The preliminary A-Main saw a spectacular, almost race-long battle at the front between Goodyer and Ryan Newton.

It was the latter who led early although was never able to shake the challenge from former Aussie champion Goodyer.

A restart with 12 laps to go saw Goodyer ramp up his challenge, heading to the bottom lane as Newton stayed up on the fence.

There proved to be little between the two lanes in terms of pace as the pair traded the lead multiple times.

The race came to an abrupt halt with five laps to go after Ian Madsen crashed heavily. That prompted a lengthy red flag stoppage as Madsen was checked over by medical crews.

Madsen was later transferred to hospital for observation.

Once the race did get back underway Goodyer was able to finally check out, separating himself from Newton to seal victory and a haul of points heading into tomorrow’s deciding night.

“It was cool to race Ryan side-by-side,” said Goodyer. “I just wish a lot of people from Australia would learn from that; respect goes a long way in this sport.

“So hats off to him for running a clean race against me. That’s awesome. Even if I was on the other end of the stick I’d be happy to have a clean race like that.

“Good to bank some points, roll on tomorrow. Tomorrow is the main night and I really want the #1 back on this car.”

While missing out on victory, Newton was happy with his bank of points on the opening night.

“The boys have been working really hard this week and we managed to find some speed,” he said.

“Just a little bit off there in those last five laps, but managed to bring it home in second, which is all we needed to do.

“It was good clean racing [with Goodyer], we both gave each other room which is good. Credit to them, they did a really good job. It’s pretty cool to be up here with these boys.”

Lockie McHugh came home a strong third on a night that started with a frantic engine change after qualifying.

The reigning Australian champion James McFadden was fourth after overhauling Daniel Pestka during a rapid five-lap run to the flag.

Brock Hallett was sixth ahead of Todd Moule, Joel Heinrich, Kaiden Manders and Parker Scott.

The City Of Mount Gambier 2026 SCCA 410 Australian Sprintcar Championship concludes back at Borderline on Saturday night.