Tungate finished last in his opening qualifying heat in the state title then went on to win his next three races impressively, recording very fast race times.

“I can’t explain it,” a puzzled Tungate said in a trackside interview prior to the B Final.

“The bike was good, I just wasn’t right for the first race.”

Trying to transfer to the Championship A Final, Tungate pushed hard for the lead in the B Final and fell mid-race, bringing his title chances to a halt.

Tungate is well aware that he will need a 100 per cent concentration effort to win the time honoured Johnnie Hoskins Founders Cup as once again he comes up against arch rivals Brady Kurtz (Cowra) and Max Fricke (Victoria).

Kurtz has been in sensational form at the Kurri track winning the 2014 NSW Under-21 Speedway Championship and the 2014 NSW Senior Speedway Championship at the last two race meetings.

Fricke also made the podium in both championship events, finishing third in the Under-21 title and runner-up to Kurtz for the senior title.

Kurtz’s elder brother Todd will make his first appearance at Kurri since returning from another season in the 2014 British Premier League Championship. Both Brady and Todd rode for the Somerset Rebels.

The Johnnie Hoskins Founders Cup is held annually as a tribute to the man who is credited with starting the sport of speedway solo racing.

Hoskins was the organiser of the Maitland Show and he came up with the idea of racing motorcycles to attract more people to the show. That was in 1923 and the attraction was so popular it took off around Australia with Hoskins eventually trail blazing the sport in the United Kingdom.

The 2014 Johnnie Hoskins Founders Cup will be run over 20 qualifying heats with the top seven pointscorers transferring to the finals. Racing starts at 6pm.