THE 2018-19 season has brought plenty of highs for Bendigo's Jamie Lock, and one of the main things he has attributed to that was the upgrading of his street stock to a later model FG Ford Falcon.
In his eighth season of street stock racing, after graduating from junior sedans a decade ago with an XF Ford Falcon before moving into an EL Ford Falcon in recent seasons, Lock has certainly stepped it up to another level in arguably one of Australian speedway's most competitive classes.
Headed by a third-place finish in the recent Queensland Title at Toowoomba's Hi-Tec Oils Speedway, Lock has shown plenty of impressive form throughout his eight race meetings this season.
Another highlight included an outstanding performance during the national title earlier this year at Mildura's Timmis Speedway, where he qualified eighth for the
feature race and then, while running inside the top five, suffered a flat tyre just before mid- race distance that resulted in a did not finish (DNF).
Adding to these pair of results was a sixth-place finish in the Victorian title and a fifth-place finish in the King of the Mountain.
Backed by a hard-working team of mainly family members, Lock is quick to credit the upgrading of his street stock during the off season.
"My move into a later model Ford Falcon has made a massive difference, especially when it comes to consistency out on the track as it has also helped improve my driving," the 27-year- old racer explained.
"Throughout this season, I've been able to turn up to a track and feel confident in my car that I'm going to be able to compete at the pointy-end of the field.
"The upgrading of my race car has been a major help; however, none of what I do would be possible without my team and all of our sponsors, so I can't thank everyone enough for all of their support."
With the 2018-19 season barely finished up, Lock is already looking forward to next season.
"The goal for next season is to contest as many of the major race meetings as possible, as in order to improve as a racer, you need to be going up against the toughest competition," he said.
"One event that I'm really looking forward to next season is without a doubt the national
title down in Tasmania, as I feel that I have some unfinished business there, especially after this season's event,.
"So the goal is to this time around put in a similar performance but bring home a result."
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.
