Star Warrnambool sprintcar driver James McFadden can't remember a tougher season of racing in his career after his Australian title tilt fizzled out on Saturday night.
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McFadden, who qualified to start 11th in the 2024 Australian Sprintcar Championship A-Main on January 27, was forced to the in-field ahead of the 40-lap feature race after the Hodges Motorsport's D5 engine blew during hot-laps completed after a rain delay.
With a bittersweet mood surrounding the team in the pits as the feature race ran on without him, McFadden said the result wasn't what they had hoped for.
It came after his top-10 finish on the American World of Outlaws tour in 2023.
"That's the ups-and-downs of sprintcar racing and motorsport, you can never be king of the world in this sport because it can humble you really quickly," McFadden told The Standard.
"But this kicks you in the guts a little."
McFadden felt Saturday's result was reflective of his summer season in Australia as a whole.
The 34-year-old crashed out of the Australian title's preliminary A-Main on Friday after moving from 13th to fifth, while his Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic attempt a week earlier also finished prematurely after colliding with fellow front-runner Sheldon Haudenschild mid-way through the finale.
"That's been our year, we've been in positions to win races and haven't won one," he said.
"It was a really disappointing year for us, to not win in this (D)5 car and with NAPA on board.
"But it wasn't from the lack of trying or the car speed, we definitely had a lot of speed and a lot of times we could have shined but we didn't, we ran a lot of tangles and misfortunes we couldn't really get away from.
"You use everything you learn and try and build it as a positive and move onto the next one."
McFadden will be back on Australian soil next summer in a bid to "win some races for sure" but until then has his sights firmly set on the upcoming American season.
He'll take a few weeks off before flying stateside mid-February, where he'll join High Limit Racing after three seasons with the World of Outlaws.
"I think the first 15 tracks I've never been to, so I'm excited for the new adventure and can't wait to get going," he said.
Meg Saultry
Sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard, with a strong interest in Australian rules football, basketball and women in sport.
Sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard, with a strong interest in Australian rules football, basketball and women in sport.
