On Monday at Australia’s Bunbury Speedway, it was hometown hero Kye Blight who drew first blood, racing away to win the opening round of the Wild West Shootout ahead of Warren Oldfield and Joe Chalmers.
Twenty four cars would start the night, with heat wins shared by Warren Oldfield, Jason Oldfield, David Nylander, Ken Macpherson, Chalmers and Blight, while Blight would also claim victory in the top-six pole shootout.
Blight immediately scampered away once the green flag dropped in the feature, running high while Warren Oldfield ran the low line in second, followed by Ken Macpherson and Tasmanian visitor Brad Smith, who quickly moved from the third row into fourth.
With two laps complete Anthony King and Rod Musarra spun together in turn two to bring out the yellow flag.
Lap five saw Jason Oldfield draw alongside Macpherson for second with Macpherson just holding it by 0.066 seconds across the line and then able to race back away in response. Just behind them was Jamie Oldfield, running into fifth place after starting ninth.
The yellow flag would then come out again with five laps complete due to Jay Cardy spinning to a stop at the end of the frontstretch.
Blight would pull away on the following restart, this time Warren sticking right with him. Jason Oldfield would run clear in third while Macpherson came under pressure from Jamie Oldfield, with Oldfield diving underneath him in turn three to take fourth on lap seven.
Yellow flags would fly once more with eight laps complete as contact between King and Peter Walker in turn four saw Walker stranded.
Another caution flag waved with 13 laps complete due to David Nylander spinning at the exit of turn two. The caution-plagued event continued as Victorian Champion Peter Nicola slowed on the frontstretch shortly after.
With 12 laps to go, Smith pulled out of line and slowed, triggering the caution as Nathan Richards hit the back of the Smith car as he exited the track, Michael Holmes also having spun in turn four.
Fifteen cars restarted, with Jamie Oldfield now applying the pressure to Blight for the lead. However, Oldfield struggled in turns three and four and lost two spots, with Warren and Chalmers both passing him.
A lap later, Oldfield went wide again in turn four with Jason Oldfield also passing him. Jamie Oldfield ultimately retired to the infield.
Meanwhile up front, Blight was nearly two seconds ahead with 10 laps remaining before the yellow flag struck again, this time for Cardy who found himself sideways in turn one with Daniel Ameduri left with nowhere to go.
Blight and Oldfield resumed the battle at the front on the restart with the duo side-by-side for a number of laps before Blight was able to pull away once again.
With five laps to go there was just 11 cars remaining, but it was all about Blight, leading at every restart and holding the lead as the laps wound down.
Blight made it two wins in two starts so far this season and in the process getting his Wild West Showdown campaign off to a flying start.
Teams now have less than 24 hours to turn around their machinery with the second round of the Wild West Showdown, doubling as Round Eight of the Pro Dirt Series being held Tuesday at Perth Motorplex.
Feature Finish (30 Laps)
1. 31 Kye Blight, 2. 15 Warren Oldfield, 3. 23 Joe Chalmers, 4. 11 Jason Oldfield, 5. 91 Michael Holmes, 6. 52 Jay Cardy, 7. 94 Luke Halliday, 8. 54 David Nylander, 9. USA14 Jeff Roth, 10. 39 Chris Barrow, 11. 74 Nathan Richards (29). DNF: 51 Jamie Oldfield (22), 0 Brad Blake (21), 155 Daniel Ameduri (21), 50 Veronica McCann (21), 26 Ken Macpherson (18), T6 Brad Smith (18), V1 Peter Nicola (16), 6 Peter Walker (8), 5 Anthony King (8), 04 Greg Horan (5), 21 Rod Musarra (2). DNS: 34 Matt Nylander, 95 Abbey Pickering. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 1.685. Fastest Lap: 16.539 Kye Blight.