In a race that saw plenty of attrition and five different leaders, Brandon Hough, racing from position eleven on the grid, has walked away from Maryborough Speedway on Saturday night as the new SSA Street Stock Queensland Champion.
With two wins and a second in the heat races, former champion Riley Hutchison would do enough to start from pole position in the forty-lap final, with Nathan Barbeler joining him on the front row while defending champion Matt Nelson would come from position three, starting alongside former National Junior champion Jaiden Santin.
The first attempt at a start didn’t last long, a number of cars coming together and Brandon Stoward getting the worst of it, lucky not to rollover.
All cars were able to restart, with Hutchison leading away Barbeler and Nelson. The top three began to pull away in their own battle while Santin was left to hold off the rest of the charging field in fourth.
With eight complete the Hutchison car began emitting smoke, and as the lead pack approached lapped traffic, Hutchison found himself out wide, and ultimately retiring, while Nelson snuck by Barbeler to take over the lead.
Lapped traffic continued to play its part, Nelson still leading Barbeler while Santin was able to close the gap and even grab second momentarily from Barbeler, only for the cautions to come out for a stranded car.
Unfortunately for Barbeler, he would also head infield under the stoppage, seeing Nelson lead away Santin, Darren Ciesiolka, Morris Ahearn and Travis Hutchison on the restart.
Nelson got the best of the restart, Ahearn using the highline to get around the outside of Santin for second. Over the next few laps Santin and Ahearn would trade places multiple times, the duo going high and low as they each attempt to also get past Nelson.
Santin dove by Nelson to grab the lead on lap twenty-one, going up on two wheels and bringing it back down, able to race away, but the yellows would come on once again, negating the move and seeing Nelson lead the field away once again.
Again, Nelson got away in front, and Ahearn was able to dive underneath Santin to again retake second as the race resumed. Just after the halfway point though the red lights came on after Darren Ciesiolka, who was fighting hard with Santin for third, went upside down.
With twenty laps officially completed and twenty remaining, Nelson led the restart, but the car stumbled, Ahearn able to race by into the lead as Nelson joined the growing pack on the infield.
Travis Hutchison got by Santin for second, and as he fought to get back by Santin had a huge moment, bicycling through the turn and getting right onto his right side twice, before ultimately coming to a stop against the wall, his race also over.
Nineteen laps now remained, and Ahearn’s car was now in trouble, seeing him also head infield before the restart, while Hutchison was also unable to rejoin, Mike Wenham and Toby Maloney now leading away a field of eight cars.
Wenham was best at the dispatch, clearing out ahead of Maloney, who was now under pressure from Hough. All of a sudden, with sixteen laps remaining, Wenham also found himself in distress and he too went infield, collecting fourth placed Peter Kluytenberg on the way to bring the yellows out once again.
This left just seven cars to restart and Hough took advantage, racing into the lead on the lowline, with Maloney doing all he could to get around the outside, the top two pulling away from the remaining cars.
With ten to go Hough had managed to put a gap between himself and Maloney, who was now fighting an ailing car himself, while the real battle was for third, with three cars fighting it out.
As the laps wound down Hough continued to extend his lead, going on to cross the line nearly thirteen seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
Toby Maloney went one position better than last year’s third place to finish second, while Dylan Jarman completed the podium, only the top three cars finishing on the lead lap. Peter Kluytenberg, John Roycroft and Brett Johnston rounded out the only other finishers.
This Title also marks the official end of Titles nationwide for the 2025/26 season, with all champions now decided. Check out the full Title history on our website.
Feature Result, 40 laps: 1. BB95 Brandon Hough, 2. RK33 Toby Maloney, 3. SB17 Dylan Jarman, 4. M92 Peter Kluytenberg (39), 5. RK83 John Roycroft (38), 6. B89 Brett Johnston (37). DNF: C34 Brandon Stoward (27), BB4 Mike Wenham (24), SA4 Morris Ahearn (21), M7 Travis Hutchison (21), N17 Jaiden Santin (21), V61 Matt Nelson (20), SB33 Darren Ciesiolka (20), BB81 Mitch Wogandt (18), RK67 Tony Wust (18), BB87 Jessica Dakin-Masters (17), RK95 James Russell (13), SB88 Nathan Barbeler (11), V82 Shane Roycroft (11), BB82 Kane Heidke (11), M2 Riley Hutchison (9), N5 Lucas Gray (9), BB47 Beau Pieters (5), SC56 Graham Maloney (4). Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 12.972. Fastest Lap: 16.183 RK95 James Russell.
Pics Courtesy Maryborough Speedway.
