12/07/2026
Well thats the 39th Annual Far Westerns Championships done and dusted for the year and what a fantastic day of racing yesterday!
It was an early morning start with racing underway from 9am. The boys were ready and raring to go having picked up their grid draws the night before.
Colton started out of P8 and Vaughn out of P4 for Heat 1. After getting a feel for the track Vaughn finished in P9 and Colton managed to gain 5 positions and finish in P3.
Heat 2 Colton got a lucky break when he moved up to P2 from P4 after fellow Geraldton competitor #77 Niel Lotter pulled out of the race putting him side-by-side with long time rival #87 Kaitlyn Tate. Vaughn started in P7. After a great start Kaitlyn pulled ahead and Colton finished in second place. Vaughn continued to get faster every lap and finished in P7.
Heat 3 and Colton started out of P3 while Vaughn started in P2. The green flag dropped and Colton hit P2 by turn 1 and was challenging #11 Ella Fulcher for the lead before a race incident, very narrowly missed by Vaughn, meant a full restart. Again the green flag dropped and it was a repeat of the first with Colton hitting 2nd and challenging for the lead. After another single file restart Colton battled again for first place eventually claiming the top spot. Vaughn, having quietly done his thing finished the race in P7.
With those results Vaughn earned himself P8 for the feature and Colton qualified P1 alongside #87 Kaitlyn again!
With those two off the front of the field we knew it would be a VERY tight race. Sure enough Kaitlyn threw everything she had at the back of Colton's Mirage but after a few laps he had gained a considerable gap. With a quarter of a lap to go and nearly half a lap in front a lap car spun in front of him causing a restart. That would bring the field back together and set up a green-white-checkered situation to finish!
Kaitlyn, now right behind him, put the pressure on BIG time and fought hard! Both drivers headed for turn 4, both had a little bit of a wobble but ultimately Colton crossed the line first taking the checkered flag for the first time at the 2026 Far Western Championships, just like Dad did in Juniors back in 1997. ππ
Vaughn managed his fastest lap time of the day in the feature and proved to everyone he's got what it takes to challenge for his own Far Western feature win next year!
All in all it was a fantastic day of racing. The Newstars cohort did fantastic in each of their races with little in the way of race incidents and proved themselves a very capable bunch of new drivers.
We thank Shark Bay Speedway and volunteers for putting together an awesome meeting and as always we cannot wait to come back next year!
We also thank our sponsors:
Universal Wreckers
West Coast Auto Smash Repairs
Burney's Auto Repairs
blp creative
Geraldton Parts
Transwest Tyre & Auto
Asset Solutions WA
The Zone Geraldton
