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It will be a stacked field for the TA2 Muscle Car Series round at Sydney Motorsport Park headlining the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series this weekend.
A few invaders will further enhance interest in the tight title fight between Dylan Thomas, Jackson Rice and Josh Haynes.
Local driver Thomas holds a 13-point advantage back to Dream Racing Australia’s Rice and Haynes heading into the penultimate round, but front-running entries from the National Trans Am Series will provide a further challenge.
All American Auto Parts driver Ben Grice leads the Trans Am drivers taking part as The Racing Academy contenders Cody Gillis and Elliott Cleary, Tom Hayman, Josh Thomas, while TCR driver Jordan Cox deputises for Mark Crutcher.
After a long layoff from the driver’s seat, Kyle Gurton makes his return to racing as does Michael Coulter, Anthony Tenkate, Chris Formosa, Zach Loscialpo, Brett Niall and Brad Gartner.
West Australian Niall will take on the final two rounds ahead of an expected full-season campaign next year in a move to encourage fellow state competitors to race on the Eastern seaboard.
“The local racing in Western Australia has reasonable numbers, but not many are competitors from the Eastern states are coming out, so that’s what made me come over,” Niall explained.
“Having run a car in a national series before, leasing a car is much easier than running a car out of Perth. I spoke to Peter Robinson and I had met Craig (Scutella) at Bathurst, so made contact leading to a deal.
“I’m really just wanting to have fun, see where I am in the field and decide what I want to do next year.”
Dream Racing Australia Team Owner Craig Scutella hopes Niall is one of many West Australians to come over and race for next year.
“Talking to Brett, if all goes well it points to him joining the series full-time in 2024,” said Scutella.
“If we can bridge between the west and east coast to make it easier for competitor arrive and drives, then it’d be a great opportunity for any other Western Australian drivers in 2024 to test their skills in the TA2 Racing Muscle Car Series.”
Consistency has been key to Thomas’ title lead after taking out the $20,000 TA2 King of the North event in Darwin earlier this year alongside Tim Brook, while Rice had the opportunity to head the standings at Morgan Park in July until a spin cost him a round clean-sweep.
Haynes has improved to place his Beaches SeaDoo Ford Mustang in equal second as he targets title success.
Others to watch include the IES Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro of Graham Cheney, Dodge Challenger racer Hayden Jackson and Mustang-mounted Nicholas Bates as the class fights will also feature strongly in Sydney.
Hayden Hume currently leads the $2000 Racetech Rookie of the Year by just one-point from Greg Keam, while the Circo Masters Cup is equally close as Bates and inaugural TA2 champion Russell Wright continue their fight without the absent Crutcher.
The TA2 Muscle Car Series will contest four races this weekend starting on Friday with qualifying, the Top 10 Shootout and Race 1 under lights.
Saturday will feature three races and the final two will be also run under lights as part of the live coverage featured on SBS, Fox Sports and Kayo from 18:00 AEDT, while the live stream online will commence at 13:00 AEDT.
