Queenslander Ryan Newton fired the first shot in the Maddington ToyotaSprintcar Series at the Perth Motorplex on Saturday night.
Newton claimed the 30-lap final ahead of New Zealander Michael Pickens and former series champion Brad Maiolo.
The driver of the No. Q66 was second quickest in his qualifying group before taking second in his heat race after starting third.
Newton started on the front row for the B-Dash to determine the top six spots on the outside row for the feature — and he got the jump on Pickens to take the win and start from second in the final, alongside Daniel Harding who won the A-Dash ahead of Kaiden Manders.
Harding grabbed the holeshot at the start of the final and led for the first eight laps before he rode a wheel of Aaron Chircop as he went to put him a lap down, crashing hard.
From there Newton led all the way on a very fast race track.
After the win he confirmed he would remain in Western Australia for round two of the series next Saturday night, back at the Perth Motorplex.
Pickens, who flew in late on Saturday afternoon from New Zealand after having a flight on Friday night cancelled, also drove a speedcar on the night.
He set the Victory 1 Performance Quick Time in a record-breaking 12.460 seconds before a third in his heat race and a second to Newton in the B Dash, to start the final from fourth.
Maiolo started eighth in the final after taking a heat race win and a fourth in the B-Dash.
He looked strong at each restart to move forward and better his starting position by five spots.
Manders, who started from third, held on for fourth from defending series champion Dayne Kingsshottt, who started sixth.
Trent Pigdon was seventh after starting ninth, while former series champion Callum Willliamson bettered his starting position by four spots to seventh.
Kris Coyle was the Kincrome Hard Charger after moving up seven spots to be eighth ahead of Taylor Milling, Jason Kendrick, Jamie Maiolo, Jack Williamson (who dropped seven spots), Jaydee Dack (who gained six spots), Ryan Lancaster, Michael Keen, Brooke Newson and Wayne Russell.
There was a bit of drama with nine laps remaining, when Kendrick and Kingshott, who were battling for position, went either side of former series champion Inglis, who was a lap down.
Unfortunately there was contact between Kendrick and Inglis, which saw Inglis roll hard and involve a couple of other cars that posted a DNF.
On the open red, Kendrick was able to change a tire and start back in 13th, moving up three spots on the run home.
Round two of the championship will be held at the Perth Motorplex next Saturday night, with the feature event being the Electrical Group Training Westerrnapolis.