Motorsport: Daniel Eggleton claims first feature win over summer at Western Springs

Daniel Eggleton has had three second-place finishes in feature races this season. Photo / James Selwyn

South Auckland's Daniel Eggleton claimed a first feature win of the summer as he took the chequered flag in the sprint car feature of the 90th Jubilee Legends Night at Western Springs on Saturday.

It was a stunning drive that saw Eggleton move from 15th through to win by 1.8 seconds from Matthew Leversedge and Dean Cooper.

The meeting ran the tribute to yesteryear with the fastest cars starting off the rear of the grid — the only race meeting to feature that format.

Eggleton picked up a spot a lap through the opening five laps before hitting the front on lap 14 of 20. He managed to hold off the chasing bunch and secure victory as his young family came down trackside to congratulate him.

"It was a good night," Eggleton said. "We had Pickens, Larsen and Allard right behind us and it is always tricky a reverse order race because you never know what is going to happen up front and you have to be quite cautious in the first few laps.

"A few gaps seemed to open up and we managed to take advantage of them."

Eggleton has had three second-place finishes in feature races this season and has threatened a breakthrough victory all summer.

"I was pretty over the moon with the win — especially happy for the team and my loyal sponsors," Eggleton said.

"It was really special to have all three kids — Austin, Indie and Madison — and [wife] Sarah at the track. Austin was happy we took the win but he was a little bit gutted I didn't do any donuts," he laughed.

Starting second last, American Tyler Courtney picked his way through the field, all while battling local star Michael Pickens, to secure victory in the midget feature. Pickens settled for second while American Logan Seavey finished third.

It was a stunning start by Courtney, who jumped 19 spots to be first by the end of lap seven. He and Pickens duked it out with Courtney taking the flag just under half a second in front.

Mike Driver won the F2 midget feature by over two seconds from Daryl Webster, while Leyton Kendall completed the podium. In TQ action, Aaron Humble edged Kaleb Currie and Ryan Baker in a tightly fought race.

The next meeting is the first of the Rolling Thunder meetings in a fortnight.