Speedway: US invaders take honours

US late model driver Jeremy Payne capped off a successful week by winning the Ultra Tune Morley Late Model USA Invasion Tour series at Coates Hire Bunbury Speedway on Saturday night.

Picture by Jon Gellweiler

After dominating in Manjimup with team mate Steve Francis, the Collie round was no differen twith no WA drivers winning any of the races on offer.

It was Francis taking the win and Payne in second which let him stay on top of the points table.

Heading into Bunbury for the final on Saturday night it was once again an all-American affair with the four car team dominating the heat races.

The A dash would see Francis and Payne off the front row with fellow drivers Doug Drownand Steve Shaver inthe top five positions on the grid.

As the main event kicked off, it wasevident everything wason the line for not only the final, but the series as well.

It took 20 minutes and five restarts to push the race forward and finally get things happening.

Several casualties including Bunbury’s veryownlate model sedan champion Brad Blake and three of the American stars Francis, Shaver andDrownleaving Payne tolead the whole race distance.

The class of racing offered by the division was more than enough to warrant another series next year according to Coates Hire Bunbury Speedway promotions manager, Andrew Roberts.

‘‘The fans that have turned up to all the events wouldn’t be disappointed by what they saw,’’ he said.

‘‘The quality of these drivers brought here was very special.’’

Also on the cards on Saturday nightwas a massive field of 360 sprint cars delivering some spectacular crashes and close wheel to wheel racing.

Ryan Farrell dominated and won the feature race,with Victorian Matthew Reed in second and Chris Ackland third.

The street sedans turned out with a strong field once again with their last run at the venue before their state title at Bunbury at the end of the month.

USA Tour Invasion (final points table):

Jeremy Payne (USA) 365 points, Jamie Oldfield (Aus) 323, Steve Francis (USA) 322, Brad Blake (Aus) 319, Doug Drown (USA) 313.