Brock's The New King Of Kingaroy - southburnett.com.au

Victorian driver Brock Atkins is the new “King of Kingaroy” after taking out the A Main final of the Kings Royal … the competition was raced over three nights Kingaroy Speedway

January 30, 2022

The 2022 Kings Royal speedway meeting in Kingaroy “exceeded expectations” with crowds better than expected across the three nights and the racing as exciting as ever.

The main attraction was the $10,000 Kings Royal for Modified Sedans which was raced across the three nights with heats, followed by special “dashes” and “shuffles” to determine pole positions for the 50-lap final on Sunday night.

Speedway Club president Tanya Barron admitted there had been uncertainty in the lead-up about crowd numbers.

“We didn’t know how many we were going to get, honestly. Some people just want to get out and live again, and some people don’t want to go out,” she said.

But the size of the Friday night crowd had taken them by surprise – one of the largest crowds the club has enjoyed on a non-traditional speedway night.

There were also good crowd numbers on Saturday and Sunday, but the pandemic did have an effect, with numbers down on 2020 (the last time the event was run).

Racing was keen across the three nights, with action in Production Sedans, Modlites, Street Stocks and Juniors as well as the Kings Royal and Queens Royal.

The Kings Royal has the largest prize money offered on the Modified Sedans circuit, which means the racing is always hectic.

The B Main – the last chance to make it into the final – included multiple stoppages after pile-ups.

Many expected the A Main final to be the same, but the racing went smoothly from the green light with the first yellow coming on Lap 25.

2019 Kings Royal winner Aidan Raymont and 2020 winner (and national champion) Kye Walters battled it out during the first stages.

The pair started on the front row and raced side-by-side for many laps.

Walters eventually retired on Lap 25 with a steering issue and Raymont – after recording the fastest lap time in the race – pulled out on Lap 40 with a flat tyre.

This allowed Victorian Brock Atkins to take the lead with 11 laps to go, and secure the biggest payday of his career so far.

Gary Pagel was second, narrowly ahead of Brenton Scott and Kingaroy’s Brett Barron, the only drivers to finish on Lap 50.

The next race at the Kingaroy Speedway will be held on March 19 and will feature Super Sedans, Street Stocks, Production Sedans, Junior Sedans and Legend Cars.

This will be followed by two huge meetings in April: the National Production Sedan Title at Easter on April 15-17, and a week later the Production Sedan Stampede on April 23-24.

[All photos by Denise Keelan Photography. Photos can be ordered online]