Hazelwood beat last year’s title rival and two-time champion Nathan Herne to pole by 0.4758s.

“We just kicked off 2026 the way we finished 2025, another pole position,” said Hazelwood.

“This one’s really special, to get my first pole position with Todd’s Garage, a newly formed team under my own back is really special.

“It’s been a massive effort behind the scenes, introducing a new major partner Four’N Twenty to the sport.

“This is probably one of the sweetest poles we’ve ever had.”

The top ten was an even split of five Mustangs and Camaros, alternating between each model with each position.

Supercars star James Golding took position three in his sole confirmed start for the season following his departure from Garry Rogers Motorsport’s Trans Am program.

James Moffat qualified in fourth to be the fastest GRM driver, while son of a gun Ben Bargwanna rounded out the top five.

Reigning TA2 Muscle Car Series champion Jarrod Hughes was next in sixth, while Blake Tracey ran seventh in his new car run by Nathan Herne Racing.

GRM’s Tom Davies ran eighth ahead of TA2 regular Ben Gomersall, while former Supercars driver Jack Smith rounded out the top 10.

The Trans Am Cup Series returns for the first of three races on Saturday at 1:05pm AEDT.