UNSUNG Sydneysider Ian Loudoun says he will enter this weekend’s Australian title with confidence after he upstaged the biggest names in the sprintcar world to win the 40th Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at Allansford’s Premier Speedway.
Loudoun, 27, led from flag to flag after claiming the front-running from the outside of the front row and holding off persistent polesitter US raider Craig Dollansky in one of the great Classics.
The pair diced for much of the 40-lap $40,000-to-win feature, with Dollansky getting within centimetres of claiming the lead with eight laps remaining, but Loudoun held on.
Loudoun, 27, said winning the Classic had been a long-held ambition, but revealed his family team was likely to retire at the end of the season.
“Wow — it’s just a dream come true,” he said after stepping from his car.
It was a stunning turnaround for Loudoun, who has raced at Premier Speedway previously but never been considered a serious contender. This season his form in Sydney has been sparkling and he brought his A game to the Classic to take on 14 United States raiders.
“Every race we had was good. It’s a family operation run by dad and mum (Denis and Leslie),” he said.
“They’re back in Sydney and I’ll call them in a moment. The $40,000 goes back into the team.
“This was going to be our last year. It was never a career option and it has to come to an end.”
The glass factory manager said he feared Dollansky was stalking him during the Classic.
“He’s a fair guy to keep at bay. He nearly got me, I made a few mistakes. There were 85 guys here who wanted to win this,” Loudoun said.
“It also gives me a lot of confidence going into the Australian titles (in Adelaide this weekend). Confidence is a big thing in sprintcar racing.”
Dollansky was only beaten a couple of car lengths with three-time classic winner Kerry Madsen the same distance away third. Loudoun led Dollansky early in the first attempted start and then at the restart.
Dollansky was shuffled back to third when countryman Daryn Pittman swapped positions in the opening lap but Dollansky reclaimed second place. At the same time Madsen tagged the wall and drifted back to fifth after starting from third on the grid.
The first stoppage came five laps down when Cameron Gressner came to grief and US racer Jason John suffered a deflated right rear tyre.
Danny Reidy spun out six laps into the race and then eight laps down hard-charging US youngster Kyle Larson also tagged the wall through a troublesome turn two.
Ten laps into the race and Loudoun led Dollansky with Pittman third, while world series ace James McFadden had blasted his way from 12th on the grid to fourth.
His run ended in spectacular fashion. McFadden caught on fire, pulled to the infield and was quickly doused by a fire crew while exiting his burning vehicle. He was not injured.
With 21 laps remaining Madsen moved up to third to make it a race of three contenders. On the telling 32nd lap Dollansky had been inching closer to Loudoun down the back straight and looked a great chance of passing through the fourth turn.
With eight laps remaining he came within centimetres of claiming the lead, but Loudoun refused to make a mistake. However, the run of the race was undoubtedly the V37 machine of Grant Anderson which started from position 19 in the 24-car field and finished fourth.
The top 10 in finishing order were Loudoun, Dollansky, Madsen, Anderson, Pittman, Robbie Farr, Brooke Tatnell, Shane Stewart, Ian Madsen and Trevor Green.
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