LUKE Dillon is the new leader of the AHG Sprintcar Series heading into the Grand Final that will be contested at the Perth Motorplex on Sunday night.

He staked his claim for the 2013-14 championship after winning the 30-lap feature race from Ian Loudoun, Jason Kendrick, Brad Maiolo and Callum Williamson.

Dillon started on pole but conceded the early ground to Loudoun before pulling off an aggressive move to get to the lead and he never looked back.

It was a high-speed, entertaining race that saw Loudoun and Kendrick trade positions with Loudoun only crossing the line 0.404 behind Dillon at the end of the show.

Defending AHG Sprintcar Series champion Cameron Gessner is out of the contest after crashing hard in pits bend only three laps in, being the victim of a collapsed rear axle.

Gessner went close to the top of the safety fence in the massive crash.

“I didn’t seem to have done anything wrong getting in there,” Gessner said.

He said it was the story of the season after breaking so much stuff in the car, particularly in the second half.

The first incident occurred after a four-car crash involving Daniel Harding, Ryan Lancaster, Lee Nash and Daryl Clayden.

After an open red light situation all four cars were able to be repaired to resume.

Brad Maiolo, who started ninth, finished fourth ahead of Callum Williamson (from P8), Jamie Maiolo (from P5), Daniel Harding (originally from P12), Kye Scroop (from P6), Mark Wells (from P15) and Trent Pidgon (from P14).

“You have got to race hard against these guys,” Dillon said.

“It was a very hard race…I was in the lead so I got to lapped traffic first which was good and bad.

“I was pretty happy to win it.

“You have just got to keep it together and keep the lead and win the race.”

Loudoun put in an awesome effort in the Peet Motorsport 65.

“It was our race to lose and we lost it unfortunately,” Dillon said.

He said Dillon gave him no option but to get on the brakes after pushing his way inside for the championship winning pass
Loudoun said he did not make the right call a couple of times in lapped traffic.

“We will come back tomorrow night and hopefully go one more,” Loudoun said.

“When you can race like that you can’t be unhappy.

“It was hard racing.”

Kendrick was happy with his third – the second successive podium finish.

“That was an awesome race, I wish it went for a lap longer."

AHG Sprintcar Series results

Qualifying group one: Shane Norris 13.845, Jamie Maiolo 13.915, Callum Williamson 14.049, Cameron Gessner 14.071, Daniel Harding 15.263, Jeff Leisk 14.354, Jason Pryde 14.588.

Qualifying group two: Lee Nash 14.262, Jason Kendrick 14.262, Ryan Lancaster 14.343, Jake Beard-Miler 14.348, Troy Lawson 14.404, Mark Wells 14.641, Scott Reilly 14.679, Liam Dowling 15.020.

Qualifying group three: Luke Dillon 14.256, Ian Loudoun 14.272, Jason Boland 14.431, Kye Scroop 14.489, Brad Maiolo 14.498, Trent Pigdon 14.519, Daryl Clayden 14.658, Damian Blacka 14.809.

Heat 1: 1st Cameron Gessner, 2nd Ian Loudoun, 3rd Daniel Harding, 4th Jason Boland, 5th Jason Kendrick, 6th Lee Nash, 7th Trent Pigdon, 8th Daryl Clayden, 9th Shane Norris, 10th Troy Lawson, 11th Mark Wells.

Heat 2: 1st Jeff Leisk, 2nd Kye Scroop, 3rd Bradley Maiolo, 4th Luke Dillon, 5th Jake Beard-Miller, 6th Jamie Maiolo, 7th Callum Williamson, 8th Ryan Lancaster, 9th Liam Dowling, 10th Scott Reilly, 11th Damian Blacka, 12th Jason Pryde.

Heat 3: 1st Jamie Maiolo, 2nd Jason Kendrick, 3rd Shane Norrish, 4th Ryan Lancaster, 5th Mark Wells, 6th Kye Scroop, 7th Daryl Clayden, 8th Daniel Harding, 9th Jeff Leisk, 10th Jason Boland, 11th Scott Reilly, 12th Damian Blacka.

Heat 4: 1st Luke Dillon, 2nd Ian Loudoun, 3rd Lee Nash, 4th Callum Williamson, 5th Cameron Gessner, 6th Bradley Maiolo, 7th Trent Pigdon, 8th Liam Dowling, 9th Jason Pryde, 10th Troy Lawson.

Final: 1st Luke Dillon, 2nd Ian Loudoun, 3rd Jason Kendrick, 4th Brad Maiolo, 5th Callum Williamson, 6th Jamie Maiolo, 7th Daniel Harding, 8th Kye Scroop, 9th Mark Wells, 10th Trent Pigdon, 11th Jeff Leisk, 12th Jason Boland, 13th Scott Reilly, 14th Liam Dowling, 15th Jason Pryde, 16th Ryan Lancaster, 17th Lee Nash. DNF: Damian Blacka, Daryl Clayden, Jake Beard-Miller, Shane Norris, Cameron Gessner and Troy Lawson.