Tyson Martin has walked away from B&S Earthworks Timmis Speedway $10,000 richer after taking out the 50-lap A-Main in a fast and action-packed conclusion to Mildura's Wingless Sprint Stampede.
After two nights of racing, Martin capped off an impressive weekend by taking the biggest prize on offer, finishing ahead of Blaine Densley and Angus Hollis.
Martin, Densley, Hollis and Todd Moule occupied the first two rows for the start of the 50-lap feature, setting up what would become a tight battle at the front.
Martin lost the lead during the early stages before fighting his way back, regaining the top spot from Densley around lap 20.
By this stage the Timmis Speedway track was extremely fast and tight, with Martin running about as close to the wall as you could get as he chased the $10,000 payday.
There was still plenty of drama to come.
With 23 laps remaining, a big rollover involving Kyle Mock and Ryan Broome brought proceedings to a halt and forced another restart.
Once racing resumed, Martin was able to hold his position at the front and eventually crossed the line to take the victory.
Densley finished second, while Hollis completed the podium in third.
Luke Weel was awarded the Hard Charger Award after making his way through the field during the feature.
A very different track by feature time
Conditions changed considerably throughout Sunday night's program.
The track was wet and relatively slow during the early stages of the meeting, but as more laps were completed it became noticeably quicker.
By the time the major races arrived, there was very little room for error.
That produced some spectacular racing — and more than a few incidents.
Martin starts the night strongly
Martin had already shown his speed earlier in the program.
In Heat 10, Martin took the victory ahead of Chris Temby and Jordan Bolitho.
The race required an early restart following an incident, while Brad Warren pulled out before the finish.
Martin ultimately came through to take another victory as he continued the form he'd shown during the opening night.
In Heat 12, Blaine Densley took the win ahead of Blake Walsh and Brett Ireland.
Walsh produced an impressive drive and looked capable of challenging Densley but simply ran out of laps to get the job done.
Ryan Furler took Heat 13 with a clean start-to-finish victory.
Heat 14 also ran from start to finish, with Luke Weel taking the win ahead of Kyle Mock, Daniel Sayer and Declan Bolitho.
Those four separated themselves from the remainder of the field and opened a considerable gap.
More restarts in Heat 15
Heat 15 wasn't quite as straightforward.
An incident on the opening lap immediately brought about a restart.
Later, with only two laps remaining, Jason Bates looped his car and triggered another restart.
When the race finally reached the chequered flag it was Angus Hollis taking the win, followed by Ryan Broome and Keke Falland.
It set the scene for what would become a busy series of finals.
D Main starts the charge towards the feature
The D Main began with Caleb Evans, Andrew Mattschoss, Brad Kirtland and Ryder Blight occupying the first two rows.
Mattschoss looping the car resulted in another restart during the race.
When it was eventually completed, Brad Kirtland took the victory, followed by Blight, Turner and Argus.
From there, attention turned to the C Main — and that's where the night really began to get wild.
Chaos in the C Main
Blake Walsh, Chris Ansel, Jack Grey and Ryan Broome occupied the first two rows for the start.
Almost immediately there was trouble.
A big crash on the opening lap developed out of a tight tussle through turn four, and it could very easily have collected considerably more cars.
Later in the race, another incident on the main straight saw David Hutchinson and Sharni Pitcher roll, again bringing the race to a stop.
Noah Smith looping his car caused yet another restart, and several more attempts were needed before the C Main could finally be completed.
By now, the track that had started the night wet and slow was getting noticeably quicker.
After surviving all the interruptions, Jason Bates took the C Main victory, with Blake Walsh second and Norvill third.
Walsh charges through the B Main
The first two rows for the B Main consisted of Jordan Bolitho, Brett Ireland, Luke Weel and Wayne Logie.
Brad Warren again exited early.
For much of the race it looked as though the B Main might finally provide an uninterrupted run, but a yellow with just one lap remaining meant the field had to bunch up one final time.
Blake Walsh came through to win, Luke Weel finished second and Chris Temby crossed the line third.
That set the stage for the race everyone had been waiting for.
50 laps and $10,000 on the line
After two nights of heats, crashes, restarts and preliminary finals, it came down to 50 laps.
Tyson Martin, Blaine Densley, Angus Hollis and Todd Moule started from the first two rows.
The battle at the front was tight from the outset.
Martin surrendered the lead early before chasing Densley and eventually finding his way back past him around lap 20.
From there, Martin pushed hard around an extremely fast Timmis Speedway circuit, repeatedly running within inches of the wall.
The rollover involving Mock and Broome with 23 laps remaining added one final major interruption to the contest.
But after the restart, Martin continued to lead.
Fifty laps after it began, the chequered flag belonged to Tyson Martin.
🥇 1st — Tyson Martin
🥈 2nd — Blaine Densley
🥉 3rd — Angus Hollis
Hard Charger — Keke Falland
It capped off an impressive weekend for Martin, who had been among the leading contenders throughout the two-night Stampede before delivering when the biggest prize was on the line.
A weekend with extra meaning
The weekend's meeting was also held as a tribute to Tanya Walsh, adding considerably more meaning to the two nights of racing at Timmis Speedway.
After a weekend featuring everything from dominant heat wins to big crashes, rollovers, countless restarts and ultimately a 50-lap battle for $10,000, the Wingless Sprint Stampede is done.
For Timmis Speedway, though, the next meeting isn't far away.
Racing returns on October 30 with the Southern Speedcar Series.
