Greg Hodnett Has Entered the 45th Annual Lucas Oil Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic at Australia’s Premier Speedway.
Story By: SHAWN MILLER / INSIDE LINE MEDIA
Photos By: DAN DEMARCO / RACERSGUIDE.COM
WAARNAMBOOL, Australia —December 29, 2016- Greg Hodnett, who won 23 sprint car features last season, will return to Australia to contest the 45th Lucas Oil Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic Jan. 20-22 at Premier Speedway for Matthew and Renae Eastham in the Victory Lane Racegear No. V88 entry.
The 1996 Classic runner-up, believes he has some unfinished business at the Classic and is looking forward to teaming with the Victory Lane Racegear team to go one better than that infamous 1996 result, that saw Countryman Danny Smith record the last of his six Classic wins.
Hodnett’s 23 wins in 2016, were dominated by a run of 19 wins in Pennsylvania’s 410 Sprintcar competition, nine more than Lance Dewease who managed 10 wins for the season. Hodnett’s efforts were enough to see him win the season long championship.
Adding to the impressive rap sheet was the fact that Hodnett not only won on 19 occasions, but finished second 12 times and third another 16 times, that’s an amazing 47 races in which he stood upon the podium!
The championship was Hodnett’s seventh career win and the sixth time in the last seven years that he has claimed the Crown in Pennsylvania. On his way to the championship he also managed to secure the coveted Williams Grove Speedway points title as well.
Hodnett also contested a number of World of Outlaws events and was a part of the World Finals at Charlotte in October where he managed a third-place finish behind Donny Schatz and David Gravel on the final night of competition for the 2016 Outlaw Season.
The son of a race car driver, Hodnett was always going to become a racer, his late father Hoyette Hodnett began his racing career at the tender age of 13, retiring at 37 to become a respected car owner, spectator and avid fan of Greg’s racing.
Proving he will be a force to be reckoned with, Hodnett again proved his mettle at the Knoxville Nationals when despite a poor qualifying performance (40th quick) he would win his qualifying night heat race and back up that performance by finishing six in the A-Main.
That poor qualifying run would haunt Hodnett and his team, with his points haul being insufficient to avoid having to contest the Friday Night program at Knoxville.
A much-improved qualifying effort saw Hodnett finish second in the A-Main behind live-wire Californian Rico Abreu which saw him lock into the Nationals A-Main, where he would start 18th.
From there he was to make his way through the field to finish 8th in what was an eye-catching performance.
Despite the steady flow of entries all intending competitors are reminded that pre-entries close on Monday January 9, 2017 with a late nomination fee to be incurred thereafter.
The Classic will again act as a qualifying event for the Speed Sport News Challenge which will be held during the Knoxville Nationals next August.
