Tracey came home 0.87s clear of former series champion James Moffat after marching forwards on the opening lap, forcing the issue at Turn 1 to capitalise on a second row start.
Reigning TA2 Muscle Car Series champion Jarrod Hughes, who held on despite a late charge from Nathan Herne and Todd Hazelwood.
Moffat led the field away in an even jump with Hughes at the start, but Tracey forced his way through to take second spot from Hughes.
Further back, Herne and Elliot Barbour made contact on the exit of Turn 1, pitching Barbour off the road.
Lachlan Evennett and Ben Bargwanna ended up facing the wrong way on corner exit, drawing the first and only safety car on the opening lap.
Moffat led the field away when the green flag flew once again for all but 500m, when Tracey muscled his way through to the lead.
Secure your spot today.
As Tracey forced his way through, Moffat dropped back to fourth spot.
Following the opening lap melee, several cars were left circulating with significant bodywork damage, including front-runners Herne and Hazelwood, with Tom Davies and Barbour also affected further back.
Moffat set about a charge in the late laps back through the top five, eventually picking off Hazelwood, and then Hughes for second place.
Back in the pack, Jordan Freestone was handed his second DNF in a row with another mechanical issue sidelining the Marcos Ambrose Motorsport entry.
Things went from bad to worse for both Bargwanna and Evennett, each finding themselves parked off the road on the final lap with separate issues.
Jack Smith (#11 Camaro) charged his way through to sixth, followed by Davies (#42 Camaro), and Adam Garwood (#2 Mustang).
Barbour (#75 Camaro) recovered to ninth following the opening lap drama, while Harrison Sellars (#60 Mustang) rounded out the top 10.
The Trans Am Cup Series will run one final race on Sunday at 9:10am ACST.0.8
Porsche Equity-One Carrera Cup Australia
Kiwi young gun Clay Osborne took his second consecutive pole position in an energetic qualifying session on Saturday morning, beating Aaron Love by just 0.025s.
In his Carrera Cup return, Liam Talbot took pole position in the Pro-Am class, however was handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding in qualifying, elevating Matt Belford.
Osborne schooled the field in the opening 45-minute race of the weekend, leading comfortably from lights to flag to take his second career victory.
Despite a late-race charge, Love could not chase down his TekworkX Motorsport teammate and came home in second place, with two-time champion Harri Jones rounding out the top three.
Marco Giltrap came home fourth in his Carrera Cup Australia return, ahead of veteran Glen Wood.
Stephen Grove was the only casualty in an incident-free race, failing to move off the grid at the race start.
The recovery team quickly towed Grove’s stricken car off the grid, allowing the race to continue under green flag running.
In the usual first lap chaos, reigning Pro-Am class champion Rodney Jane found himself forced into the grass at Turn 5, putting a sour note on his milestone 250th start.
Osborne ran away at the front as Jones put increasing pressure on Love for several laps.
Tom Bewley came home in sixth place, ahead of Angelo Mouzouris, Lachlan Bloxsom, and David Russell in ninth.
Reigning champion Dylan O’Keeffe struggled for race pace in the long run, falling back to 10th spot.
Jacque Jarjo took the Pro-Am victory in 18th place outright while Talbot forced Matt Belford into an error to take second place.
Porsche Equity-One Carrera Cup Australia returns for its second and final race on Sunday at 12:15pm.
Territory Sedans
Rodney Jessup went back-to-back in the Improved Production Holden Commodore VF, taking a comfortable victory in Race 2.
Steve Johnstone brought his HRT-inspired VP Commodore home in second place after Bryce Fullwood encountered issues on the formation lap.
The former Brad Jones Racing driver started from the pit lane and set about carving his way through the field, eventually finishing third.
Geoff Cowie was the first Commodore Cup contender home in fourth outright, while Zane Rhodes took his second win in the Hyundai Excel class, coming home ninth outright.
Territory Sedans returns for its third and final race of the weekend on Sunday at 8:40am.
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