McHUGH IS KING OF BORDERLINE SPEEDWAY

Feature image: The Project Department

By Thomas Miles (Auto Action)

Lockie McHugh is the undisputed favourite heading into the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic after another win in the Kings Challenge.

The sprintcar stars spent the Classic eve flying around the venue for the Australian title, Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway.

It proved to be the scene of McHugh’s latest statement as he held off a charging American Ryan Timms.

After dominant drives in the Speedweek and Power Tour, it is his seventh win from just 14 starts within the last month.

As the Grand Annual Classic begins at Warnambool’s Premier Speedway tonight, there is no doubt who is the hot favourite.

McHugh and Kerry Madsen started the race by banging wheels with the winner emerging on top.

But not a single racing lap was possible due to local boy Parker Scott and Ian Madsen coming together on the exit of Turn 2.

At the restart, Kerry Madsen battled on the inside line, but McHugh was ultimately too fast up high.

One lap was completed, but no more than that as a clash between Daniel Pestka and Tate Frost sent the #T62 spinning into the infield at Turn 2.

Frost had got out of shape down on the bottom and lost momentum before the Pestka contact.

Multiple laps of green flag racing were finally possible at the third attempt, with McHugh checking out.

Further back Brock Hallett and Timms were side by side for sixth, and the latter got crossed up coming out of the final corner and was lucky to avoid spinning or contact with a wall or car.

Timms fell out of the top 10, but that did not stop him from launching a serious comeback.

Macedo also launched an attack on Madsen for second mid-race, but the American could not make it stick.

Around Timms was an angry battle pack at the back end of the top 10 and it ended in tears on lap 12.

Carson Macedo, Dayne Kingshott and James McFadden all crunched together on the exit of Turn 4, which resulted in the reigning Australian champion experiencing a violent roll.

McFadden and Kingshott made the initial contact before a clash with Macedo sent McFadden over.

Taking avoiding action and spinning was Jordyn Charge, while Ian Madsen climbed over Dylan Jenkin at a slow speed.

When the reds disappeared Kerry Madsen’s front left was sparking and immediately had to get the elbows out to stop Cole Macedo from snatching second.

Young gun Luke Storer was making a name for himself by stealing fourth with a stunning move around the outside of Reutzel.

At the same time, Timms was charging into the top five until the yellows returned for a stopped Max Guilford.

When racing resumed, Timms pressed on and passed the battling Storer and Reutzel in one impressive move at Turns 1 and 2.

The red flags returned with six laps left due to a horrific crash for Charge.

After drilling the wall on the exit of Turn 4, the #S11 flipped end over end across the start finish line.

A move to go to the bottom proved costly for Madsen as it allowed Timms to sneak past and steal second.

The #V25 now had five laps to catch the dominant McHugh and gave it a crack, but could not quite get close enough.

The youngster had some serious looks with four to go, but the Aussie had an answer on each occasion.

Just when McHugh thought he had sealed the win going through the final corner, the yellows denied him with Tim Keading slowing at the same stretch of track.

This set up a two-lap dash home and McHugh powered away on the restart.

The big mover was Storer as he soared around the outside of Macedo for fourth.

Despite Scott Enderl spinning the chequered flag was waved to ensure McHugh would not be denied this time. He marked the win by enjoying a beer on the wing of his #NQ7 weapon. “Lapped cars came out in front of us, so it is good to bounce back and get the win this year,” McHugh said.

“It makes up for my mistake last night (at Avalon). I played it pretty safe and felt I got through lapped traffic pretty well. “I could hear the car behind and the engine noise so I thought I should better step it up. “I did that, but not sure I had much of a gap at the end there.”

With the Kings Challenge out of the way, the stage is set for the three-night showdown that is the 52nd Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.

Coverage is live on Clay Per View and starts at 17.30 AEDT tonight, being the first of two qualifying nights for Sunday’s decider.

A total of 92 cars have entered the 2026 edition.

2026 Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic – Nominated Drivers (Sprintcars | 92 entries)

Car # – Driver

A1 – James McFadden

NZ1 – Max Guilford

W2 – Dayne Kingshott

V3 – Stephen Spark

S3 – Ben Morris

W3 – Callum Williamson

Q5 – Brock Hallett

W5 – James Inglis

S6 – Jason Wilson

D7 – Jordy Rae

NQ7 – Lachlan McHugh

T7 – Tim Hutchins

W8 – Andrew Priolo

V8 – Bobby Daly

N9 – Lachlan Caunt

T9 – Chris Johns

N10 – Luke Stirton

Q10 – Adam Butler

NQ10 – Jy Corbet

V10 – Steven Loader

S11 – Scott Enderl

NT11 – Jordyn Charge

VA11 – Phil Micallef

Q12 – Kye Jensen

N15 – Luke Thomas

T15 – Ethan Wyllie

V15 – David Dennison

N16 – Daniel Sayre

T16 – Adam Alexander

Q16 – Brodie Davis

USA16 – Xavier Doney

W17 – Aaron Reutzel

V17 – Dennis Jones

S20 – Glen Sutherland

USA21 – Justin Whittall

T22 – Jock Goodyer

V22 – Leigh Mugavin

W24 – Jack Williamson

NQ24 – Ryan Potts

NT25 – Will Carroll

V25 – Ryan Timms

V26 – Todd Moule

S27 – Daniel Pestka

V28 – Andrew Hughes

VA29 – Terry Rankin

V32 – Travis Millar

V34 – Brenton Farrer

N36 – Eddie Lumbar

VA36 – Ashley Cook

S37 – Brendan Quinn

V37 – Grant Anderson

USA40 – Cole Macedo

N43 – Alex Orr

VA43 – Daniel Storer

V45 – Rusty Hickman

T45 – Chad Gardner

Q46 – Dylan Menz

Q47 – Kinser Claridge

V47 – Jeremy Kupsch

N47 – Marcus Dumesny

N48 – Jackson Delamont

S52 – Matt Egel

N53 – Alex Attard

NS53 – Jessie Attard

Q54 – Randy Morgan

N55 – TJ Stutts

SA55 – Parker Scott

N56 – Michael Saller

N57 – Matthew Dumesny

V57 – Troy Hose

Q59 – Kevin Titman

W60 – Carson Macedo

T62 – Tate Frost

S63 – Ryan Jones

V64 – David Aldersley

Q66 – Ryan Newton

V68 – Brett Milburn

V70 – Matthew Symons

W71 – Kaiden Manders

N78 – Kobi Wright

S80 – Bradley Vaughan

N88 – Tim Kaeding

VA88 – Grant Stansfield

V88 – Hunter Schuerenberg

W95 – Kerry Madsen

NS96 – Brett Hobson

S96 – Brendan Guerin

V96 – Dane Court

S97 – Ian Madsen

Q97 – Tarhlea Apelt

V98 – Peter Doukas

S98 – Luke Storer