Monster night of racing hits Lismore speedway

Lismore speedway set to deliver a bumper night of racing entertainment. Read what’s on inside.

UPDATE: Due to heavy downpour, this event has been postponed to January 22 along with the monster fireworks.

Lismore speedway promoter David Lander has promised an extravaganza to herald in the new year at the Lismore showgrounds.

“This is a night that will be very special as we welcome in 2022,” he said.

The action-packed night will feature monster trucks and freestyle motocross action.

“The monster trucks will go through a spectacular routine of ramp jumps and car crunching antics that is entertainment-plus,“ Mr Lander said.

Free style motocross is also on the ticket presenting the FMX Motocross team of professional stunt riders performing their mid-air acrobatics from large ramps.

The speedway racing part of the massive show will feature racing from Wingless Sprintcars, Production Sedans, Street Stocks, RSA Four Cylinder Sedans, Junior Sedans and AMCA Nationals.

“It all culminates with a monster fireworks display that has to be seen to be believed,” Mr Lander said.

Typical Monster Truck action fans can expect to witness at Castrol Edge Lismore Speedway on January 22.

Large crowds attended the Lismore speedways opening meet for the season and attracted a healthier than expected amount of teams.

Controversy as top drivers disqualified

The Boxing Day opening round of the Mr Modified Series presented some controversy as two of the main event placegetters Mitch Randall and Josh Rose were penalised and had to hand over the top spots to original third placegetter Brock Gardiner.

Brock Gardiner was the winner of a dramatic 40-lap Mr Modified Series opening round main event at Castrol Edge Lismore Speedway, December 26.

Mitch Randall, Josh Rose and Brock Gardiner crossed the finish line in places one, two, and three after 40 tough laps.

Mitch Randall had the win taken from him when he was disqualified for passing twice on the grass

Josh Rose failed to go to the scales after his runner-up result and was consequently eliminated from the top three leaving the official place winners as first, Brock Gardiner, second-placed Mitch Randall and third placing Mark Robinson.

Due to Josh Rose being disqualified, this action placed Mitch Randall in second place.

Rose chased the leader Randall hard in the latter stages of the 40-lap feature race running the high line lap after lap to come within striking distance of Randall at the chequered flag.

Two stoppages didn’t slow Randall down as he demonstrated command of the race to maintain his advantage at the green light.

Annual opening round of the Mr Modified season at Lismore speedway with winning contender no. 9 Mark Robinson in the green v8 Modified racer.

Rivals Mark Robinson and Brock Gardiner drove a strong race with Robinson being in contention for a shot at the top spot yet Gardiner made space to secure third position as the laps ran out.

Rose came on the scene at a rate of knots and ran hard in second placing.

He made his bid for victory in the last ten laps even though Randall recorded the fastest lap of the race, recording a 14.931 second lap early in the event for a speed of 96.444 km/h.

Annual opening round of the Mr Modified season at Lismore speedway with winning contender no. 91 Mitch Randall.

The top ten were rounded out by fourth placegetter Mick Reid who was followed to the flag by Andrew Firth, Scott Quirk, Luke Dunn, Darryl Armfield, Taylah Firth and Adam Thomsen.

Heats were won by Andrew Firth, Andrew Pezzutti, Sam Bruggy and Chris Corbett, while Andrew Firth took out the six lap Dash.

Other winners

Other main event winners were: Shanae Smith (Four Cylinder Sedans), Shane Newstead (AMCAS), Jaiden Santin (Junior Sedans), Brock Armstrong (Street Stocks) and Seiton Young (Wingless Sprintcars).

The defending Mr Modified series champion Mitch Randall said he didn’t have much luck on the night, yet wasn’t too fazed.

Randall took out the opening Mr Modified series round in 2019 and 2020 and was on the cards to make it a hat-trick of opening round successes.

Annual opening round of the Mr Modified season at Lismore speedway with winning contender no. 25 Andrew Pezzutti.

According to Mr Modified records tracing back many years, nobody has ever won three consecutive opening rounds, so Randall is on the brink of setting a special place for himself in the annals of the competition.

“It‘s a series so we get another shot in a few weeks,” he said.

Over 22 nominations were received for the opening round 40-lap main event.

Points earned in the opening stanza will carry over to the second and deciding round of the annual tournament at the venue on January 8.