McHugh and Walsh Kick Off Chariots of Thunder with Statement Wins on Night 1 in Darwin | Northline Speedway (NT)

Written on 09/12/2025
Nick Coward

McHugh and Walsh Kick Off Chariots of Thunder with Statement Wins in Darwin

With images by Noah Thorley

 

Northline Speedway roared back to life as the 2025 Chariots of Thunder opened with a drama-filled Sprintcar program. Lachlan McHugh wasted no time stamping his authority on the event, topping his heat, winning the Dash, and then converting pole into a clinical A-Main victory. The NQ7 was flawless on restarts and showed composure through a night littered with cautions and red flags.

 


McHugh and Walsh Kick Off Chariots of Thunder with Statement Wins on Night 1 in Darwin | Northline Speedway (NT)

The 25-lap Sprintcar feature became a battle of survival. Matt Egel flipped early, Zack Grimshaw exited in flames after a frightening fuel cell fire, and Glen Sutherland flipped hard in heavy contact that left him shaken. The drama peaked when Jamie Veal pounded the fence in spectacular fashion, with Jock Goodyer flipping while trying to avoid the wreck. Through every stoppage, McHugh remained untouchable, maintaining pace and control from the front.

 

Sprintcars — Night 1 Results

Time Trials Fast times shown
1) S98 Luke Storer — 11.380 2) NT11 Jordyn Charge — 11.498 3) V96 Dane Court — 11.548 4) W14 Jason Pryde — 11.572 5) S96 Brendan Guerin — 11.601 6) NT84 Christopher Harrison — 11.615 7) Q46 Dylan Menz — 11.621 8) V10 Steven Loader — 11.642 9) W2 Dayne Kingshott — 11.649 10) Q16 Brodie Davis — 11.708 11) NQ7 Lachlan McHugh — 11.744 12) T22 Jock Goodyer — 11.786 13) S52 Matt Egel — 11.787 14) V35 Jamie Veal — 11.792 15) D11 Zack Grimshaw — 11.816 16) S11 Scott Enderl — 11.832 17) WX92 Chad Pittard — 11.878 18) WX22 Jay-Dee Dack — 11.922 19) Q10 Jy Corbet — 11.931 20) Q12 Michael Pickens — 12.063 21) VA43 Daniel Storer — 12.073 22) Q51 Tim Farrell — 12.099 23) S20 Glen Sutherland — 12.103 24) NT17 Lachlan Cole — 12.283 25) W40 Kodi Clayden — 12.318 26) N36 Eddie Lumbar — 12.327 27) NT27 Jet Thompson — 12.472 28) VA11 Phil Micallef — 12.593 29) NT28 Mark Phillips — 13.509 30) NT88 Shane Cole — NT
Heat 1
1) S98 Luke Storer 2) W14 Jason Pryde 3) Q16 Brodie Davis 4) Q10 Jy Corbet 5) S52 Matt Egel 6) S11 Scott Enderl 7) Q46 Dylan Menz 8) Q51 Tim Farrell 9) W40 Kodi Clayden 10) VA11 Phil Micallef
Heat 2
1) NQ7 Lachlan McHugh 2) NT11 Jordyn Charge 3) V35 Jamie Veal 4) S96 Brendan Guerin 5) S20 Glen Sutherland 6) V10 Steven Loader 7) Q12 Michael Pickens 8) N36 Eddie Lumbar 9) WX92 Chad Pittard 10) NT28 Mark Phillips
Heat 3
1) V96 Dane Court 2) T22 Jock Goodyer 3) W2 Dayne Kingshott 4) D11 Zack Grimshaw 5) WX22 Jay-Dee Dack 6) NT17 Lachlan Cole 7) NT84 Christopher Harrison (DNF) 8) VA43 Daniel Storer (DNF) 9) NT27 Jet Thompson (DNS) 10) NT88 Shane Cole (DNS)
B Battle 1
1) Q12 Michael Pickens 2) S20 Glen Sutherland 3) WX22 Jay-Dee Dack 4) N36 Eddie Lumbar 5) WX92 Chad Pittard 6) Q51 Tim Farrell 7) W40 Kodi Clayden 8) NT17 Lachlan Cole
B Battle 2
1) VA11 Phil Micallef 2) NT28 Mark Phillips 3) NT27 Jet Thompson 4) NT84 Christopher Harrison (DNS) 5) VA43 Daniel Storer (DNS)
Mid Pack Dash
1) V35 Jamie Veal 2) Q16 Brodie Davis 3) S52 Matt Egel 4) Q46 Dylan Menz 5) Q10 Jy Corbet 6) D11 Zack Grimshaw 7) S11 Scott Enderl 8) V10 Steven Loader
Dash
1) NQ7 Lachlan McHugh 2) T22 Jock Goodyer 3) NT11 Jordyn Charge 4) S98 Luke Storer 5) W2 Dayne Kingshott 6) V35 Jamie Veal 7) V96 Dane Court 8) Q16 Brodie Davis 9) S96 Brendan Guerin 10) W14 Jason Pryde
B Main
1) S20 Glen Sutherland 2) Q12 Michael Pickens 3) WX22 Jay-Dee Dack 4) WX92 Chad Pittard 5) Q51 Tim Farrell 6) VA11 Phil Micallef 7) NT27 Jet Thompson 8) NT17 Lachlan Cole 9) NT28 Mark Phillips 10) N36 Eddie Lumbar (DNF) 11) W40 Kodi Clayden (DNF) 12) NT84 Christopher Harrison (DNS) 13) VA43 Daniel Storer (DNS)
A Main (25 Laps)
1) NQ7 Lachlan McHugh 2) NT11 Jordyn Charge 3) W2 Dayne Kingshott 4) Q16 Brodie Davis 5) Q46 Dylan Menz 6) S11 Scott Enderl 7) S96 Brendan Guerin 8) WX22 Jay-Dee Dack 9) S98 Luke Storer 10) W14 Jason Pryde 11) V96 Dane Court 12) V10 Steven Loader DNF) Q12 Michael Pickens DNF) T22 Jock Goodyer DNF) V35 Jamie Veal DNF) S20 Glen Sutherland DNF) D11 Zack Grimshaw DNF) Q10 Jy Corbet DNF) WX92 Chad Pittard DNF) S52 Matt Egel

 

 

Behind the leader, the fight for podium spots raged. Jordyn Charge and Dayne Kingshott traded positions in a series of slide jobs before Charge regained second, while Kingshott held firm in third. Brodie Davis impressed with a run to fourth, and Dylan Menz rounded out the top five after a late charge. Michael Pickens looked poised for a podium before a mistake ended his night prematurely.

At the flag it was McHugh continuing his unbeaten Darwin streak, winning ahead of Charge and Kingshott. Davis and Menz completed the top five, while only 12 cars finished the grueling opener. With McHugh this sharp on night one, the chase is officially on for the rest of the field.

🎥 Sprintcar Night 1 Highlights: Watch on YouTube
Video credit: Clay Per View / Northline Speedway

 


McHugh and Walsh Kick Off Chariots of Thunder with Statement Wins on Night 1 in Darwin | Northline Speedway (NT)

 

The Wingless Sprints delivered their own fireworks, with Northern Territory champion Blake Walsh prevailing in a tense A-Main. Walsh ran the bottom to perfection, fending off relentless pressure from Casey O’Connell, who kept his right-rear planted on the cushion. Early red flags, including a flip for Daniel Goldoni, shuffled the order, while a heavy crash for Kyle Wiseman set up a green–white–checker finish.

 

Wingless Sprints — Night 1 Results

Heat 1A
1) S5 Bailey Heinrich 2) Q1 Casey O’Connell 3) S57 Sharni Pitcher 4) Q49 Cody O’Connell 5) S54 Alan Saint 6) NT72 William Prest 7) NT88 Angus Campbell 8) Q4 Zane O’Toole 9) NT16 James Wren DNS) NT13 Mathew McLennan
Heat 1B
1) V19 Sam Wren 2) NT1 Blake Walsh 3) NT77 Kyle Wiseman 4) NT11 Raymond Walliss 5) NT4 Sean Tiedeman 6) NT44 Jamie McInnes 7) NT56 Cameron Jaenke 8) NT42 Jeffery Tiedeman DNF) N4 Jason Davis DNS) V32 Chris Ansell
Heat 1C
1) A1 Tyson Martin 2) W76 Blake Scarey 3) NT61 Matt Sealy 4) NT64 Scott Murdie 5) NT5 Daniel Goldoni 6) NX47 John Egan 7) NT59 Jake Warren 8) NT39 Ty Ede 9) NT81 Shane Norman 10) NT24 Josh Parker
Heat 2A
1) Q1 Casey O’Connell 2) NT16 James Wren 3) Q4 Zane O’Toole 4) Q49 Cody O’Connell 5) NT72 William Prest 6) NT88 Angus Campbell 7) S57 Sharni Pitcher 8) S54 Alan Saint 9) S5 Bailey Heinrich DNF) NT13 Mathew McLennan
Heat 2B
1) NT4 Sean Tiedeman 2) NT1 Blake Walsh 3) NT56 Cameron Jaenke 4) V19 Sam Wren 5) NT42 Jeffery Tiedeman 6) NT11 Raymond Walliss 7) NT77 Kyle Wiseman 8) NT44 Jamie McInnes DNF) N4 Jason Davis DNS) V32 Chris Ansell
Heat 2C
1) NT59 Jake Warren 2) NX47 John Egan 3) A1 Tyson Martin 4) NT5 Daniel Goldoni 5) W76 Blake Scarey 6) NT64 Scott Murdie 7) NT61 Matt Sealy 8) NT39 Ty Ede 9) NT24 Josh Parker 10) NT81 Shane Norman
Top 8 Dash
1) NT1 Blake Walsh 2) Q1 Casey O’Connell 3) A1 Tyson Martin 4) V19 Sam Wren 5) NX47 John Egan 6) NT59 Jake Warren 7) W76 Blake Scarey 8) NT4 Sean Tiedeman
B Main
1) Q4 Zane O’Toole 2) NT72 William Prest 3) NT16 James Wren 4) NT88 Angus Campbell 5) NT64 Scott Murdie 6) NT44 Jamie McInnes 7) S54 Alan Saint 8) NT39 Ty Ede 9) NT42 Jeffery Tiedeman 10) NT81 Shane Norman DNF) NT24 Josh Parker DNS) N4 Jason Davis DNS) NT13 Mathew McLennan
A Main (25 Laps)
1) NT1 Blake Walsh 2) Q1 Casey O’Connell 3) A1 Tyson Martin 4) V19 Sam Wren 5) S5 Bailey Heinrich 6) NX47 John Egan 7) NT56 Cameron Jaenke 8) NT59 Jake Warren 9) NT4 Sean Tiedeman 10) Q49 Cody O’Connell 11) S57 Sharni Pitcher 12) NT16 James Wren 13) NT88 Angus Campbell 14) Q4 Zane O’Toole 15) NT72 William Prest 16) NT64 Scott Murdie 17) NT11 Raymond Walliss 18) W76 Blake Scarey DNF) NT77 Kyle Wiseman DNF) NT5 Daniel Goldoni DNF) NT61 Matt Sealy DNF) NT24 Josh Parker DNF) S54 Alan Saint DNF) NT39 Ty Ede DNS) V32 Chris Ansell

 

 

On the restart, O’Connell threw a big slider for the lead, but Walsh crossed back under and protected the bottom groove to lock down the win. O’Connell settled for second, with Tyson Martin and Sam Wren scrapping inside the top five all night. Bailey Heinrich came through late to secure fifth.

For Walsh, it was a cool and calculated drive to open his Chariots campaign, while O’Connell, Martin, and Heinrich showed the kind of pace that hints at a wide-open Wingless battle over the next two nights. Together, both divisions set the tone for a hard-fought, unpredictable Chariots of Thunder in 2025.

🎥 Wingless Night 1 Highlights: Watch on YouTube
Video credit: Clay Per View / Northline Speedway

 

Night 1 Winners Summary

Sprintcars

  • Quick Time: Luke Storer (11.380)

  • Heat Winners: Luke Storer, Lachlan McHugh, Dane Court

  • Dash Winner: Lachlan McHugh

  • B Main Winner: Glen Sutherland

  • A Main Winner: Lachlan McHugh (over Jordyn Charge & Dayne Kingshott)

 

Wingless Sprints

  • Heat Winners: Bailey Heinrich, Sam Wren, Tyson Martin, Casey O’Connell, Sean Tiedeman, Jake Warren

  • Top 8 Dash Winner: Blake Walsh

  • B Main Winner: Zane O’Toole

  • A Main Winner: Blake Walsh (over Casey O’Connell & Tyson Martin)

 

ENDS ARTICLE