Charlton Raceway 6x6 Shoot-out a success!
Monday January 1, 2007.  Nathan Macdonald

The Modified Production 6x6 Shoot-out was held at Charlton Raceway on New Years Eve, which was a Holden VS Ford Challenge.  Six locals were invited to take part in the race, which saw three rounds of two heats.  Those taking part for Holden were Robert Trapp (VX Commodore), Shane Macdonald (VS Commodore) and Rodney Pammenter (VS Commodore).  For Ford there was Dennis Bullpit (EL Falcon), Royce Ernst (XF Falcon) and Mark Ferguson (XF Falcon).

The first heat saw Rodney Pammenter start off the front row.  Pammenter set the pace early leading from start to finish with Robert Trapp finishing in 2nd and Mark Ferguson in 3rd.  The second heat is a reverse grid of the first heat, which saw Shane Macdonald start off the front row beside Bullpit.  Bullpit got the better run around the turn 1 as Macdonald drifted high and let several cars through.  Shane drifted back to finish 6th.  Mark Ferguson come through for the win with Dennis finishing 2nd and Rodney Pammenter 3rd.

Mark Ferguson took out the heat 3 win, with Robert Trapp in 2nd and Shane Macdonald in 3rd.  For heat 4 Bullpit was to start from position 3, with Shane Macdonald on the outside.  Macdonald made his way into 2nd place past Bullpit and Royce Ernst and put chase to Rodney Pammenter.  Macdonald was right on the tail of Pammenter but had to settle for 2nd.  Royce Ernst finished in 3rd with Dennis finishing in 4th right behind Ernst.

The racing was a great spectacle to see with all competitors evenly matched and all showed some great passing maneuvers and clean racing.  The points were close at this stage with both Holden and Ford with 2 wins each.  Macdonald was off pole for heat 5, with Mark Ferguson on the outside.  Royce Ernst was unlucky not to compete in the final two races after blowing a power steering line in heat 4 and not making it back out.  Macdonald set the pace in heat 5 and was challenged by Ferguson Early on but Macdonald went on to win heat 5.   Mark Ferguson finished in 2nd with Dennis Bullpit 3rd. 

The final race of the night was one of the fastest and most exciting, with Robert Trapp starting off pole, followed by Dennis Bullpit, Rodney Pammenter, Shane Macdonald and Mark Ferguson.  As the green flag flew, so did the cars, as  Bullpit and Trapp fought for the lead, Macdonald then got in on the act as well as Pammenter.  All four cars were right on the money, and within striking distance of the lead.  Bullpit drove superbly to cross the line in first, while Macdonald was working high and made a move around the outside of Trapp on the final lap.  Macdonald dived down on the inside of Bullpit on the final turn but wasn't enough.  Bullpit won the final heat with Macdonald 2nd and Robert Trapp 3rd.

A great night's racing was on show and could only be described as sensational.  All cars come out unscathed and it was full on door to door action.  It was Holden that come out on top of the points at the end of the night.