Gray wins Ipswich Super2 opener as Hughes, Kelly crash

Gray, who started second, took first place away from Brad Jones Racing driver Brad Vaughan into Turn 1 and never relinquished the lead.

The Tickford driver was the subject of a post-race investigation for a potential breach of the Safety Car procedure, but was ultimately cleared.

“Pretty cool to get my second race win,” said Gray post-race.

“Starts have been a weakness all year and it sort of was that race, but luckily Brad [Vaughan] got a worse one.

“I got to the lead, had a very long Safety Car, my arms were getting sore from weaving, but super pumped to get my second race win.”

In the second phase of the race start, Gray got the jump into Turn 1 over Vaughan. Blanchard Racing Team driver Bailey Sweeny got to second and put pressure on Gray but that quickly turned to defence as Vaughan took second spot away from the Blanchard Racing Team driver at Turn 3.

A massive shunt on Lap 2 lead to a lengthy safety car stint.

Mason and Jarrod are out of the cars and OK.#Super2 pic.twitter.com/ATKnKkhULF

— Dunlop Super2 Series (@Dunlop_Series) August 9, 2025

There was drama on Lap 2 when Mason Kelly in the #22 Ford Mustang locked up into Turn 3, sending smoke signals into the braking zone. With nowhere to go, Kelly ploughed into the right rear door of Jarrod Hughes’ #118 Holden ZB Commodore.

Under Safety Car conditions, Bradi Owen pulled his #88 Eggleston Motorsport Commodore into the pits with a “grinding noise” from the rear end of the car due to a suspected transaxle issue.

After a lengthy delay, and 10 laps behind the Safety Car, the race resumed with a little over 10 minutes left on the clock. Gray led Vaughan and Sweeny to the green flag.

Gray skipped away in the #55 Mustang, leading Vaughan in the #80 to fend off Sweeny in the #33 Mustang. A hard-charging Dalton in the #6 Mustang usurped Triple Eight’s Jackson Walls in the #11 Commodore shortly after the restart.

The top five remained unchanged despite a bit of ebb and flow in the final few laps. Gray clinched victory, nearly three seconds clear of Vaughan. Sweeny was third and Dalton fourth while Walls was a distant fifth.

Super2 will have qualifying on Sunday at 8:45am AEST followed by Race 2 at 12:25pm AEST.

Results: Dunlop Super2 Series Race 1, Queensland Raceway