The Simpson 23-year-old had to retire from the C main at the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic in Warrnambool before finishing 16th in the B main at the Australian Sprintcar Titles in Adelaide on Sunday.

Rankin, who is sitting third on the Sprintcar Racing Association (SRA) of Victoria points standings, heads into the 10th round of the series tonight at Moama.

And he is not going to allow another boil-over.

“We’ve had a couple of issues but we seem to have sorted them out,” he told The Standard yesterday.

“We’ve changed the radiator and the shocks were a mile out.

“But we’re near where we need to be now.”

Rankin is one of 36 nominations at Moama tonight.

The Simpson dairy farmer is looking forward to the wide open spaces of the Murray River-side track. “It’s probably one of my favourites,” he said.

“I like the big, flowing tracks.

“I seem to do really well there regardless of the conditions.”

Rankin has prepared himself for slick terrain this evening. He has also set his sights on inching closer to current points leader Jamie Veal and second-placed Darren Molleonoyux.

“We really need to win to close the gap,” Rankin said.

“We need the points.

“Vealy is going to be hard to beat, the way he’s going. He’s got a lot of talent.”

John Vogels, Mike Van Bremen and Matthew Reed have 13 series championships between them and will be out to teach Veal a thing or two.

Veal is having a dream run behind the wheel and is fresh from a blistering fourth place at the Australian Sprintcar Titles.

The Warrnambool racer returns to the Moama circuit with optimism after winning at the same venue in round three. Another star of that night was Domain Ramsay, who trumped Stephen Bell in a heat race to start the feature in ninth position, only to storm home for third.

Mollenoyux also has unfinished business at Moama.

The Warrnambool driver was cruising in third place in round three when a caution light came on and he had an altercation with a slowing car.

Mollenoyux restarted at the rear of the field but sprinted back to fifth place.

The SRA Victorian Open Sprintcar Title is on at Avalon next weekend. Round 11 of the series is scheduled for Hamilton on February 18.