McFADDEN’S EASTER SPRINTCAR TRAIL CHOCOLATES

By Thomas Miles (couresy Auto Action).

In a field full of big names, James McFadden emerged on top and got the chocolates in the 2026 Easter Sprintcar Trail.

Top three results across all three races were enough for McFadden to overcome the likes of Brock Hallett and Tate Frost to get the season-ending victory.

The SRA Open Sprintcar Series was also up for grabs, where consistency pushed Frost to the top ahead of Brett Milburn and Daniel Pestka.

The first stop on the annual Easter Sprintcar Trail was Geelong’s Avalon Raceway.

Jordyn Charge rose to the occasion and took the opener, receiving a $20,000 payday.

With his son also enjoying a first birthday celebration, the race win meant it was well and truly a Good Friday.

It was hard-earned as well, having started down in P8 as the likes of McFadden, Tate Frost and Brock Hallett battled for the lead.

The trio set the pace and took turns in the lead across the opening laps as drivers adapted to the technical surface.

But all this did was bring Charge into play, and the 26-year-old made his move with 10 laps left.

Lapped traffic was causing McFadden headaches, and the superstar experienced a tense moment as he just avoided Grant Stansfield.

Charge pounced and snatched the lead to drive to victory 1.8s ahead of McFadden and Frost.

The main event did not feature Jock Goodyer after he ran out of luck and suffered an early retirement in the B Main.

The field then made the trip to South Australia to Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway.

Returning to the scene of his brilliant domination of the recent Australian Sprintcar Championship, Goodyer was a happy man.

The Tasmanian, now with the #A1 on his wing, maintained his winning streak at the Blue venue.

Goodyer stamped his authority as soon as the lights went out in the A Main by cutting down off the high line to hit the lead.

Only one lap was possible before the reds arrived as hometown hope Glen Sutherland was at the centre of more pain.

Sutherland, Will Carroll and Brett Milburn all tripped over each other at Turn 4.

At the restart, Goodyer led, but there was massive drama behind him.

McFadden shaped as a contender in second, but freakishly got his hand caught in the spoke of a steering wheel and spun 360 degrees at Turn 4.

Suddenly, McFadden now faced the tall order of climbing from 12th to stay in contention.

This promoted local driver Daniel Pestka to second briefly ahead of Storer as the yellows returned on Lap 8 for Dane Court and Marcus Green having a spin at Turn 2.

A hit with the Turn 2 exit wall saw Storer drift back as Hallett won a battle with Frost to be third.

Behind them, McFadden was on the charge, and he amazingly needed just five laps to complete his comeback to the top four.

With 10 to go, Green had a spin and almost collected Stansfield.

The reds followed immediately as Peter Doukas had a big crash at Turn 4 and landed heavily on his roof.

During the stoppage, Doukas was not afraid to show his frustration and appeared to have some words with Charge.

Goodyer cleared off when the track returned to green, leaving the rest to fight for second and they put on a show.

McFadden won a sensational battle for second against Pestka and Hallett before the reds returned with five to go.

Dennis Jones experienced a terrifying barrel roll coming out of Turn 4, flipping multiple times.

Thankfully, the car finally came to a rest by the start finish line and he walked out of the car, while Kiwi Max Guilford was perhaps involved.

Despite all the stoppages, no one could still come close to Goodyer as he rocketed away to a 1.5s win and yet another Borderline triumph.

McFadden was thrilled to be second after his wild race, while Hallett was third despite some confusion post-race.

All roads led to Warrnambool’s Premier Speedway for the finale, where it was a familar story.

The clean race was again dominated by the #A1 of Goodyer, who carried on his strong form.

Goodyer nailed the start and did not look back as he flew to a 4.7s triumph.

Ethan Wyllie started at the front of the field, but drifted throughout the race and could only manage sixth.

Behind Goodyer, Dane Court was settled in second, while McFadden drove a clean and composed race to third, which was more than enough to clinch the Easter Trail crown.

Troy Hose was the only non-finisher in the rapid race.

It was again a grand way to end the east coast Sprintcar season.