Driver crowned king after four nights of action

Ace driver Trent Pigdon has been declared king of Northwest City of Karratha Sprintcar Stampede, with an emphatic victory over some of the WA’s top racers.

This year’s event was held over four nights rather than two in a bid to attract more top drivers to the race.

It paid off, with 18 of the 22 competing teams travelling for the event, including the WA 410, 360 and limited sprintcar champions.

The event attracted about 2500 people to watch the action each night.

The first night at Port Hedland Speedway saw Bunbury driver Michael Keen get out on the front foot, before Car 26 driver Trent Pigdon outpaced him and moved into top spot on the second meet.

The competition moved to Nickol Bay Speedway in Dampier for final two nights.

Taylor Milling won the feature race on night three, but Pigdon remained the overall leader on points.

It went so smoothly there was time for an extra feature purely for entertainment rather than points, though unfortunately it finished with a crash between three cars which put the car of one of NBS’ own, Graham Wilson, out of the running.

The final night of action was held up for an hour-and-a-half because there was too much water on the track and NBS president John Magerl’s car, owned by his wife Chantelle, was one of the casualties, spinning out during an early hot lap.

But organisers still managed to pack in the key heats before fireworks started at 9pm.

Pigdon won the night’s pole shuffle, and kept the momentum going to storm home in the final 25-lap feature race.

Rod Snellin came in second and Brent Barndon was third overall.

Magerl said the Sprintcar Stampede had been a big success and was a key part of their bid to continue “moving in the right direction” as the Pilbara’s premier speedway.

“It went very well. It was very clear driving, not a lot of crashes except for my wife’s. Sorry honey,” he said.

“The track was absolutely awesome. It was a bit wet to start off with (on night four) but it needs to be… We had a little bit of a late start but there were great crowds, great entertainment, and I’m quite happy.”

He thanked the NBS committee, support staff and volunteers for their work.

The event was funded by the City of Karratha through the Major Events Sponsorship Scheme.

WA Open Sprintcar State Champion and Car 56 SJ Crushing driver Tim Van Ginneken saID driving one of the only limited sprintcars in the race against higher-powered 360s had been challenging, but had been a good experience to “have some fun and have some beers”.

“It’s definitely tough being underpowered…. but we’re just trying to stick in there and do the best we can,” he said.

“(After the WA Open) we had this (car) sitting in the shed and we said why don’t we come up here and have another skid, and hopefully it leads into a drive for next year.”