The young gun won two of the three races at Hidden Valley on the weekend, netting the round victory in the process.
However, the result of the final race was altered when Tracey was handed a post-race disqualification following a bizarre sequence.
Tracey was leading Race 3 ahead of a hard-charging James Moffat, when one of the exhaust tailpipes on the #5 Mustang came loose, protruding from the right-hand side of the car.
The leader continued to circulate with the damaged exhaust for several laps, appearing to lose some straight line performance compared to Moffat.
When the safety car was deployed for an incident involving Cody Brewczynski, Tracey set about weaving in the usual manner.
After three laps under safety car, the mechanical black flag was shown to Tracey, meaning he would have to pit to remedy the exhaust problem.
Click here now.
The act of weaving repeatedly caused the tailpipe to break free, bouncing away from the car on the run to Turn 4.
Commentator Chad Neylon was quick to question the circumstances, noting that he remembered a previous instance of mechanical black flags being withdrawn if the issue was resolved on track.
“Garth Tander’s just come flying into the supports commentary box,” Neylon said.
“He said ‘it was me, it was at the Gold Coast and it was a headlight, and it was rescinded.’
“He’s [Tracey] gone around again, and I can’t see the black flag anymore.”
The flag appeared to have been removed from display as the field cycled past the control line, before being shown once again on the next lap.
A lap later when the green flag flew, the mechanical black flag was gone, leaving Tracey in the lead and clear to win the race.
The result was adjusted several hours after the race, and Tracey was disqualified due to a breach of the mechanical black flag rules.
Tracey’s disqualification handed the race win to Nathan Herne, and the round honours to Moffat.
Speedcafe understands that the disqualification has been appealed by the team, with the result yet to be determined.
More details surrounding the appeal are still to come.
Discussion about this post