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SPRINT: Fairytale Farewell Finish for Rush

21 March 1998

(GEELONG, VIC., Saturday, March 21, 1998)........In a fairytale finish more appropriate to a Hollywood script, Garry Rush scored a thrilling and emotional last-gasp victory to win tonights Coca-Cola Sprintcar Nationals at Avalon International Raceway - the final Victorian appearance by the 53-year old before his retirement in hometown Sydney next weekend. The youngster who almost deprived 10-times Australian Sprintcar champion Rush of the win was 24-year old Tim McCubbin, son of Rushs 1970s HM Headers teammate (and 1971 Australian champion) Graeme!

Only a momentary bobble from McCubbins ICI Autocolor-Stealth exiting Turn Four allowed Rush to snatch the lead away as the Castrol-Maxim accepted the white flag signifying the start of the last of the races 25 laps. Up until then McCubbin had been under assault from defending SRA Series champion Matthew Reed whose impressive drive from midway in the field (row four) had taken the talented 22-year old Scoresby signwriter past Rush mid-race.

Unfortunately Reeds desperation to maintain his points lead over arch SRA Series rival McCubbin saw the Kato/Wholesale Automatics/Balcombe Engineering-Tiner come unstuck only three laps from the finish. Race-long leader and front row occupant McCubbin was rapidly caught by Reed as the pair negotiated Turns Three and Four on lap 23 - the speed at which Reed exited the turn catching his front nerf bar onto the rear of the leaders push bar. Reed lifted off the throttle from the soft contact and in a trice looped in front of the oncoming pack.

"I just got too close to Tim and spun," mused Reed afterwards. "I wasnt disappointed about crashing but dropping from second to last as all my hard-won points buffer has been lost. I hope we have enough parts to fix the car as this Series is coming down to a two-race shootout between Tim and I."

The subsequent restart allowed the vastly experienced Rush to worry McCubbin into making a crucial error, Rush later remarking, "I think we gave the fans a show by running up in the outside groove where no-one else was. I was going backwards for a while doing that until I could make it work for me. At the last restart I thought I had Tim covered but I was running out of laps so I got up beside him and that worried him into making a mistake - then as soon as I got in front on the last lap the motor died momentarily as it ran low on fuel!"

McCubbin was philosophical about being deprived of a memorable win, more concerned about setting up a thrilling head-to-head battle with Reed for the SRA Series which concludes with the Series Grand Final at Avalon on April 4. The Riddells Creek racer said, "I really wanted to win this (race) for Dad. The car was really good and the track very racey but the set-up got tighter and tighter the longer the race went and I couldnt avoid running into a rut that one time."

Third place went to 23-year old rising star Stephen Bell, last years Victorian Formula 500 champion elated at having at one stage overtaken Rush during a fabulous drive from his ninth-starting position in the Rentschs Auto Salvage-Schnee. "To pass Rush - even if it was short-lived - was as good as a win and it was even great to be able to be in the same race as him," enthused the Warrnambool rookie.

Highest qualifier Phil Johnson shadowed Rush throughout the event having drawn an inverted eight to start the 16-car field. Moments before the final Johnson had the small finger of his left hand jammed in a gate which cut the flesh to the bone but the determined driver refused to concede. "It was a good race from where I was sitting," said fourth-placed Johnson. "Those last five laps my finger was so sore I was driving with my right hand only."

Coca-Cola Sprintcar Nationals - Avalon International Raceway - Saturday, March 21, 1998

Heats (10 laps) : Rob Rankin (VIC #60), Phil Johnson (VIC #36), Mike Van Bremen (VIC #6), Daryn Maggs (VIC #7), Tim McCubbin (VIC #13), Matthew Reed (VIC #92)

B-Feature (12 laps) : 1. Wayne Milburn (VIC #2), 2. Gerard Boult (SA #25), 3. Ray Scott (SA #55)

Coca-Cola Sprintcar Nationals (25 laps) : 1. Garry Rush (NSW #2), 2. McCubbin, 3. Stephen Bell (VIC #69), 4. Johnson, 5. Darren Walsh (VIC #97), 6. Boult, 7. Jeff Judd (VIC #11), 8. Milburn, 9. Scott, 10. Ian Thomsen (VIC #32), 11. Rod Matthews (VIC #9), 12. Garry Chippendall (VIC #43), 13. Reed, 14. Rankin, 15. Van Bremen, 16. Maggs Lap leader/s : McCubbin (laps 1-23), Rush (laps 24-25)

West Coast Classic Modified Production Sedans (20 laps) : 1. Darren Cottrell, 2. Billy Reick, 3. Norm Fisher

Next Meeting : SRA Sprintcar Series Grand Final (Round 11), Saturday, April 4, 1998