It means he turned a six point title lead Best gained three points via qualifying on pole position earlier in the day into a 15-point margin ahead of tomorrows pair of races that will decide the title.

From Pole Best made a solid start in his MW Falcon however was beaten into turn one by Everingham who grabbed an early lead.

Best was relegated to third by a fast-starting Jon McCorkindale while Jack Smith settled into fourth on the opening lap as the leading quartet ran nose-to-tail.

An early Safety car halted proceedings when Mark Primmer ended up in the turn six gravel trap after contact from Maxim Erickson who was handed a 30-second penalty for his efforts.

The race resumed after two laps and there was instant change McCorkindale running wide at turn 13 on the fifth lap dropping back to fourth position.

Best was in the thick of the action and in a three-way fight retained third while McCorkindale went from second to fourth and Smith from fourth to second.

The run to the flag was straightforward from there Everingham edging away from Smith to win by four seconds while Best pressured the Brad Jones Racing Commodore to the line in a close finish for second and third.

McCorkindale finished fourth while Harley Haber was the star performer of the race as he stormed through the field in his Image Racing Falcon.

The talented youngster started the racer last after issues in qualifying but cut his way to fifth place in just seven laps only five of them green.

He had moved to 10^th prior to the Safety Car and passed three laps on the restart to work his way back into contention lapping at the same pace as the leaders as the race evolved.

Michael Anderson finished a stout sixth while Garry Hills and Jim Pollicina continued their close battle for Kumho Cup honours and finished line astern in seventh and eighth.

Pollicinas solid finish all but assures him of the Kumho Cup class trophy this year.

Adam Wallis and Mark Tracey completed stout comebacks to finish ninth and tenth respectively the pair clashing at turn one of the opening lap and spinning to the back of the field.

Andy Cantrell won the Heritage class in 11^th outright just 0.1s in front of Blake Fardells ex-Castrol Racing VX Commodore.

Everinghams path to victory saw him set The Bend Motorsport Park Kumho series lap record his 1m54.6900s best the new benchmark for the category to chase tomorrow.

His 15-point lead is strong however 100 remain up for grabs across tomorrows two races 40 for victory in race two and 60 for success in the longer finale.

The fight is now a clean battle between the pair McCorkindales fourth position dropping him more than 100 behind the leaders.

Both races will be shown live on FOX Sports 506.

RESULTS – RACE ONE

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Pos Car  Competitor/Team                Driver                   Vehicle              Cap   CL Laps     Race.Time Fastest...Lap1    27  MW Motorsport                  Tyler Everingham (NSW)   Ford Falcon FG       5000  C     7    17:15.2346   6 1:54.6900R2    21  Brad Jones Racing/SCT Logistic Jack Smith (Qld)         Holden Commodore VE2 5000  C     7    17:19.2086   6 1:54.8220 3    78  MW Motorsport                  Zak Best (Vic)           Ford Falcon FG       5000  C     7    17:19.4243   6 1:54.7068 4    69  Dial Before You Dig/Mac Motors Jon McCorkindale (NSW)   Ford Falcon FG       5000  C     7    17:24.5860   4 1:56.3247 5    99  Harley Haber Motorsport/Image  Harley Haber (NSW)       Ford Falcon FG       5000  K     7    17:28.2869   6 1:55.9915 6    11  Kenwood Homes                  Michael Anderson (NSW)   Ford Falcon FG       5000  C     7    17:32.6160   6 1:57.5824 7    76  The Mad Hueys                  Garry Hills (WA)         Holden Commodore VE2 5000  K     7    17:33.1053   6 1:57.8619 8     7  Mocomm Motorsports Communicati Jim Pollicina (NSW)      Holden Commodore VE  5000  K     7    17:35.2550   5 1:58.3214 9    33  Warrin Mining                  Adam Wallis (SA)         Holden Commodore VE  5000  K     7    17:49.6779   5 2:01.0259 10   19  Twin City Roller Doors         Mark Tracey (Vic)        Ford Falcon BA       5000  K     7    17:53.2929   5 1:58.7912 11  111  Custom Garage                  Andy Cantrell (NSW)      Ford Falcon EL       5000  H     7    17:57.5220   5 2:03.2724 12   10  Mr HDT Race Cars & Engines     Blake Fardell (NSW)      Holden Commodore VX  5000  H     7    17:57.6564   5 2:03.2692 13    2  "Page Bros Jayco"             Steven Page (Vic)        Holden Commodore VE2 5000  K     7    18:05.6915   7 2:01.9115 14   51  Maxim Motorsport/Image Racing  Maxim Erickson (Qld)     Ford Falcon FG       5000  C     7    18:08.5608   7 1:57.9322 15   39  Vectra Corp                    Chris Smerdon (SA)       Ford Falcon FG       5000  K     7    18:16.0186   5 2:00.8434 16   23  HF Racing                      Francois Habib (Vic)     Holden Commodore VZ  5000  K     7    18:20.5092   6 2:08.0200 17    9  Neill Motorsport               Bradley Neill (Qld)      Ford Falcon FG       5000  K     7    18:47.1809   5 2:00.7238 18   41  Dial Before You Dig Racing     Mark Primmer (NSW)       Ford Falcon BF       5000  K     6    18:01.9543   4 2:03.3442 PENALTY APPLIEDCompetitor#  2 10 Seconds PenaltyCompetitor#  9 30 Seconds PenaltyCompetitor# 51 30 Seconds Penalty1 Safety Car Periods With A Total Of 2 LapsFastest Lap Av.Speed Is 155kphR=under lap record by greatest margin r=under lap record *=fastest lap time________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Issue# 2 - Printed Sat Aug 25 15:02:41 2018     Timing System By NATSOFT (03)63431311 www.natsoft.com.au/results & Dorian DATA-1Time Penalties applied cars 29 & 51                                                                         Timing by Supercars