National stars join stacked TA2 Muscle Car field at Queensland Raceway

A host of national racing stars will join a 21-strong field set to take on Queensland Raceway this weekend, 28-30 June, for Round 3 of the TFH Hire TA2 Muscle Car Series framed by HYTEK Steel Framing.

Last time out saw Brad Gartner clean sweep Round 2 at Morgan Park in the Hi-Tec Oils Camaro, while Josh Haynes hung on to the series lead after a puncture produced a tough weekend in the Herzog Steel Mustang to be level on points with Graham Cheney.

The grid has been strengthened by the return of debut round winner and Super 2 young-gun Jarrod Hughes. Hughes will steer a third car out of the PHD Motorsport stable alongside category stalwart Paul Hadley and equal series leader Graham Cheney.

Also joining the grid for his TA2 debut this weekend is current Aussie Racing Cars runner-up Brandon Madden in the Riskie Racing Ford Mustang. Madden is a two-time state Holden HQ Champion and scored a race win on debut at Queensland Raceway in the Aussie Racing Cars in 2023.

Dodge Challenger racers Connor Roberts and Hayden Jackson return after strong rounds at Morgan Park. Trans-Am drivers Tom Hayman, Mark Bailey and John Holinger join the grid this weekend to gain some extra miles, while TFH Racing return with a two-car effort for Josh Thomas and Des Collier, stepping up from Aussie Racing Cars and Formula RX8.

The Circo Masters Class will be hotly contested with Round 1 winner Anthony Tenkate back in action against Mark Crutcher, and after filling in for Elliot Barbour as Driving Standards Observer at Morgan Park, 2017 series champion Russell Wright will make a welcome return to the TA2 grid.

After a solid debut at Morgan Park, former Super Ute racer Steve Wilson is back in action at Queensland Raceway, alongside speedway converts Danny Reidy, Domain Ramsay and West Aussie Jason Pryde.

The format for the weekend will see three practice sessions on Friday. Qualifying will feature a split 15-minute session for the Bottom 50% and Top 50% of the field on combined practice times. Races 1 and 2 will take place on Saturday over 12 laps. Sunday’s action will see Race 3 over 12 laps before an 18-lap finale.

All the action from Round 3 can be viewed live on SBS Viceland, Fox Sports and Kayo. Check local guides for further details.

QUOTES

Josh Haynes, #37 Herzog Steel Ford Mustang

“Morgan Park was a tough round for us as a team, we still took home a lot of positives and came away with the championship lead. Unfortunately 2 tyre punctures let us down, we showed some great speed, the car had a lot of pace and we are really looking forward to taking all that into Queensland Raceway this weekend. 

Queensland Raceway is going to be unreal, there is obviously a lot more cars this weekend with great competition especially with it being some people’s home track. I am really looking forward to showing what we have got, we are going to come back stronger than ever, rub some panels and have some fun.”

Jarrod Hughes, #118 American Muscle Trucks/ Alpha Omega Chevrolet Camaro

“Paul Hadley, Graham Cheney and the rest of the PHD Motorsport team have been kind enough to support me in getting a drive in the TA2 Muscle Car at Queensland Raceway. When they put the opportunity forward to me I thought there is no way we can’t do that and with it being a local round for me it was a bit of a no brainer. We have a lot of local support jumping on board for the weekend and I am really looking forward to getting stuck into it. 

Obviously after the success we had at Calder Park last year my approach is pretty high, I have had a pretty good year so far in the Super 2 and GT4 series so I am going into Queensland Raceway with the ambition to try and win. This is the first time I have driven the Chevrolet Camaro, so Friday is going to be a pretty big day for us to try and get used to the car and making sure we have it in the right window for qualifying Saturday morning.” 

SCHEDULE

Friday 

Practice 1 - 9:50am (20 minutes) 

Practice 2 - 12:55pm (20 minutes)

Practice 3 - 4:00pm (20 minutes)

Saturday 

Qualifying bottom 50% - 10:45am (15 minutes) 

Qualifying top 50% - 11:05am (15 minutes) 

Race 1 - 1:15pm (12 laps)

Race 2 - 3:37pm (12 laps)

Sunday 

Race 3 - 1:15pm (12 laps)

Race 4 - 3:48pm (18 laps)

ENTRY LIST

#3 Steve Wilson, Chevolet Camaro, Wilson Autosports 

#4 Mark Crutcher, Ford Mustang, Crutcher Developments 

#5 Danny Reidy, Chevrolet Camaro, Palm Deserts Alice Springs 

#12 Mark Bailey, Chevrolet Camaro, Jax Tyres and Auto

#14 Jason Pryde, Chevrolet Camaro, JPM

#19 Connor Roberts, Dodge Challenger, Arrow Transport Repairs

#22 Brad Gartner, Chevrolet Camaro, Hi-Tec Oils 

#23 John Holinger, Chevrolet Camaro, Holinger Racing 

#30 Tom Hayman, Ford Mustang, Di Prinzio Concreting 

#37 Josh Haynes, Ford Mustang, Herzog Steel

#50 Paul Hadley, Chevrolet Camaro, PHD Motorsport 

#51 Graham Cheney, Chevrolet Camaro, PHD Motorsport

#55 Russell Wright, Ford Mustang, Crew Commercial Real Estate 

#57 Brandon Madden, Ford Mustang, Riskie Racing 

#63 Describe Collier, Ford Mustang, TFH Hire Racing 

#69 Anthony Tenkate, Ford Mustang, Tenkate Plant Hire 

#71 Domain Ramsay, Chevrolet Camaro, C&H Trucking 

#81 Hayden Jackson, Dodge Challenger, Maitland Glass and Windscreen 

#118 Jarrod Hughes, Chevrolet Camaro, PHD Motorsport 

#169 Joshua Thomas, Ford Mustang, TFH Hire Racing 

BROADCAST

Live Stream Saturday & Sunday 10:30am - 1pm 

Hi-Tec Oils Super Series, TA2 Australia and Speedcafe Facebook Pages 

Television Saturday and Sunday 1pm-5pm 

SBS Viceland, Sky Sports, Fox Sports and Kayo Sports