Joel Ettridge crowned WA Limited Sprintcars State Champion in dramatic decider at Geraldton City Speedway

A new State champion was crowned over the weekend in the WA Limited Sprintcars series at Geraldton City Speedway. After two action-packed nights of dirt racing, Boyanup local Joel Ettridge clinched the title after dominating all weekend, capping it off with a commanding performance in the feature race which saw him drive a clean and controlled race amid the chaos. Saturday night’s win saw Ettridge climb to three race wins, alongside 10 top fives and 11 top 10s which took him to 929 points across the season. The newly crowned champion was on the pace all weekend, setting the fastest times in practice and time trials, which carried over into qualifying where he pulled off a stonking lap time of 12.994sec. to secure quick time. His strong form continued into the heat races, taking out the first heat race, while in his second heat race, he sustained some damage, but fought hard to finish fifth — which was good enough for feature race pole. Matt Peaker, Gavin Davis and Henry Patience won the other three heat races. Once the green flag dropped, Ettridge charged off the line, but the race was neutralised due to some typical opening-lap drama. Local driver Anthony Gaudio was caught amongst it, with contact made between himself and Patience — Matt Davis and Gavin Davis also got tangled in the incident. Fortunately, the Moonyoonooka racer was able to rejoin during the restart from the back of the grid, but this revival was briefly short-lived as contact between himself and Brendan Dickinson on lap nine ended his title hopes. He finished with three top fives and eight top-10 finishes across the season. Wandina’s Nathan Davis, who looked a title chance, fought his way up to third place, but mechanical issues ended his night. Once the race settled, Ettridge began to push away from the rest of the field to keep his nose clean and win the WA State Championship, 62 points ahead of Glenn Dickinson. Patience, Dickinson, Peaker and Warwick completed the Geraldton feature race’s top five, while eight of the 15 starters retired from the race.