The unsung heroes of chaotic Sandown 500
Cameron Hill/Cameron Crick charged from 22nd to 10th
Crick spun behind Safety Car early in the race
#4 MSR Camaro was 19th at halfway mark
When looking at the damage in pit lane after Sunday's Penrite Oil Sandown 500, Matt Stone Racing's two cars had more than most.
One of them, however, managed to finish in the top 10, complete with a young driver making his very first Supercars race start.
Cameron Hill and Cameron Crick survived a chaotic race and lowly grid spot of 22nd to come home 10th, with Crick the highest-placed rookie in the race.
While Cooper Murray was a standout fifth alongside Craig Lowndes in the Triple Eight wildcard, Murray had already banked two Supercars starts in Darwin.
Crick, however, was a main game rookie, with Hill proud to deliver his friend a first-up top 10 in what proved an incident-packed race.
“Rollercoaster day.” Hill said.
"There was a lot of action out there and we took advantage of strategy to get us back in the game. I had a really good couple of stints towards the end and we managed to finish 10th.
“A top 10 here at Sandown is an awesome result so I’m really happy that Cam Crick in his debut gets a top 10 as well.
"I can’t thank the team enough, the last pit stop was mint, that’s what got us the top 10. I think they were the fastest in the lane.”
Crick didn't have it all his own way, spinning at Turn 4 under Safety Car conditions early in the race. The #4 SP Tools Chevrolet restarted 25th and last of the running cars after the first Safety Car, and was only 19th at the halfway mark.
MSR, which lost the Nick Percat/Dylan O'Keeffe car from contention after a clash with Kai Allen, pushed the #4 back into the race through strategy, with Hill 10th across the line.
“Really stoked to finish in the top 10, Cam obviously brought it home really strong,” Crick said.
"I was a little bit hard on myself there mid-race; we did one of the stops, came out on cold tyres, had the 80kph limiter and just made an error and spun at Turn 4.
"We lost a few spots, luckily it was under Safety Car and then I made a few spots back up a bit later. We did a lot of early stops with me in the car filling it with fuel which would make the stops a little bit shorter later on.
"Every time Cam had a shorter fuel stop later on we jumped a few in the pits. He drove really well and got us out of trouble. I was kicking myself about that mistake but the car was really good and a massive effort from the crew with really good pit stops.”
Crick will make his Great Race debut alongside Hill at the Repco Bathurst 1000 on October 10-13.
