Race 2 suspended after Fraser crash

Race 2 of the Thrifty Newcastle has been suspended following a starting grid crash for rookie Declan Fraser.

Fraser (#56 TRADIE Mustang) made it all of 50 metres until he was turned into the pit wall by Macauley Jones (#96 Pizza Hut Camaro).

It was the second Tickford Racing Ford to strike trouble on Sunday after James Courtney crashed in the ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootout.

Courtney was a late scratching from Sunday's 95-lap finale following his Turn 7 crash.

It marked Courtney's first DNS since 2017, when he was racing for Walkinshaw Andretti United.

Fraser and Jones shared the 12th row of the grid, and the former eked towards the Pizza Hut Chevrolet before contact.

The ongoing contact saw Fraser spear into the inside wall, which was dislodged, causing the stoppage.

At the time of the stoppage, Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) led from pole-sitter David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang).

Mostert took the lead from Reynolds on the run to Turn 1, with Cam Waters (#6 Monster Mustang) jumping James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro) into third.

The race restarted at 3:30pm local time after approximately 20 minutes under red flag conditions.