Veal fires night one of the krikke Boys Shoot Out

This special event that remembers the Krikke Boys had extra meaning this year as it was also a tribute to the passing of Shane Krikke.

Held at the Quit Bunbury Speedway over two nights with a cool $20,000 up for grabs.  Jamie Veal heads into night two after claiming the win on the opening night from James McFadden and Brooke Tatnell.

The Bunbury track has had its share of critics over recent times but last night the track was awesome. Nominations for this year’s event were down on last year’s 33 starters but the 22 teams on hand were prepared for the contest and each looking for the chance to have their names in the record for this very special race.

Controversy is never far from Speedway and unfortunately track conditions will always be a an easy target for criticism .The Krikke Shoot Out is a wonderful race and the controversy over the Track managements refusal to accept Kent Robinson’s WX4 nomination for the meeting a unnecessary distraction .The decision drew plenty of comment on social media with opinion firmly on the side of Kent Robinson. It is alleged that Robinson had made unacceptable and detrimental remarks about the sport  and the promoters deemed that to be  unacceptable and refused his nomination for the Shoot Out.

The question of free speech is high on the political agenda in Australia and it is sad that it has found it’s way into the Sport of Speedway. Surely there was a better way for both parties to have handled the matter.The only question to answer is who will take the Krikke Boys Shoot Out for 2017.

Photo credit :Mark Brando