NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Brad Sweet secured his first ENZED World Series Sprintcars victory of the season in round three at Borderline Speedway Mt Gambier.
The 28-year-old Californian steered the Highrace Towing GF1 chassis to a classy win in a dramatic encounter.
Shaun Dobson and Darren Mollenoyux registered personal best finishes as they followed Sweet home in second and third respectively.
Despite an early retirement, Luke Dillon leads the championship by 12 points from Stewart Lines with eight-times champion Brooke Tatnell in third.
Driving for Josh and Isaac Ruhs, Sweet never looked greatly troubled as he deftly moved through traffic to take the chequered flag, his first in Australia.
The victory in the 35-lap A Main also saw the American pocket $10,000 in prize money.
“It certainly helps when you can drive a car that you’re used to,” said Sweet.
“I can’t say enough about Josh and Isaac for giving me this opportunity. I came down here to Australia hoping to get a bit of an edge on some of my rivals back home for next year and I’m super happy I can start it off with a win here.”
It didn’t take long for the race to offer up its first incident as Tatnell and fellow championship contender Lines made contact on the back straight on lap two.
Tatnell’s car suffered left front wheel and tyre damage but as the car headed towards the infield half a lap later, Matt Egel slammed into the side of Tatnell’s car to add insult to injury.
At the restart, it was Sweet who led away while Dillon, Lines and James McFadden squabbled over positions behind.
However, the trio were soon involved in an accident which forced them into retirement after just 16 laps.
Once the field restarted Sweet was able to drive away to victory despite the best efforts of Dobson, who made up several positions to challenge the American in the final laps.
Mollenoyux held on to third just ahead of Queensland’s Robbie Farr and Gary Brazier, who claimed the fastest lap of the race.
Grant Anderson crossed the line in sixth ahead of Jamie Veal and Ian Madsen, while David Murcott and Daniel Pestka rounded out the top 10.
The World Series Sprintcars continues on Monday night with round four at Victoria’s Avalon Raceway.
World Series Sprintcars Top 20:
1. Luke Dillon 822
2. Steven Lines 810
3. Brooke Tatnell 788
4. James McFadden 708
5. Brad Keller 699
6. David Murcott 668
7. Robbie Farr 657
8. Shane Stewart 637
9. Kyle Hirst 615
10. Matt Egel 605
11. Dylan Jenkin 594
12. Daniel Pestka 576
13. Jamie Veal 571
14. Ian Madsen 567
15. Ryan Jones 552
16. Garry Brazier 511
17. Jackson Delamont 502
18. Ricky Maiolo 495
19. Trevor Green 486
20. Randy Hannagan 473
