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George Goodearl took a heat and final double away from Arena Essex to top off a successful Easter weekend's racing in a meeting that had more than a few moments of controversy.

George Simmons also had a good meeting, taking the first of two wins in the first heat as Vinnie Madden was relieved of first place by the steward following a penalty for contact. The second heat saw more that one black cross put out as the steward started cracking down on the contact which, at one point, stopped the race following a spin on Hazelden by George Heath for which he was immediately disqualified. This was Goodearl's first win, ahead of Jamie-Lee Callis and Jimmy Galloway, but the result was affected by a number of place docks as a result of the penalties handed out during the race, although one driver tried to plead ignorance of the no contact rule. The consolation went to the only other driver to lift a trophy that day, Rob Hull, ahead of birthday boy T-Jay Powers and Chris Whiteman. Goodearl, it could be argued, won both his trophies with a measure of luck, the closing stages seeing a crash incident that, amongst other things, saw the offside front tyre of the Andrew Taylor car stripped off only to end up wedged underneath the Harry Stevens car. Stevens had been close to clinching the race but, with Taylor's tyre firmly wedged under him, there was no way to get enough speed up to get anything better than third spot behind Madden and Goodearl. This was all played out again in the allcomer's race at the end of the meeting but Stevens was still unable to better third spot behind Madden, and Madden still couldn't quite grab the win, this time finishing behind Simmons.

Lightning Rods
A heat and final double at Arena Essex on April 16 means a new roof for Darrell Smith. This was a meeting where the lower grades seemed to dominate whilst the higher grades scrapped it out downfield, Smith having a running battle with Chris Reeve and Steve Powell throughout the meeting, each grabbing a heat between them. Smith took the first heat easily, whilst Reeve took the second after holding Brian Thomas at bay during most of the heat before Bruce Wilcox and Alfie Smith tried unsuccessfully to relieve him of the lead. Heat three saw a bit of a disaster for Reeve and Smith as Powell jetted away from them, a tight fight between them ending up in the pit bend wall. The final, however, was a runaway victory for Smith with an early battle between Reeve and Powell left Reeve out of the result and Powell in second after holding off a determined drive from Thomas.

Bangers
The April 16 Banger meeting at Arena Essex was something of a mixed bag, with a surprise win in the first heat for Roy Laybourn, a driver more noted for his wrecking antics. This was because the first heat wasn't too big on wrecking, though the second heat provided a bit more. That heat was won by Jason Jackson, a lot of the wrecking coming at the expense of Dave Osborn who was more than a bit altered by the end. Defending RJK Driver's Champion Billy King took the final in a race that did see a bit of wrecking at the pit end, whilst temporary Condom Matt Fuller took the Rawlins 2000 qualifier, the last man standing being Gary Brown who took it to the various Smiths in what was left of his car in what seems to be, if not a war, then more likely a difference of opinion.

Last car: 567 Gary Brown

Crashnet Photos

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Also see Matthew Bull Photographic for more photos from this meeting.

© 2006 Chris Johnson (Crashnet) / Promotasport Raceways