Mason Kelly ploughed into Jarrod Hughes at Turn 3 during the first Super2 Series race at Queensland Raceway.
Gray, who started second, took first place away from Brad Jones Racing driver Brad Vaughan into Turn 1 and never relinquished the lead.
However, there were question marks over the Safety Car restart with race control announcing a post-race investigation for a potential procedure infringement.
“Pretty cool to get my second race win,” said Gray post-race.
“Starts have been a weakness all year and it sort of was that race, but luckily Brad [Vaughan] got a worse one.
“I got to the lead, had a very long Safety Car, my arms were getting sore from weaving, but super pumped to get my second race win.”
In the second phase of the race start, Gray got the jump into Turn 1 over Vaughan. Blanchard Racing Team driver Bailey Sweeny got to second and put pressure on Gray but that quickly turned to defence as Vaughan took second spot away from the Blanchard Racing Team driver at Turn 3.
A massive shunt on Lap 2 lead to a lengthy safety car stint.
Mason and Jarrod are out of the cars and OK.#Super2 pic.twitter.com/ATKnKkhULF
— Dunlop Super2 Series (@Dunlop_Series) August 9, 2025
There was drama on Lap 2 when Mason Kelly in the #22 Ford Mustang locked up into Turn 3, sending smoke signals into the braking zone. With nowhere to go, Kelly ploughed into the right rear door of Jarrod Hughes’ #118 Holden ZB Commodore.
Under Safety Car conditions, Bradi Owen pulled his #88 Eggleston Motorsport Commodore into the pits with a “grinding noise” from the rear end of the car due to a suspected transaxle issue.
After a lengthy delay, and 10 laps behind the Safety Car, the race resumed with a little over 10 minutes left on the clock. Gray led Vaughan and Sweeny to the green flag.
Gray skipped away in the #55 Mustang, leading Vaughan in the #80 to fend off Sweeny in the #33 Mustang. A hard-charging Dalton in the #6 Mustang usurped Triple Eight’s Jackson Walls in the #11 Commodore shortly after the restart.
The top five remained unchanged despite a bit of ebb and flow in the final few laps. Gray clinched victory, nearly three seconds clear of Vaughan. Sweeny was third and Dalton fourth while Walls was a distant fifth.
Super2 will have qualifying on Sunday at 8:45am AEST followed by Race 2 at 12:25pm AEST.
Results: Dunlop Super2 Series Race 1, Queensland Raceway
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Car
Laps/Diff
Gap
1
55
Rylan Gray
Tickford Autosport
Ford Mustang GT
23 laps
2
80
Brad Vaughan
Brad Jones Racing
Holden Commodore ZB
2.9164
2.9164
3
33
Bailey Sweeny
Blanchard Racing Team
Ford Mustang GT
3.6882
0.7718
4
6
Lochie Dalton
Tickford Autosport
Ford Mustang GT
4.2175
0.5293
5
11
Jackson Walls
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Holden Commodore ZB
5.5644
1.3469
6
36
Cody Burcher
Eggleston Motorsport
Holden Commodore ZB
6.2425
0.6781
7
222
Nash Morris
Tickford Autosport
Ford Mustang GT
7.0879
0.8454
8
1
Zach Bates
Eggleston Motorsport
Holden Commodore ZB
7.5898
0.5019
9
35
Ben Gomersall
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Holden Commodore ZB
8.4017
0.8119
10
9
Cody Gillis
Brad Jones Racing
Holden Commodore ZB
10.1462
1.7445
11
25
Matt Hillyer
Walkinshaw Andretti United
Holden Commodore ZB
10.7953
0.6491
12
92
Cameron McLeod
Kelly Racing
Ford Mustang GT
11.7981
1.0028
13
99
Jobe Stewart
Image Racing
Holden Commodore ZB
14.3803
2.5822
14
54
Jordyn Sinni
Eggleston Motorsport
Holden Commodore ZB
14.7829
0.4026
15
2
Campbell Logan
Walkinshaw Andretti United
Holden Commodore ZB
16.0514
1.2685
16
28
Ayrton Hodson
Anderson Motorsport
Ford Mustang GT
16.328
0.2766
17
5
Reuben Goodall
Tickford Autosport
Ford Mustang GT
16.7258
0.3978
18
17
Ryan Tomsett
Anderson Motorsport
Ford Mustang GT
17.0425
0.3167
19
53
Max Geoghegan
Image Racing
Holden Commodore ZB
19.806
2.7635
DNF
88
Bradi Owen
Eggleston Motorsport
Holden Commodore ZB
Lap 9
DNF
22
Mason Kelly
Kelly Racing
Ford Mustang GT
Lap 2
DNF
118
Jarrod Hughes
Image Racing
Holden Commodore ZB
Lap 2
DNF
38
Elliott Cleary
Eggleston Motorsport
Holden Commodore ZB