In what was a rollercoaster of emotions, Matt Mills won many new fans in Saturday night’s Australian AMCA Nationals Title at Ballarat’s Redline Raceway, which saw him charge into the lead and pull away from the chasing pack in the all-important feature race, before experiencing a heartbreaking DNF.

Having qualified on the inside of the second row for the feature race, Mills moved his 253-powered Mills Brothers Racing Vic # 20 machine into second place on the opening lap, before pulling off a slick move on the inside of current Victorian Champion Jamie Collins to take over the lead only a few laps later.

After assuming control of the lead, Mills put daylight between himself and Collins multiple times throughout the subsequent laps, after surviving numerous stoppages and restarts, and appeared destined to claim the Australia # 1 mantle, until disaster struck in the middle stages of the 40-lap distance.

Making the most of his restart and sticking close to the rear of Mills’ car, Collins launched an attack on the feature-race lead into turn four, but was unable to execute the move, tagging Mills and unfortunately causing him to spin and collide with the wall.

While Mills regained his place at the front of the field for the ensuing restart, his car had sustained too much damage from the impact with the wall to continue and he immediately slipped back through the back before retiring to the infield with a flat right-front tyre and suspension damage.

Photo: Rock Solid Productions

In what was a great show of sportsmanship, Collins was quick to find his good friend Mills in the pits following the feature race, offering his sincerest apologies for the unintentional incident which ended Mills’ hopes of being crowned champion.

With the weekend’s event being the first national title that Mills has contested in speedway racing, the Victorian underdog certainly proved himself amongst more than 50 of the best teams and drivers from around the nation, after selling for a mere $20 in the Calcutta auction for the event.

In what was an impressive qualifying performance earlier in the night, Mills began his title assault with a commanding heat-race win, followed by a second, fifth and third-place result in his remaining heat races, earning him a direct qualification into the feature race.

The team at Mills Brothers Racing are looking to bounce back in next weekend’s Victorian Title event at Swan Hill’s Sonic Speedway.

Mills would like to thank his valued sponsors, Repair Management Australia, Gemini Accident Repair Centres and RPM Australia, for making this all possible, as well as his father and crew chief Wayne, his brother Jamie, and the rest of his family, friends and supporters.

To find out more about the team and keep up to date with the latest, search ‘Mills Brothers Racing’ on Facebook or Instagram.