Benjamin Millar
This was one of Star Weekly’s top sport stories from 2021.
Here’s your chance to read it if you missed it the first time.
May 11
Melton’s Sprintcar sensation Jordyn Charge is celebrating his strong conclusion to the 2020-21 season, which culminated in a dramatic Triple Crown Series win.
The 21-year-old racer’s second-place finish in last Sunday’s third and final round at Simpson Speedway in the state’s west saw him clinch a cherished victory in the Triple Crown Series for 360 Sprintcars.
Charge dominated the opening two Triple Crown Series rounds and had been hoping to make it a clean sweep in the final round, his first Simpson Speedway appearance since claiming a sensational second-place finish on the track in last season’s Australian 360 Sprintcar Championship.
Topping the timesheets in qualifying, Charge went into heat racing full of confidence, but the Melton speedster crashed on the fourth lap while leading and failed to finish due to considerable front-end damage.
As Charge’s busy pit crew raced to repair the damage, a shaken up Charge was looked over by ambulance personnel.
Charge was given the all-clear to take his place in his second and final heat race, storming from the back of the field in his repaired racer to claim a remarkable second place.
The fastest qualifying time and his second place heat finish, made Charge the fourth highest qualifier heading into the Top 8 pole shootout, but he slipped back to finish sixth.
This put Charge into position six for the feature race, but an electric start at the drop of the green flag saw him quickly fire into third place.
For 20 laps he chased hot on the heels of second-placed Domain Ramsay, closing in as they began encountering lapped traffic.
Charge narrowly avoided crashing into the back of his rival’s car when Ramsay rapidly slowed with an engine issue, but skirted clear and charged into second.
Despite his best efforts to run down leader and current Australian champion Brett Milburn, Charge ran out of time in the 25-lap event and greeted the chequered flag in second.
The second-place finish was enough to deliver Charge the overall point standings win in the Triple Crown Series for the 2020-21 season.
“I would have loved to have taken out a clean sweep of the Triple Crown Series, but it wasn’t to be and second was good enough for me to take out the series point standings win,” he said.
“It was certainly a challenging run at Simpson Speedway after the crash in my opening heat race and then an action-packed feature race, especially in the lapped traffic.
“How I finished it was a great way to thank my team for all of their efforts throughout the night – they were the key in helping me wrap up the Triple Crown Series.”
Charge also praised the support of sponsors including Victorian Towing Services, SupaF Spares, Western Nissan Caroline Springs and Wil’s Auto Melton.
The Triple Crown Series win marked the end of Charge’s 2020-21 season campaign, with the focus now on preparing for the 2021-22 season.
“To win the Triple Crown Series was a fantastic way to conclude the season, and hopefully we can build on this strong finish to the season heading into our 2021-22 season,” he said.
