In any form of sport confidence is a major factor.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve got it that\u2019s great, if you don\u2019t it\u2019s going to be an uphill battle.<\/p>\n
Tasmanian Sprintcar driver Jock Goodyer seems to have it by the truckload. And it\u2019s telling.<\/p>\n
The current Australian Champion and recently crowned back-to-back recent Clayperview.com Sprintcar Speedweek champ is almost untouchable in his gleaming #1 Daniel Trucking Maxim and shows a polish and a maturity that belies his young age.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like every time I go out on track my crew have the car perfect and it\u2019s up to me to finish the job,\u201d he said. \u201cThat makes a huge difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goodyer comes into the historic 30th running of the Kings Challenge at Borderline Speedway on January 18 as a raging hot favourite having won in Mount Gambier for the Speedweek round on December 28 to complete a clean sweep of the first three nights.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like Borderline,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a racy and Bill Barrows and all the track crew always do a great job. They always get a great crowd here and we love coming here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The field for this year\u2019s Kings Challenge is once again a \u2018who\u2019s who\u2019 of Australian and American superstars with defending champion James McFadden looking for a rare hat-trick of Kings\u2019 victories.<\/p>\n
The Alice Springs born USA based World of Outlaws star is widely regarded as one of the top ten drivers on the planet and he regards Mount Gambier as his third home.<\/p>\n
It will be up to McFadden and the stacked field of Americans and Aussies though to see if they can stem the flow of Tasmania Goodyer.<\/p>\n
Even McFadden concedes that Goodyer\u2019s team are the ones to beat.<\/p>\n
His ability to qualify well, to pass from the back and to keep point perfect racing lines make him a deadly adversary for anyone in the field.<\/p>\n
The Launceston based screen printer wrapped up the super-competitive Speedweek Series for the second year in a row by the time the fourth round was completed at Avalon Raceway.<\/p>\n
He then barnstormed to second place behind final round winner Jamie Veal at Premier Speedway Warrnambool to cap off a near faultless Speedweek performance.<\/p>\n
He picked up $40,000 for five nights racing to lead second placed Brock Hallett and Texan Aaron Reutzel in the Speedweek series podium.<\/p>\n
As the month of big money rolls into action throughout January the impetus steps up a notch and the biggest teams take on the privateers for the Kings Challenge, the President\u2019s Cup and the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.<\/p>\n
Previous Kings Challenge winners that will compete on January 18 include back-to-back winner James McFadden, two-time winner Kerry Madsen and Lockie McHugh.<\/p>\n
WORDS COURTESY OF WADE AUNGER & PHOTOS COURTESY OF RAY RITTER<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In any form of sport confidence is a major factor. If you\u2019ve got it that\u2019s great, if you don\u2019t it\u2019s going to be an uphill battle. Tasmanian Sprintcar driver Jock Goodyer seems to have it by the truckload. And it\u2019s telling. The current Australian Champion and recently crowned back-to-back recent Clayperview.com Sprintcar Speedweek champ is […]<\/p>\n