Haynes clean sweeps thrilling Round 3 at Ipswich

Herzog Steel Mustang driver Josh Haynes has clean swept a thrilling Round 3 of the TFH Hire TA2 Muscle Car Series framed by Hytek Steel Framing at Queensland Raceway.

PHD Motorsport’s Graham Cheney got the best start of the top three in Race 3, taking Gartner for second on the side of Turn 1 before out-braking Haynes into Turn 3.

Drama struck at Turn 4 when TFH Racing’s Des Collier turned Jason Pryde at Turn 4, before Hayden Jackson turned John Holinger when he checked up to avoid Pryde. Danny Reidy also suffered big damage when he had nowhere to go in avoidance and barrelled into Jackson.

Cheney lead the field on the restart before Haynes passed him into Turn 3, as Hughes and Gartner got passed on the inside of Turns 4 and 5.

Mark Crutcher lost the rear and spun on his own at Turn 6 onto the main straight.

Tom Hayman charged from the rear of grid to fifth, losing a drag race to the chequered flag for fourth from Cheney.

Gartner got by Hughes for second and hunted down the race leader, setting the fastest lap of the race along the way with a 1:13.4.

Gartner pressured Haynes for the final lap, diving around the outside of Haynes at Turn 4. The pair ran side-by-side through Turns 4 and 5 before Gartner ran out of road and dropped a wheel on the dirt on the outside of Turn 5, just hanging onto second from Hughes.

Haynes lead the field away for Race 4. Gartner challenged Haynes before a safety car on Lap 9 when Collier spun at Turn 3 and became stuck in the sand trap.

Russell Wright moved ahead of Graham Cheney to bring home a strong fourth place, taking out the Circo Masters Class for Round 3.

After a Hyperco Hard Charger Award effort in Race 3, Tom Hayman moved forwards into the top three before a steering rack failure took him out of contention.

Haynes clean swept the weekend with a win in Race 4 from Gartner and Hughes, extending the series lead to 28 points ahead of Cheney.

Round 4 of the TFH Hire TA2 Muscle Car Series Framed by Hytek Steel Framing heads to The Bend Motorsport Park on August 30-September 1.

QUOTES

Josh Haynes, #37 Herzog Steel Ford Mustang

“Honestly, words can't describe how I’m feeling right now. The team's put in so much work, the whole team at Waltec Motorsport. My friends, my family, we’ve put in so much work for this, so it means a lot.

“Shout out to Brad Gartner. We had a very hard race last race. He kept me on my toes all weekend and well done to him.

“Another great round, heaps more points. The Herzog Steel Mustang is an absolute weapon and looking forward to The Bend in two months time.”

Brad Gartner, #22 Hi-Tec Oils Chevrolet Camaro

"I think we had the car to win. Even yesterday, just probably didn't get the race start, it’s probably number one thing.

“I heard Jarrod say the same thing. That race there, best chance to go for the lead was before the safety car and we unfortunately didn't maximise.

“At the end of the day, you've got three 20 year olds driving these cars very fast and it's very good racing, and so much respect for Josh, it’s just awesome racing.

"I can't thank everyone enough. Hi-Tec Oils for giving me this awesome car and everyone involved.

“Next round at The Bend is my home round, so it’ll be max attack. Josh was right there at Morgan Park, but it doesn't always work out for everyone but no, I feel like we maximised what we have and Josh maximised what he had and we're rolling to the next round and that's halfway in the season, I'm keen to get after it.”

Jarrod Hughes, #118 American Muscle Trucks Chevrolet Camaro

“I'm actually a bit happier that we finally got the car to go around the corner not too bad. Before that safety car we were really chasing down the guys in front.

“I can't thank the team at PHD Motorsport enough for giving me the chance to have a drive of this beast this weekend. Obviously we had a few dramas, but it ended up not too bad.”