By Phil Michell
With such a star-studded line-up in the pit area this weekend for the 2025 Clearview Accessories Australian Sprintcar Championship the winner of Saturday Night’s 40-Lap Championship finale will have driven the race of their life, but who will that be? Let’s take a look at the leading contenders and their form guide going into Australia’s most prestigious race of the season.
It’s not a surprise that a majority of the leading drivers have already worn the Australia #1 on the tail tank with the defending Australian Champion Lockie McHugh being the odds-on favourite and his recent form here at Murray Bridge is outstanding.
His streak began back in March with victory in the Australian Sprintcar Masters and continued this season with a win in on night 1 of the Super 8’s and a commanding win in the Speedweek opener on Boxing Day. McHugh went on to win the overall Speedweek Championship. He has wins at Gladstone, Toowoomba and Tolmer in recent months as well. Winning the Australian Championship back-to-back is always a tough assignment but not an impossible task with the likes of David Murcott and Kerry Madsen achieving the feat in recent years.
2023 Australian Champion Jock Goodyer will be keen to take the #1 back from his good mate and he too has plenty of wins at Murray Bridge. His most recent result was a podium in the Sprintcar Stampede in October, but he was a dual Speedweek winner here in 2023. Jock is coming off racing in Perth, so he missed the Boxing Day race. Jock finished third in his Title defence at Warrnambool last year.
This season James McFadden is driving for the Western Australian based Brady Motorsport Team and he gelled well with his new surroundings extremely well as he was victorious in the Western Australian Championship at the Perth Motorplex, won the opening two nights of the High Limit International before finishing second in the final behind Kyle Larson. He also enjoyed a win at Bunbury during the WA V USA Speedweek. The two times Australian Champion is always fast at the Bridge. McFadden first won the #1 at the Northline Speedway in Darwin in 2010 before winning his second Title at the Archerfield Speedway in 2013. He is also a two-time runner-up, finishing second to Kerry Madsen at the Borderline Speedway (2018) and to Andrew Scheuerle in 2019.
Four Time Champion Kerry Madsen will team up with the Western Australian based Diamond Bay Motorsports Team for his attack on his fifth Championship. Madsen’s first Australian Championship came at Warrnambool way back in 2003 before winning his second title at the same venue in 2016. His 2016 win was his first of three in a row as victories at Parramatta and Mount Gambier followed.
Going into this weekend’s 2025 Clear View Accessories Australian Sprintcar Championship there are very few drivers who have the recent record to rival Brock Hallett. The 2023 Grand Annual Sprintcar Champion has been the form driver at this venue with victories in the Battle of the Bridge, The Super 8’s and a runner-up result on Boxing Day. Over the years the GW Racing pilot has become an adopted South Australian so if Brock could win it would be a popular win. He is a dual Australian Formula 500 Championship, a Classic Champion, a World Series Sprintcars feature winner, all that is left is an Australian Sprintcar Championship.
In recent years the Australian Championship seems to bring out the best in Marcus Dumesny and his victory in Brisbane came after coming up just a car length short of winning the Title at Latrobe in Tasmania in 2020. He is a feature winner at Murray Bridge previously in the Rowett Motorsport Maxim.
Warrnambool’s Jamie Veal has been one of the leading contenders for the Title for many years having won the crown in 2020 at the Latrobe Speedway before finishing second in his Title defence at Archerfield in 2022. Last season his quest to recapture the #1 came agonisingly close he claimed the runner-up spot at his home track. Veal has a total of 5 podium results in the Australian Championship.
Other notable drivers to keep an eye on include Queenslanders Ryan Newton and Jye Corbet, Western Australians Callum Williamson and Dayne Kingshott, Victorian Jordyn Charge, New South Wales residents Michael Stewart and Jackson Delamont and Tasmanian Tate Frost.
Finally, we must mention the local “South Aussie Posse” with Matt Egel, Ryan Jones and Luke Dillon the most likely drivers to take a hometown win. Egel is already a feature winner at the Sprintcar Stampede, and he also claimed an Australian 360 – LS Championship at the venue. Egel finished on the podium the last time the Australian Championship was held in South Australia, 2018 at Mount Gambier. Jones was a recent winner at the Avalon Raceway during Speedweek and finished second overall in the points chase. Jones has more laps around here than most and is multiple feature winner at his home track. For Dillon, this may be the best chance to claim the Australian Championship, he has a 360ci Title to his credit, but a recent team change to the Perrett Family Racing #98 could prove vital as a lack of seat time in his new ride could play against him although he did finish second in the South Australian Championship at the Timmis Speedway.
Outside of the main contenders already mentioned the Australian Championship always seems to throw up some surprise results with drivers that aren’t always considered as contenders going into the weekend but walk away from the event with an unexpected performance. In recent years the surprise results have come from Western Australians with Callum Williamson, who has gone onto to become a household name, finishing third at the Perth Motorplex in 2023 while James Inglis won the opening night Preliminary Feature at Warrnambool last year. I wonder who that driver could be this year at Murray Bridge? Time will tell but I can guarantee that someone who no-one expects will put in a career defining performance this weekend. Hopefully it’s one of our locals!
EVENT DETAILS:
2025 Clearview Accessories Australian Sprintcar Championship
January 31st-February 1st, 2025
Tickets: www.speedwaytickets.com.au
Livestream: www.clayperview.com
Photo: KNJ Photography
EVENT NOMINATIONS:
Sprintcars
A1… Lockie McHugh
W2… Dayne Kingshott
S3… Ben Morris
W3… Callum Williamson
Q5… Brock Hallett
T7… Tim Hutchins
8w… Andrew Priolo
NQ10… Jy Corbet
S10… Steven Caruso
V10… Steven Loader
NT11… Jordyn Charge
S11… Scott Enderl
NS14… Michael Stewart
S14… Brendan Quinn
W14… Jason Pryde
T15… Ethan Wyllie
N16… Daniel Sayre
Q16… Brodie Davis
S16… Joel Heinrich
S20… Glen Sutherland
NS21… Jordyn Brazier
S22… Chad Ely
T22… Jock Goodyer
Q23… Callum Walker
WX23… James McFadden
S24… Ricky Maiolo
NT25… Will Carroll
W26… Kerry Madsen
S27… Daniel Pestka
T33… Brody Appleby
V35… Jamie Veal
V37… Grant Anderson
S38… Lachy McDonough
S43… Corey Sandow
Q46… Dylan Menz
Q47… Kinser Claridge
N47… Marcus Dumesny
N48… Jackson Delamont
Q49… Cody O’Connell
S50… Dylan Jenkin
S52… Matt Egel
N53… Alex Attard
Q54… Randy Morgan
N55… Jessie Attard
V55… Parker Scott
N56… Michael Saller
N57… Matt Dumesny
Q59… Henry Titman
T62… Tate Frost
S63… Ryan Jones
Q66… Ryan Newton
S78… Keke Falland
W80… James Inglis
S96… Brendan Guerin
S97… Ian Madsen
S98… Luke Dillon
V98… Peter Doukas
Street Stocks Invitational
S2… Anthony Buchanan
S3… Keith Moore
S5… Sam Brumfield
S4… Ben Tuttle
S6… Grant Harris
S7… Craig Buchanan
S11… Ryan Buchanan
S12… Darren Flatman
S14… Nigel Reichstein
S17… Carey Weston
S19… Phil Watson
S21… Mark Jennings
S24… Curtis Brown
S28… Jarryd Farrell
S72… Kye Richardson
S81… Wayne Kirley
S97… Nick Hill
S112… Drew Flatman
S119… Zac Walters
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