Yes, it was a fiery end to James McFadden’s Grand Annual Classic campaign. However, he wasn’t hot under the collar as a driver, but a potential winning result around the Premier Speedway track was ruined by a broken fuel nozzle that caused the fiery end.

After he had started from position 12 for the Grand Annual Classic deciding feature race, the NQ # 25 Totally Workwear Midland & VIC Park supported COOL driver wasted little time moving forward. Within half a dozen laps he had moved from 12^th to sixth, and by the 10^th lap he was up to fourth. While chasing after the third placed car of Daryn Pittman, McFadden’s car caught fire, which was discovered to be caused by a broken fuel nozzle, and it resulted in a quick retreat to the infield.

“I saw all the flames and I wasn’t going to mess around, so I pulled to the infield and got out [of the car] as quickly as possible,” explained McFadden. “Although it was disappointing to go out the way that we did, fire is something you don’t ever want to chance. My team had given me a wonderful car, and considering the way we moved forward, I felt that we had a good enough car to be able to contend for the win.”

McFadden’s Grand Annual Classic didn’t start in the best of fashion. Clocking in the 18^th fastest lap in the opening group of time trials and moving forward in both of his heat races to finish fourth and third place respectively wasn’t enough to avoid having to qualify for the preliminary feature race through the B-main. In the B-main, after starting from the sixth position, he captured the fourth and final transfer spot. After starting from position 18 in the field preliminary feature race, he worked his way forward to finish in 10^th. The second night resulted in McFadden winning his opening heat race and then placing fifth in his final heat race, which earned him a direct start in the feature race field out of position 12.

In the lead up to the Grand Annual Classic, McFadden contested both the President’s Cup at Avalon Raceway (Geelong, VIC) and Kings Challenge at Borderline Speedway (Mount Gambier, SA) events. In the latter event he was the defending champion. A podium finish in the President’s Cup went begging for McFadden after getting caught up with a lapped car while running inside the top three. He went on to finish just off the podium in fourth. At the Kings Challenge, McFadden was the highest placed Australian driver in fifth after he had worked his way forward from position 11.

Opting to miss this Wednesday night’s Prelude to the Championship, McFadden and the Scott Milling owned team are now preparing for this Friday and Saturday night’s Australian Title at Adelaide’s Speedway City.

Don’t forget to get hold of the new James McFadden merchandise range. T-shirts are priced at $30 and Hoddies at $50. You can pick up your merchandise from the McFadden transporter at any race meeting, or, if you can’t get out to the track email, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to place your order.        

McFadden would like to thank his car owner Scott Milling, parents Dave and Tania, crew chief Glen Beaton, and crew members Crackers and Alex, along with his valued sponsors: Totally Workwear Midland & VIC Park, Western Diamond Drillers, AUS FUEL GULL, Lucas Oil Products Inc, Allstar Performance, Astro Titanium, KRE Race Engines, OMP, Racer Industries and COOL Chassis, for all of their ongoing support in the 2011/12 season.

To find out more about James McFadden, visit his official website: www.jamesmcfadden.com.au