THE 18th Annual DiCandilo Steel City Sprintcar Silver Cup at the Perth Motorplex this Saturday night is a wide open affair.

There are the drivers who are locked into The Chase who are chasing wins and strong finishes to improve their chances of being crowned the 2013-14 AHG Sprintcar Series champion after the Grand Final is held on Sunday April 20.

Then there are the local drivers who did not make The Chase who are just as capable of claiming round wins and being a thorn in the championship aspirations of the Dirty Dozen (top 12 qualifiers in The Chase).

And then of course there are a couple of interstate drivers who are also capable of taking round wins, despite their limited campaign at the Perth Motorplex this season.

Former national champion James McFadden is in the latter category.

Having won a couple of national titles and World Series Sprintcar championships this guy knows how to wrestle a sprintcar around any track he nominates at.

This weekend he again suits up in the ultra-professional Monte Motorsport team that fielded a car for American Shane Stewart for most of the season.

McFadden has the experience and the Milwaukee-backed team has the equipment and the know-how to get the job done and it will be interesting to see how it pans out at the completion of the 30-lap feature race.

Sydney driver Ian Loudoun is the other interstate invader who is quite capable of upsetting the apple cart.

He has been driving for WA-based Peet Motosport again this summer and this under-the-radar team is quietly going about its business and has now proven it can match it with the best.

Again, it will be interesting to see how the night unfolds for this powerful combination.

As for the AHG championship – that will be played out this Saturday along with two more shows – on Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday – all the Motorplex.

Stay tuned for more news on that very soon.

Nominations: James McFadden, David Priolo, Terry Cutts, Jason Kendrick, Daniel Harding, Trent Pigdon, Ryan Lancaster, Mark Wells, Luke Dillon, Jake Beard-Miller, Damien Blacka, David Scofield, Cameron Gessner, Daryl Clayden, Lee Nash, Ryan Schlam, Jason Pryde, Shaun Bradford, Ian Loudoun, Callum Williamson, Bradley Maiolo, Jason Boland, Russell Taylor, Carl Dowling, Kye Scroop, Troy Lawson, Shane Norris, Jamie Maiolo and Scott Reilly.