Photos courtesy of Gordon Greaves - http://www.gordong.com/
Shane Macdonald won the Westco Trucks, QSCA State Modified Production Title, by a staggering 0.099 in a thrilling finish at the Cairns International Motor Speedway.

The race started at a hectic pace with Johnno Collins taking the lead from the commencement of the event, and started to open a gap on the field.

Six laps in, the first stoppage saw Troy Ware sent to the rear of the field for spinning.

Collins again opened his lead on the restart, with Darryl Etherden, Shane Macdonald, Todd Doyle, Dennis Shallcross and Rodney Pammenter in hot pursuit. The pace continued to be furious, with a second stoppage with twenty six laps to go when Shane Mitchell stopped on the back straight.

Macdonald and Etherden had a great battle for second place in the middle stages of the race, with Macdonald trying several times to pass Etherden on the inside, all unsuccessfully. Meanwhile, Raymont, Pammenter and Steve Price were involved in a great battle behind Todd Doyle, for fifth, sixth and seventh place.

With nineteen laps to go, a multi car pile up on the back straight, involving Brett Baxter, Ross Bullimore and Troy Ware would bring on the red lights.

On the restart, Johnno Collins continued to lead, with Etherden, Macdonald and Doyle behind him. Doyle went to the outside and took on Etherden and Macdonald, moving into third, when another stoppage occurred when Raymont and Pagel tangled on turn four.

The green lights came back on for another lap, before another caution was called when Steve Price lost a wheel.

Todd Doyle quickly went into second place after the restart, but a mistake in the main straight, saw Doyle lose track position. Dennis Shallcross joined the battle for second with Macdonald, and Etherden with the drivers making it three wide in the back straight. Dennis Shallcross would suffer a flat tyre with eleven laps to go, as the caution lights came on again.

Collins continued to lead with ten laps remaining, with Etherden and Macdonald still fighting for the minor placings in a brilliant battle for the second place. In an extraordinary move Shane Macdonald hit the front, with a move on the outside of Johnno Collins with two laps to go, with Etherden right with the pair in what was going to be a grandstand finish.

With a lap to go the yellow lights came on for a two car collision at the back of the field, which would result in a two lap race to the title.

Macdonald would win the event by a staggering 0.099 in a thrilling finish from Johnno Collins, Mark Raymont and Darryl Etherden filling the minor placings.

The appreciative crowd witnessed a highly entertaining race, which never had a dull moment as Macdonald pulled off the move of his career as he ran the gauntlet on the top side of the track to snatch the title from Johnno Collins.

After being interviewed by commentator Wes Beadman, "I knew I was in with a chance after qualifying 6th, but I honestly never thought I could win it" said an overwhelmed Macdonald, "That was awesome".

To top it all off, Lyndsay, Shane's father had purchased Shane in the calcutta for $100, reaping a reward of $645

Once again Shane would like to thank his wonderful wife Keryn for telling me to go to the title, Dad for all his work all over the weekend, Cathy Pammenter for washing his race suit on Sunday, Rodney Pammenter for his help and advice on car setup both before and during the weekend and  all of his valued Sponsors - Toowoomba Steering Service, RCP Machining, Repco, Linmac Automotive and Mac1 Designs.  Also a big thanks to Peter Gray and Dan Oliver for transporting the race car up to Cairns and their valued help over the weekend.

Shane would also like to thank everyone for their congratulations after the title via countless messages and phone calls.

A MAIN STARTING POSITIONS
1. Johnno Collins 123, 2. RK11 Darryl Etherden 117, 3. BB81 Dennis Shallcross 109, 4. Q1 Todd Doyle 98, 5. SC71 Troy Ware 95, 6. CR27 Shane McDonald 92, 7. CR8 Rodney Pammenter 91, 8. T19 Wayne Gilroy 85, 9. SC22 Steve Price 82, 10. G27 Mark Raymont 77, 11. G4 Glenn Pagel 77, 12. C13 Steve Cook 76, 13. G11 Gavin Lorensen 75, 14. T66 Ross Bullimore 74, 15. CNS81 Shane Mitchell 72, 16. CNS5 Max Bennetts 70, 17. G28 Aidan Raymont, 18. MK2 Jason Boss, 19. G5 Brett Baxter, 20. M46 Steven Zahl

Results:
1. CR27 Shane Macdonald, 2. CNS21 Johnno Collins, 3. G27 Mark Raymont, 4. RK11 Darryl Etherden, 5. CR8 Rodney Pammenter, 6. G4 Glenn Pagel, 7. MK2 Jason Boss, 8. G11 Gavin Lorensen, 9. SC71 Troy Ware, 10. C13 Steve Cook, 11. CNS5 Max Bennetts. DNF: T19 Wayne Gilroy, Q1 Todd Doyle, G5 Brett Baxter, BB81 Dennis Shallcross, SC22 Steve Price, G28 Aidan Raymont, T66 Ross Bullimore, CNS81 Shane Mithcell, M46 Steven Zahl

Shane celebrating the victory

and again.....

Shane on his way to victory on Sunday Night

Shane hikes the left front wheel at Cairns on Saturday Night