Jackson Rice has claimed his maiden TA2 Muscle Car Series race victory in the final race of the 2022 season at Winton Motor Raceway.
After claiming his first TA2 pole position in the Top 10 Shootout, Rice took the chequered flag ahead of round winner Kyle Gurton and Race 3 winner Brad Gartner.
“It’s great! What a fantastic job by all the boys here at Dream Racing; the car was faultless all weekend,” Rice said.
“Credit to Kyle, he just pushed me all the way in that last one, tried to force a mistake, and I don’t know how I held it together to be honest.
“It was just enjoyable, the boys were great, the car was great, and I’m looking forward to next year.”
At the drop of the green flag, Gartner led the way from Rice, Gurton, Michael Coulter, 2022 title winner Jett Johnson, Lee Stibbs, Peter Robinson, Matthew Mackelden, John Holinger, and title contender Graham Cheney.
Gartner was forced to defend from Rice, who went on the attack early in the 12-lap affair.
Johnson moved up to fourth, while Crutcher jumped three spots on the opening lap with fresh tyres on the #4 Ford Mustang.
Gartner faced enormous pressure from Rice the next time around and lost his rear of his XXXXX at the sweeper, which saw him drop back to third as Rice took the race lead.
Gurton closed in on Rice with two laps to go, however the race leader was able to hold on to claim his maiden victory in the TA2 Muscle Car Series, Gurton only 0.9157s behind. In third place was Race 3 winner Gartner.
Despite a five-second penalty for starting out of position, Johnson finished fourth as this year’s TA2 Champion, celebrating with a burnout after the chequered flag, while Coulter came home in fifth.
Robinson, Zach Loscialpo, Mackelden, Mark Crutcher were next across the line, while a 10th-place finish for Nicholas Bates saw him claim third in the series standings.
A 12th-place finish was good enough for Cheney to secure second in the series.
The 2022 TA2 Muscle Car Series end-of-season presentation will take place at the Benalla Arts Centre tonight.
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