GRANVILLE, Australia – Carson Macedo sprinted to victory aboard the Dyson Motorsport No. 99 during Saturday’s GT Challenge sprint car feature at Australia’s Valvoline Raceway.
The event served as the Ultimate Sydney Speedweek Grand Final.
Starting on the front row alongside Jamie Veal, Macedo tucked into second early on. The red flag waved three laps into the 35-lap feature when Jordyn Brazier and Brad Sweet collided in turn one and Brazier rolled over.
When racing resumed Marcus Dumesny made a play for second six laps into the feature, blowing past Troy Little and Macedo, only for Macedo to get back by half a lap later.
With 21 laps remaining an incident involving Ian Madsen and Cory Eliason brought out the caution as light rain began to fall. Another caution waved during the restart as Troy Little and Dumesny made contact in turn one.
A brief red flag period was called for so teams could refuel as the constant cautions meant teams had completed nearly 70 laps between green and caution flag laps.
Racing resumed again and Macedo made his move. Macedo slipped by Veal with nine laps left, only for Veal to return the favor. Macedo made contact with Veal as they raced for the lead into turn three one lap later, with Macedo emerging with the race lead.
Macedo led the rest of the way as Dumesny chased him home in second. Behind them chaos ensued as Aaron Reutzel, who had come from last in the B-Main to qualify for the A-Main, spun while running fourth with four laps left. He kept his car moving and continued, but his bad luck would soon continue.
In turns three and four Reutzel and Veal made contact, with Veal’s car flipping as the race came to a close. All of that happened behind Macedo, who collected the victory.
Dumesny’s second-place finish was enough for him to clinch the Ultimate Sydney Speedweek title.
In the companion Speedcar (midget) feature, Michael Stewart held off a hard charging Macedo by .094 to take home the top prize. Macedo started last in the 21-car field after taking the promoter’s challenge to start at the rear of the field to double the winner’s share of the purse.
The finish:
Carson Macedo, Marcus Dumesny, Jackson Delamont, Aaron Reutzel, Robbie Farr, Ryan Jones, Lynton Jeffrey, Daniel Sayre, Ian Madsen, Michael Stewart, Ben Atkinson, Matt Geering, Grant Tunks, Cory Eliason, Max Dumesny, Mick Saller, Daniel Needham, Chris McInerny, Jamie Veal, Troy Little, Danny Reidy, Sam Walsh, Brad Sweet, Jordyn Brazier.