David Summerbell and Asafa Powell exchanging autographs at the October 18-19 Dover meet. - Contributed

Despite the spills and thrills with at least three cars rolling on the track, the 2009 circuit racing championship at the Dover Raceway, St Ann, climaxed in high spirits, dramatised by some intense bumper-to-bumper racing and exciting rivalry.

Dubbed the 'Heroes of Speed' race meet, the real heroes of the day were Chris Campbell, David Summerbell, Teddy Burton, Stefan Chin, Doug Gore, Kyle Gregg, Charles Maxwell and Peter Jaggan.

The first of the two Thundersport events brought the house down with non-stop action, following a ding-dong battle between Campbell and Summerbell.

The over 5,000 spectators kept screamming their heads off as the fierce battle lasted for five laps. With eyes glued to the track, they ran from one point to another to get a good view as the cars disappeared around the challenging corners.

The sturdily built Campbell, who assumed the lead in the early stages, was always chased by Summerbell, who started at the back of the pack.

Spurred by the thunderous cheering of the diehard fans, Summerbell overtook his rivals one by one until he crept up behind Campbell and began challenging him for the lead. It was at this point that the crowd went really wild.

Campbell held on for the victory.

"It was a five-lap event, but if there were at least two more laps to go, then I could have done something," said Summerbell, who is now preparing for the final leg of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship in Guyana next month.

No pressure

Because of the regional championship, Summerbell took the decision not to pressure the car too much. But Campbell believes that if his car was in better shape, he would have won by a wider margin.

"The car was good enough to hold off David (Summerbell). It was a great race meet, but as I said prior to the meet, fear was not a factor, I took the challenge to them," said Campbell.

In the meantime, president of the Jamaica Race Drivers Club (JRDC), Hilary Jardine, described the event as exceptional.

"The JRDC ended the year on a very high note in that its final meet was a tremendous success. This was made possible because of the hard work and dedication of the club's executives," said Jardine.