Craig Van Der Stelt Finishes 10th In 1st Round Of Track Championship
27/10/2008 8:01:44 PM - Zenith Racing

Craig Van Der Stelt and the Zenith Racing team had their second top 10 finish of the year with a 10th place finish at the opening round of the Speedway City Sprintcar Track Championship on Saturday night. Craig didn’t start the night in the fashion he would have liked with a DNF in the opening heat but recovered through the B Main and then raced forward in the A Main passing four cars to finish 10th on the dry and dusty one lane race track.

“We could have started the night a lot better after passing a few cars at the start of the first heat before spinning onto the infield,” said Craig. “After I spun the car I couldn’t re-enter the track as another driving was doing donuts on the track in front of me and I ended up stalling the car. The officials decided not to put the caution on and give us a restart which is really disappointing because these race cars cost far too much to be left sitting on the edge of the track while there is a race going on. It certainly then leaves you scratching your head a bit when you watch the next heat and someone spins onto the infield and gets a caution for the same thing, not to mention the two red lights that stopped our second heat for cars that tapped the wall and spun out!”

Not to be deterred the Zenith Racing team regrouped for the second round of heats finishing in third position and then transferred through the B Main with a second place finish. In the A Main Craig started from position fourteen before slowly moving his way through the field to record his second top 10 result in two races for the season. Commenting on his run in the A Main Craig said, “The track was pretty much one lane all night so we just glued ourselves to the bottom in the A Main and followed the train of cars around until an opportunity arose to make a pass. Fortunately some doors opened up and we were able to go forward a few spots and in the end we were happy with the result after a tough start to the night. I have to thank the Zenith Racing team crew for continually working hard during the night to improve the car in the trying conditions.”

There was some confusion as to Craig’s finishing position after the A Main after it was initially thought by some that Craig had been lapped before the first and only caution of the 25 lap A Main. “We had definitely not gone a lap down,” said Craig. “We watched the video of our race again on Sunday morning and the passes we made after the yellow were all for position. I am not sure how anyone thought we were a lap down but we would be happy to pass on our video to the officials if they want to review it”.

This coming weekend, Saturday 1st November, the Zenith Racing Team will be back at Speedway City for the annual Australian Sprintcar Masters.

Craig Van Der Stelt quick results:
Round 1, Speedway City Sprintcar Track Championship
Speedway City, Adelaide, SA
Saturday 25th October 2008
Heat 2 – Start: 6th; Finish: DNF
Heat 5 – Start: 3rd; Finish: 3rd
B Main – Start: 3rd; Finish 2nd
A Main – Start 14th; Finish 10th

The Zenith Racing team is proudly supported by:

Zenith Custom Creations (www.zenithcustomcreations.com.au)

Croft Constructions

Simpson Race Products (www.simpsonraceproducts.com)

UES International Pty Ltd (www.uesint.com)

RJD Truck & Machinery

CBR Landscape Supplies

Automotive Chips Away Australia (www.chipsaway.com.au/)

www.craigvanderstelt.com

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