LOCAL sprintcar driver Brock Hallett came close to replicating his Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic champion drive of 2023 on Sunday night before finishing runner-up in the iconic race at Warrnambool’s Premier Speedway.

Off the back of winning the race in 2023, Hallett came agonisingly close to earning back-to-back honours but couldn’t close the gap on eventual winner, Aaron Reutzel, in the dying laps of the event.

It was a night of carnage on the track with only 10 of the 24 cars that lined up making it across the finish line.

While second place wasn’t what Hallett was aiming for, he said it was still a great result for the team in a tough night of racing.

“I’m definitely happy to run second, it’s obviously disappointing to be close and then not et a chance to make a move on the last few laps but second is good,” he said.

“In the end you’re still the first loser and to know how great it was last year to win, there is some disappointment, but we had a good run.”

Hallett started the race in fifth position after qualifying, the same position he started in last year, and had to navigate through multiple crashes on the track to set himself up in the final few laps.

“We had a good car and just had to be patient with when to make a move,” he said.

“Starting in fifth we were happy rolling around there to start with. There was an incident between James (McFadden) and Sheldon (Haudenschild) right in front of me, so I just had to work my way through that.

“Cory (Eliason) then got past me, but he hit the wall and had stop; the leaders were going at a really rapid pace so I just wanted to make sure I stayed with them but didn’t take any unnecessary risks.

“There was an open red flag with 16 laps to go so the crew came out and we made a few adjustments. They helped in some ways but then probably didn’t help in other ways but that’s how it is.

“In the end only one lap pays the money and that’s lap 40 so I just wanted to keep in position because it’s such a technical track.

“I made a bit of a mistake late and with two laps left Aaron only had one to go so I knew I probably wasn’t going to catch him at that point, and I just wanted to make sure I ran a clean lap to get across the line.

“In the end it was really cool to be on the podium again after last year and I’m so happy for Aaron to win, he’s a remarkable driver so to be up there at all with him was great.”

Hallett has been in the mix of top five drivers for the past year, which was reflected in his performance on Sunday night, as well as claiming the Ian Sheppard Memorial for best aggregate points at Warrnambool and the aggregate champion at Mount Gambier Speedway.

“It’s been good to be up there the past year but we only won one race during the year and then finished in second on the weekend so it would be good to get some more wins on the board,” Hallett said.

“Consistency is a big focus for us so hopefully moving forward we can really push for that top five and some more wins.”

Despite being one of the biggest events on the calendar for sprintcar racing, Hallett doesn’t have much time to rest as he hits the Avalon Speedway tomorrow night.

“I’m racing on Wednesday in Avalon and then the Aus titles are on the weekend and then we’re hoping to get to the Portland race, but we’ll have to see about that one,” Hallett said.

“After that though I’ve got a few weeks off, so my plan then is to try not think about racing at all.”