American Sprintcar Star Joey Saldana won the Radio Hauraki ‘Thunder Down Under" International Sprintcar Series third round at the Western Springs Boxing Night Spectacular on Saturday night (Dec. 26).

One of the largest crowds seen at Western Springs in recent times were kept on the edge of their seats throughout a busy night which also featured Kiwi Kidz Quarter Midgets, TQ’s, and of course Midgets.

Thirty-one Sprintcars were on hand to contest the American style format, starting off with time trials. Unfortunately there was a delay for the time trials as a problem surfaced with the normally reliable Western Springs electronic timing system. This meant the time trials were timed by hand from the infield.

Auckland regular and fan favourite Mark Browne was credited with fast time, ahead of the charging Saldana, Craig Dollansky, Alan Wakeling, and current NZ Champion Carl Wilson.

Graeme ‘Skinny’ Colsen won the first heat from American’s Bill Rose, Ricky Logan, and Paul McMahan, with the returning Tommy Rusher finishing in fifth, the final qualifying spot in the heat for the feature. Saldana wheelstood his way to the front in heat two, ahead of a resurgent Greg Pickerill, the impressive Daniel Eggeleton, Carl Wilson, and Wellington’s Martin Halcrow. California’s Jonathan Allard won the third heat, holding off Jeremy Halpin, who was celebrating his 31^st birthday, Dollansky, Jamie McDonald, and Dean Brindle.

Dollansky dominated the Dash, with McMahan in second, ahead of Saldana, and the best of the Kiwis, Carl Wilson. Dollansky would start off the pole in the Main Event.

A scrappy ‘B’ Main was won by 18-year old Ryan O’Connor, followed by Alan Wakeling, Mark Browne, Hans Boere, and Corey Haigh. They were the final five qualifiers for the twenty-car ‘A’ Main.

A huge crash at the start of the feature, triggered off by contact at the front of the grid between Dollansky, McMahan, and Saldana, involved nearly half of the field, all scattering to avoid a prone McMahan who was left sitting in the middle of the track exiting turn two. The incident saw at least six cars not able to take the restart, including McMahan, O’ Connor, Colsen, Wakeling, and Rusher.

Dollansky streaked away from the original grid rerun, chased by Saldana, Wilson, Allard, and Jamie McDonald. Dollansky then retired out of the lead after half distance with mechanical problems, handing the lead to Allard who had just made a spectacular pass on a struggling Saldana. Like Saldana, many were struggling with the heavy track conditions late in the night.

Allard looked to have done enough for the win late in the race but misjudged a pass on the lapped Jeremy Halpin, making contact with his right front wheel. This punctured the tyre, which saw the American having to manhandle the #0 USA Maxim for the final three or four laps. With the 10.30pm curfew fast approaching, the white flag was thrown on lap 24, with Allard trying everything in his power to hold off the charging Saldana. Saldana made the winning pass in lapped traffic on the final lap, scoring his first victory of the 2008/2009 International Series, maintaining the series lead after three rounds. Allard limped across the line in second, just ahead of Ricky Logan, making it a trifecta for the visiting Americans.

Saldana leads on 99 points going into the final round at Western Springs on Jan. 3, ahead of Logan in second (80 points), and Allard in third (72 points). The best performing Kiwi is now Jamie McDonald, fourth on 53 points, ahead of Carl Wilson in fifth (51 points).

Brock Maskovich won his second TQ feature of the season, ahead of fellow TQ ‘Young Guns’ Darren Warren, and Jared Taylor. It was Warren’s and Taylor’s first TQ feature podiums at The Springs.

And in the Midget’s it was another Michael Pickens benefit, as he scored his fourth successive Midget feature this season at Western Springs, and his fifth consecutive Samsung/Century Yuasa National Midget Car Series round victory. Add in the North Island Midget Championship victory in the last two weeks at Huntly as well, and it’s not hard to see why Pickens has already been picked as the NZ Midget Team Captain to face the might of the American’s and Aussies for the International Midget World Series at The Springs at the end of January ’09.

Carl Worboys, debuting a new Aggressor chassis, raced to a fine second-place finish, ahead of Lance Beale, Graham Standring, Brad Mosen, and Shaun Insley. Pickens extends his NCMS lead on 187 points, ahead of Mosen (144 points), and Beale and Worboys tied for third (137). The top six is completed by Wayne Green (99 points), and Shaun Insley (97 points).

The next meeting at Western Springs is on January 3, and features the final round of The $80,000 ‘Thunder Down Under’ International Sprintcar Series, and the selection of the NZ Midget Test team.

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