Ben Grice drove like a man possessed in the opening race of the National Trans Am Series at Mount Panorama, but the "Bathurst gods" ended his day early.
A week after losing his primary sponsor, Grice wound up battling the man who took it off him.
Grice initially showed why his all-black Ford Mustang should be covered in stickers when he pulled off an epic dummy on Cody Gillis.
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The son of two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Allan Grice soon skipped away and went about chasing down third-placed Lochie Dalton.
However, a mistake at Griffins Bend cast the podium hopeful wide and back into the clutches of Gillis.
The pair traded places and Grice found himself back where he started in fifth.
What followed was an unfortunate sequence as the 33-year-old got loose over Sulman Park and nearly brushed the wall.
Then he bowled a wide at McPhillamy Park and haemorrhage positions, dropping to the back of the top 10.
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That put Grice in the worst place possible when the No.111 of Anderson appeared to spin on his own.
With nowhere to go, Grice slammed into the back of the idle car and ripped the right front corner out of the car.
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Elliott Barbour was another innocent victim in the melee, suffering race-ending damage when he slammed into the side of Anderson.
"Grice, well he took on the Bathurst gods and they gave him a chance," said Stan Sport commentator Matt White.
"Then he had no chance when he arrived at the funnel that is The Cutting."
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The safety car was duly drawn onto the track and action was drawn to a halt.
Without enough time to clear the incident, the race finished under the control of the safety car.
The opening race of the weekend was won by James Moffat who led a Garry Rogers Motorsport one-two-three with Edan Thornwburrow and Lochie Dalton in tow.
It was a sweet result for Moffat a week on from the drama of a protracted investigation into cheating allegations that ultimately ended with the team being cleared.
"No better statement from the team than doing it in that style," said Moffat.
"We'll go back to work tonight and make sure the cars are in tip-top shape for tomorrow.
"We've got two more races to finish off the year."
Moffat is on course to win the National Trans Am Series in his first full season. He leads Dalton in the points with two races to go.
The second race of the weekend gets underway at 11.55am AEDT with race three at 3.10pm AEDT. Both races are live, ad-free, and exclusively on Stan Sport.
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