Much more favourable weather conditions greeted the ANDRA Regional Sportsman Championship racers on day two of the South Coast Nationals today at South Coast Raceway. The seaside track came alive on Sunday, 8 December, for a full day of racing to see who would take home ANDRA Christmas Trees. 

It was celebrations all around at the end of today’s running for the winners in their respective brackets: Rob Cassar (Lectron Australia Competition Bike), Bailey Hawke (Langtree’s Machinery Services Junior Dragster), Peter Bartlett (Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike), Kenny Stewart (Gallagher Modified Eliminator), Adrian McGrotty (The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Gas), Tony Miskelly (Super Sedan Competitors Super Sedan), Stefan Lainas (Goodyear Racing Super Street), Shane Baxter (Huntsman Racing Supercharged Outlaws), and Shane Wynd (Top Sportsman Competitors Top Sportsman).

Celebrations were also had for the event runners-up in each bracket: Edge Mallis (Lectron Australia Competition Bike), Bryan Finn (Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike), Rocco Romano (Gallagher Modified Eliminator), Colin Griffin (The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Gas), Robert Kardum (Super Sedan Competitors Super Sedan), Luke Griffiths (Goodyear Racing Super Street), Tim Stewart (Huntsman Racing Supercharged Outlaws), and Jason Young (Top Sportsman Competitors Top Sportsman).

In Lectron Australia Competition Bike, four new national eighth mile records were set by three competitors, one by winner Rob Cassar, one by runner-up Edge Mallis and two by Top Qualifier Medallion, presented by New Gen Business Park winner, Joe Khoury. To get to the final, both Cassar and Mallis enjoyed wins in rounds one, two and three of the round-robin style racing. In round one, it was Cassar over Rob Church and Mallis over Nathan Stone. In round two, Cassar took the win over Stone while Mallis enjoyed a bye. In round three Malllis took the win over Walter Hosta, while Cassar enjoyed the bye. Top Qualifier Joe Khoury also took a win over Church in round three, after enjoying a bye in round one and being bested by Hosta in round two. 

Cassar was lost for words after his win amongst a tough field of Competition Bike racers this weekend at the South Coast Nationals after also resetting the Competition Bike AA/CBN ET record to 4.534 seconds.  

Robert Cassar Pic: Michael Walker

“It was a great result this weekend. The track was awesome and South Coast Raceway is always awesome, and we won,” Cassar said.

“We had two reasonable qualifiers yesterday, with one going under the record, and then today we won the first two rounds before the bye, so we knew we’d get into the final against Edge. I wanted to push Edge a little bit in the final and I couldn’t be happier with the result this weekend. “I love racing in the ANDRA Regional Sportsman Series, they don’t just give these records and trophies away. 

“Thank you to all the sponsors supporting the ANDRA Regional Sportsman Championship, including the Competition Bike bracket sponsor Lectron Australia and Top Qualifier Medallion sponsor Next Gen Business Park. I’d also like to thank my sponsors, Ballistic Performance Parts, Powerplus Race Fuel, Denso Auto Parts Australia, Shinko, and Lucas Oil, as well as Katie Cassar and ANDRA, for a wonderful weekend.”

In Huntsman Racing Supercharged Outlaws winner Shane Baxter lined up against runner-up Tim Stewart in the final elimination round today. To get to the final, Baxter took wins over Warren Leonard in round one and Jason Keily in round two. Stewart, meanwhile, got the better of Mark Hunt in round one and Wayne Talbot in round two, who got the better of Top Qualifier Doina Day in round one.

Baxter couldn’t have asked for a better weekend, enjoying a smooth run both days with only some minor work needed on the Neil & Parks Dragster on Sunday.

Shane Baxter Pic: Michael Walker

 

“To be honest, it was smooth sailing through the whole meeting bar a lot of tyre shake in the first elimination round. We had to do some repairs to the car, but other than that, it was faultless, and the car ran great,” Baxter said. 

“The track was excellent, the weekend was excellent and, yeah, I had a ball.”

“I’d like to thank Brian Oakley from Industrial Thermocouple Supplies for the support this weekend and I’m already looking forward to the next one in February (round five, February 8-9 2025 at Dragway at The Bend).”

In Langtree’s Machinery Services Junior Dragster Bailey Hawke took the win with a solo run. Before her winning pass, Hawke bested Savanna Condello in round one, Deklan McGregor in round two and Top Qualifier Luca Lamattina in round three.

In Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike Peter Bartlett took the win over runner-up Bryan Finn. To get to the final pairing, Bartlett first got the better of Derryn McGregor in round one, before successfully lining up against Mathew Jones in round two. Meanwhile, Finn took wins over Lucas Neagoe in round one and Corey Gathercole in round two. Gathercole got the best of Saturday’s Top Qualifier, Dean Jamieson, in round one. 

In Gallagher Modified Eliminator Kenny Stewart successfully dispatched Top Qualifier Rocco Romano in the final elimination round today at South Coast Raceway. To make it into the finals, Stewart first took wins over Ashley Johnson in round one and Craig Geddes in round two before enjoying a bye in round three. Romano, meanwhile, also enjoyed two wins and a bye before lining up in the final against Stewart, getting the better of Bradley Hicks in round one and Paul Fletcher in round three with a solo run in round two. 

In The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Gas Adrian McGrotty took it all the way to the end with a win in the final match up on Sunday against runner-up Colin Griffin. To get to the final, McGrotty set to work in the first round, taking the win over Darryl Stephen in round one and Jason Wilson in round two before enjoying a bye in round three ahead of the semi final. Griffin meanwhile raced through all three elimination rounds, with wins over Vasilios  Hondros (round one), Renee Cockerill (round two) and Warren Bull (round three)  before lining up against McGrotty. Bull had previously won over Top Qualifier Malcolm Todd in round one. 

In Super Sedan Competitors Super Sedan points leader coming into this weekend, Tony Miskelly added more valuable points to his total with a win over runner-up Robert Kardum today. To get to the final, Miskelly first took the win over Brodie Tedesco in round one before wins over Chevy Taylor and Alex Gkroidis in rounds two and three, respectively, before a bye in round four. For Kardum, the Victorian racer first dispatched Top Qualifier Zack Knezevic in round one before taking the win over Nikolas Karanovic in round two and Benny Phillips in round four after a bye in round three. 

In Goodyear Racing Super Street winner Stefan Lainas successfully navigated through five rounds of elimination runs to claim the ANDRA Christmas Tree this weekend over runner-up Luke Griffiths. Lainas’ successful runs began today with a win over Michael Bridges in round one and Allan Brooks in round two before a bye in round three and another win over Andrew Francis in round four, with Francis having previously bested Top Qualifier Malcolm Todd in round three. Likewise, Griffiths also enjoyed a bye during today’s runs, but not before dispatching Michael Jennings in round one, Henry Spicak in round two and Dean Cleary in round three.  

In Top Sportsman Competitors Top Sportsman today’s win belonged to Shane Wynd, who got the best of runner-up Jason Young in the final run. To get to the final, Wynd got the better of Graham Hargrave (round one), Glenn Henley (round two) and Michael Rouhan (round three). Likewise, Young took his Firebird to the final with wins over Greg Damiani (round one), Andrew White (round two) and Top Qualifier Daniel Jones (round three). 

Also on track today was South Coast Raceway’s Street Fighter class, with Jayden Hoggan taking the win over runner-up Wendy Cleary.

For the full race results from day two of the South Coast Nationals, please visit www.andra.com.au/series/results/

ANDRA thanks the South Coast Drag Racing Association Inc and all of its volunteers and sponsors as well as all of the ANDRA officials and volunteers for an outstanding racetrack and a well-run event.

The ANDRA Regional Sportsman Championship will next be on track at Dragway at The Bend for round five of the 2024/2025 series across February 8-9. For event information, visit www.thebend.com.au

For more from ANDRA, visit www.andra.com.au

2024/2025 ANDRA REGIONAL SPORTSMAN CHAMPIONSHIP DATES

  • Round one – August 24-25 – Alice Springs Inland Dragway – Desert Nationals
  • Round two – September 21-22* – Mildura’s Sunset Strip – Sunset Nationals
  • Round three – November 22-23 – Perth Motorplex – Goldenstates
  • Round four – December 7-8* – Portland’s South Coast Raceway – South Coast Nationals
  • Round five – February 8-9^ – Dragway at The Bend
  • Round six – February 14-15 – Mildura’s Sunset Strip – Twilight Nationals
  • Round seven – March 15-16 – Whyalla’s Steel City Raceway – event name TBC
  • Round eight – TBC – Dragway at The Bend – ANDRA Grand Final

*track will host an optional test day on the Friday
^event will double as a track championship round