by Dean Thompson
Nyora Raceway's Christmas meeting is back on this Saturday, December 23.
After being postponed due to weather in early December, competitors are set to hit the track this weekend in an action-packed show that includes American sprintcar star Chase Randall competing in the "Battle at the Bullring" Victorian Sprintcar Association event.
Along with the sprintcars will be Junior 1200cc sedans, sports sedans, standard saloons, women's standard saloons, junior standard saloons, Santa Claus and fireworks to keep everybody happy from the single speedway fan to the families and, especially, the kids.
In the "Battle at the Bullring" for sprintcars, Chase Randall will compete for Pakenham businessmen Danny and Kyle Mason in a warmup before he competes in some of Australia's biggest races against the nation's top drivers.
Randall, who won the 360ci sprintcar season championship at the famed Knoxville Speedway in Iowa, will be up against a host of determined locals keen to notch a big win in their career.
VSA club champion Adam Greenwood from Sale leads the likes of Koby Noonan, Travis Millar, Dillon Siely, Steven Horton, Roddy Dennison, Alistair Bastian, Victorian champion Nigel Laity, Koo Wee Rup's Thomas McDonald, Frankston's Kim Gosling, veteran David Dennison and karting prodigy Ethan Bastian to battle against the American.
In 1200cc junior sedan action, Victorian champion Bryce Leek heads into the meeting with favouritism. However, he has tough competition from the likes of Chase Doherty, Dayne Murdoch, Blake Beach, Ella Sheedy, Riley Taylor, Andrew Mitchell and Xander Baxter to name a few.
Beach won this past Saturday night, whilst Murdoch almost secured his first ever victory. Baxter and Taylor are already proven winners and the victor in this one is too hard to pick.
Sports sedan action will see a strong field of competitors go at it, with Grantville's Simon Bent as Nyora's most successful in open/unlimited sedan (a former category)/sports sedan driver up against the likes of Inverloch's Braidan Webster, who took victory at Alexandra on Saturday night, Chris Aarts, Scott Angus, Cameron Dike, local legend Ray Gould and Jeff Blencowe.
Another very strong standard saloon line-up will see this year's local star Andrew Miles in competition against all the other local stars. Brodie Ardley, Chris Miles, last weekend's winner Harry Cecil of Poowong, Jack Braz, Mark Miles, Kacey Ingram, Chris Miles, Matt Leek and Owen Cecil look to be where a winner might come from at the end of the night.
Women will be in competition in standard saloons, with Ally Morrison leading the line-up. Bronwyn Miles, Caroline Allen and Bree Walker are all front runners. Morrison, a two-time Victorian champion, is hard to look past.
Rounding out all the action is the standard saloon junior category with the likes of Tom Braz, Bryce Leek, Chase Ingram, Cooper Joynson, Ella Sheedy, Hunter Carey, Noah Collette and River Paterson as drivers to watch on Saturday night. Braz was the most recent winner in the class at Bairnsdale, whilst the rest of the field have their sets on the win this Saturday.
Santa will visit midway through the night and the closing act of the show will be fireworks, both of which will put smiles on the faces of all the children at the event.
Cars will be on track from 4pm, with racing beginning at 4.30pm.
Pre-event online ticket purchase prices are $25 for adults, $10 for pensioners and $5 for children up to 16 years. A family ticket for two adults and two teenagers is $55.
Pre-purchase saves money and time, with tickets at the gate $30 for adults, $10 for pensioners and teens aged 12 to 16 years, and $5 for kids up to 11 years. A family ticket is $60.
Eftpos is available at the track. For further information, call 0428 847 888.