RACE REPORT: SOUTH COAST 660
“The bike was running like a dog all
weekend, I had no shift lights and had
been guessing all my gear changes,
but all the other guys were making
mistakes – I got out of jail so many
times! And then in that last run, I ran
a 0.01 light and ran within a hundredth
of my dial-in – they were never going to
beat me on that.
“With the way it went all weekend, I
just couldn’t believe it in that last run
against Jake Hamilton that we were
unbeatable – that was real special and
I think there was a bit of Phil Parker
sitting on my shoulder there for that
one, I am sure of that.
“To all of the racers and the guys
particularly in Modified Bike I want to
say thank you and to ANDRA for their
professionalism, a lot of thanks has to
go to them and to Summit – I just really
appreciate what they do.
On his way to the win, Crawford
defeated Greg Oberti, Jase MacFarlane,
Danny Rickard, Dan Dycer and then
Hamilton, while Hamilton faced off
against Edgell Mallis, Chris Hosken,
and Mario Baker before enjoying a bye
run in the semi-finals.
Supercharged Outlaws winner Jason
Keily may not have ever met Chris
Stewart before he passed away last
year, but he was clearly moved to
receive the trophy.
“I have only been racing for four years
and I never knew Chris personally, but
it is an honour to receive this trophy
and I really appreciate it. I was (at
Portland) last year, but I never got to
meet him, but from talking to a lot of
people I realise just how much he did
for the sport and how he touched a lot
of people, so this means a lot,” Keily
said at the presentation.
For Keily, the weekend started off
with some difficulties but it all came
together in time for race-day – where
he took on and defeated Ryan Van Dyk
before enjoying a bye run ahead of his
final race against Justin Russell. Russell
had earlier dispatched Shane Kramer
after a bye in round done.
“We struggled a little bit in qualifying
with the car moving around a bit, I
don’t think it liked the cooler weather!
We persevered though and then (on
Sunday) the temperatures were a bit
higher and the car loved it – we were
able to get a lot of good traction and
get some good runs in,” Keily explained.
“I have to thank Johnny Marshall
from Marshall Cams, he has been so
unbelievable since I rebuilt the motor
and put one of his cams in it, he has
helped me a lot with the fuel system.
Also, Graeme Cooper who has been
helping us fine-tune my dial-in and Tim
Stewart and his wife for showing me
that I needed to do that and helping me
with it as well – these people are my
rivals and they are helping me and that
is just fantastic, it is what is so great
about Sportsman racing! I also need to