Aaron Reutzel won the 51st Flying Horse Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic at Premier Speedway, Warrnambool before a capacity crowd.
With the $40,000 winner’s check and over $110,000 paid out across the 24 ‘Classic’ A-Main qualifiers, the final night produced willing racing on a slick surface.
Driving the Mega Cash/KRGS Roller Grilles and Shutters entry, the Texas driver claimed the 40-lap feature from defending classic winner Brock Hallett by 0.7 seconds.
Lachlan McHugh filled out the podium ahead of Jamie Veal, Jock Goodyer and Marcus Dumesny.
Kerry Madsen, Carson Macedo, Jack Lee and Luke Dillon rounded out the top 10.
In winning the Classic, Ruetzel become the 11th American to win Australia’s biggest sprint car race, beginning with Jimmy Sills in 1978. He added the Classic to his victory in the A-Main on night one of the meeting.
After Sheldon Haudenschild clipped the wall, leaving no escape for James McFadden from the crash, Reutzel, from third on the grid, was left in a commanding position.
McFadden scampered off on the start, leading by a few lengths into the backstretch before the first stoppage. The casualties of the feature included Peter Doukas who rolled on the first lap, and Callum Williamson on lap three.
Nine laps into the race, Haudenschild and McFadden came to grief after the super-fast early pace.
Cory Eliason, Chase Randall, Cameron Waters and Brock Zearfoss were amongst others who finished the incident-prone A-Main in the infield.