THE race for the MPI ‘Up on the Wheel’ Award in the Trico Trans Am Series at Mount Panorama proved to be a case of zero to hero for Josh Haynes, who turned a qualifying mishap into a strong result.

Presented to the driver who gained the most positions over the entire race weekend, the reigning TA2 Muscle Car Series champion gained an impressive 28 positions over the course of two races.

The weekend started off inauspiciously for the Herzog Steel Mustang, when contact with the wall at The Cutting early in qualifying relegated the Sydneysider to the rear of the grid for the opening race.

Fortunately, the Waltec Motorsport crew turned the car around in time to take the start, with Haynes rewarding them with a drive from 41^st to 18^th, which was further improved to 13^th position when the red flags flew to conclude Sunday’s race.

Other drivers to make double-figure gains over the weekend included Jackson Rice (Dream Racing Australia Mustang), who raced from 31^st position at the start of the Sunday race through to 19^th in only six laps.

Elsewhere, Jason Pryde (JPM/Waltec Motorsport) was another driver to turn a qualifying mishap into gains on the track.

After ending qualifying with his Camaro beached in the gravel trap at The Chase, the speedway ace gained 10 places in race one, and a further two in the second, finishing that race in 25^th.

Dream Racing’s Craig Scutella piloted the third car to gain 12 places on track, with the Camaro driver following in the wheel tracks of Haynes from 40^th on the grid in the opener through to position 18.

Overall for the weekend in the outright provisional point score, Todd Hazelwood (TFH Racing Mustang) once again claimed honours with results of second and first.

With only half points being awarded for the finale, Hazelwood finished the event on 82 points, a lone point clear of James Golding (CTE Mustang), who won the opening race from pole position.

Nathan Herne (BlueGold Industries Mustang) was third overall with results of third and second, with the 22-year-old claiming the Young Gun award for the weekend.

The current series point score has Hazelwood on top with 204 points, followed by Herne on 125 and Golding on 123.

In the hotly contested Pro-Am class, Joshua Thomas (TFH Racing Mustang) led the field at Bathurst, finishing a strong 13^th outright in the 41-car field.

Provisionally second for the event was John Holinger (Holinger Racing Camaro) from Mark Bailey (Jax Tyres Camaro), with Thomas on top of the points table after two events.

Next up for the Trico Trans Am Series is a visit to the tropical north and Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway from June 20-22, with the category set to race alongside the Repco Supercars Championship for the first of three times this year.