After a day of torrential rain on Saturday in the TFH Hire TA2 Muscle Car Series second round where he won his first race, Gartner led for most of the three Sunday races at the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series in fine and dry conditions.
“It’s been a dream weekend. There was a bit of bad luck to some of the other competitors, but you’ve got to be there at the end to win the race,” he said.
“It’s really emotional, last year and even starting this year, a couple months ago we probably wouldn’t have been here. So, a massive thanks to Peter Robinson and George Gambino.”
Josh Haynes (Ford Mustang) chased Gartner for much of Race 2 and glimpsed the lead for a short period. A couple of laps from the end though, Haynes had a tyre blowout adjacent the pit entrance. He was able to enter the pits, but a wheel change could not be done in time to be classified a finisher.
Graham Cheney (Chev Camaro) finished second with Jett Johnson (subbing for Michael Coulter in his Mustang) third. However, Johnson was relegated to eighth for contact that spun Domain Ramsay’s Camaro.
Connor Roberts (Dodge Challenger) took third ahead of Danny Reidy (Camaro) and Mark Crutcher (Mustang) who was third initially before an off at Turn 9 on the first lap put him last.
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Gartner led all way in Race 3 where Haynes came from the back to finish second. Cheney was third ahead of Crutcher who defied every attempt by Johnson to get past. Roberts was next from Reidy, Paul Hadley (Camaro), Ramsay and Steve Wilson (Camaro).
Hayden Jackson (Challenger) had a gear linkage problem in Race 2 before a broken steering arm put him out of Race 2 from contact with Ramsay.
Gartner finalised his clean sweep in Race 4 where he posted a 9.8s win over Haynes who challenged early but faded in the final laps with a deflating tyre. Cheney held third ahead of Crutcher and Johnson who ultimately passed the pair for third.
Jackson salvaged sixth after a difficult couple of races, ahead of Reidy, Ramsay, Hadley and Wilson. Roberts was seventh until he stopped after 12 of the 16 laps.
Cheney and Haynes sit equal on 408 points, with Gartner third ahead of Crutcher before the next round at Queensland Raceway on June 28-30.
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