It was fitting that Veal – who has spent the past 10 days helping rebuild the Warrnambool surface – was the man who stole the show in a barnstorming feature.

Veal and Goodyer staged a brilliant battle for the win, with the local favourite holding on for his biggest win of the summer.

Goodyer settled for second, which ensured a commanding second straight Speed Week crown – his week netting three victories, a second, and a fourth.

Third was Australian World of Outlaws star James McFadden – who stormed through the field from an 11th starting position.

Supercars racer Cam Waters had another brilliant night – he was fourth, which rivals his best ever sprintcar performance considering the quality of the stacked New Year’s Day field.

The hard luck story belonged to Lockie McHugh, who had a commanding lead in the final before bursting a right-rear tyre to end what’s been a brutal week for the Queenslander.

But the night was a success for Premier Speedway, which debuted its new-look race track just a fortnight out from the two biggest events in Aussie speedway – the Grand Annual Classic and the Australian Title.

After conceding defeat with their difficult black clay prior to Christmas, the speedway made the radical decision to tear out the venue’s concrete pole line to help widen the racing surface by up to four metres.

The results were promising with all drivers approving of the changes.

“Hats off to the place, they’ve admitted they had a problem here and they’re working their backsides off to try and make it better,” Goodyer said.

“We were able to race on multiple lanes and it made for great racing all night – through the heats and especially the final, so I’m optimistic with a few more weeks it can be even better for the Classic.

“Sprintcar racing needs Warrnambool at its best, you only had to look at the crowd here tonight – it was huge, so tonight was a step in the right direction.”

The 51st Classic begins on January 19 in Warrnambool, before the Aussie Championship the following weekend.

Highlights