock Hallett, 14.159
22. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 14.174
23. W14-Jason Pryde, 14.195
24. W63-Todd Davis, 14.207
25. W53-Ben Ellement, 14.231
26. W50-Tom Callaghan, 14.255
27. W12-Daniel Harding, 14.273
28. S20-Glen Sutherland, 14.414
29. W79-Kris Coyle, 14.416
30. W94-Matthew Cross, 14.675
31. W21-Troy Lawson, 14.830
Heat Race #1:
1. W80-James Inglis
2. T22-Jock Goodyer
3. W17-James McFadden
4. W20-Ryan Lancaster
5. W63-Todd Davis
6. W53-Ben Ellement
7. V88-David Murcott
8. W9-AJ Nash
9. W21-Troy Lawson
10. W94-Matthew Cross
11. W42-Ben Butcher
Heat Race #2:
1. USA26-Cory Eliason
2. W88-Adrian Haywood
3. USA1J-Lynton Jeffrey
4. W14-Jason Pryde
5. V55-Brooke Tatnell
6. W8-Andrew Priolo
7. W77-Bradley Maiolo
8. W25-Taylor Milling
9. W50-Tom Callaghan
10. W79-Kris Coyle
Heat Race #3:
1. W2-Kerry Madsen
2. 5W-Lucas Wolfe
3. W11-Jason Kendrick
4. S60-Brock Hallett
5. W75-Ben Van Ryt
6. W3-Callum Williamson
7. V40-Rusty Hickman
8. W97-Mitchell Wormall
9. S20-Glen Sutherland
10. W12-Daniel Harding
Heat Race #4:
1. 5W-Lucas Wolfe
2. W20-Ryan Lancaster
3. W2-Kerry Madsen
4. W17-James McFadden
5. V88-David Murcott
6. W53-Ben Ellement
7. W25-Taylor Milling
8. W63-Todd Davis
9. W88-Adrian Haywood
10. W94-Matthew Cross
DNS. W79-Kris Coyle
Heat Race #5:
1. W8-Andrew Priolo
2. W14-Jason Pryde
3. V55-Brooke Tatnell
4. USA26-Cory Eliason
5. USA1J-Lynton Jeffrey
6. T22-Jock Goodyer
7. W97-Mitchell Wormall
8. W9-AJ Nash
9. W21-Troy Lawson
10. W50-Tom Callaghan
Heat Race #6:
1. W80-James Inglis
2. S60-Brock Hallett
3. W11-Jason Kendrick
4. W75-Ben Van Ryt
5. W77-Bradley Maiolo
6. W3-Callum Williamson
7. V40-Rusty Hickman
8. S20-Glen Sutherland
DNS. W12-Daniel Harding
DNS. W42-Ben Butcher
B-Main:
1. W53-Ben Ellement
2. W88-Adrian Haywood
3. W14-Jason Pryde
4. W50-Tom Callaghan
5. W79-Kris Coyle
6. W21-Troy Lawson
7. W94-Matthew Cross
8. W42-Ben Butcher
9. S20-Glen Sutherland
10. W63-Todd Davis
DNS. W12-Daniel Harding
A-Main:
1. W17-James McFadden
2. USA26-Cory Eliason
3. V88-David Murcott
4. W77-Bradley Maiolo
5. W11-Jason Kendrick
6. W80-James Inglis
7. V40-Rusty Hickman
8. S60-Brock Hallett
9. V55-Brooke Tatnell
10. W75-Ben Van Ryt
11. 5W-Lucas Wolfe
12. T22-Jock Goodyer
13. W20-Ryan Lancaster
14. W14-Jason Pryde
15. W50-Tom Callaghan
16. W97-Mitchell Wormall
17. W3-Callum Williamson
18. W8-Andrew Priolo
19. W88-Adrian Haywood
20. USA1J-Lynton Jeffrey
21. W9-AJ Nash
22. W53-Ben Ellement
23. W2-Kerry Madsen
24. W25-Taylor Milling
Final 2019-20 WSS Standings
1 W17 James McFadden 3906
2 W2 Kerry Madsen 3682
3 V55 Brooke Tatnell 3092
4 T22 Jock Goodyer 3025
5 W5 Lucas Wolfe 3022
6 V88 Dave Murcott 2878
7 W60 Brock Hallett 2837
8 V40 Rusty Hickman 2810
9 W26 Cory Eliason 2203
10 W14 Jason Pryde 2184
11 S20 Glen Sutherland 1932
12 W60 Lockie McHugh 1764
13 W25 Taylor Milling 1410
14 V25 Jack Lee 1294
15 Q54 Randy Morgan 1134
16 Q17 Luke Oldfield 1034
17 S45 Jake Tranter 879
18 V37 Grant Anderson 784
19 Q83 Steven Lines 775
20 Q59 Kevin Titman 750