Entering Kubota High Limit Racing’s first-ever international event at Australia’s Perth Motorplex this weekend, it’d been well known that James McFadden would be right at home.

Now, after sweeping High Limit International prelims on Saturday and Sunday, the Aussie superstar has established himself as the outright favorite to bank Monday’s $100,000 top prize, the richest winner’s share in Australian Sprint Car history.

• High Limit Racing International Results At Perth Motorplex, Dec. 29
• Australia vs. USA Sprint Car Rivalry Is The Best It's Ever Been
• Subscribe To Watch High Limit Racing At Perth Live On FloRacing 

A night after going on the offensive attack when dispatching Cole Macedo to lead the final 16 laps for the $12,500 victory, the 35-year-old showed off his versatility by playing a little defense when the third-mile oval took rubber down stretch.

Along with McFadden, 2024 High Limit champion Brad Sweet, Californian Cole Macedo and Australian Calum Williamson advance to Sunday’s seven-lap Dash. Macedo finished second to McFadden on Sunday, 1.341 seconds behind, with Australia’s Matt Engel finishing third.

“It’s good to be locked in tomorrow, (for the Dash),” McFadden told High Limit pit reporter Tony LaPorta in Perth victory lane. “Man, I hate when the track gets like that. I knew at some stage it was gonna take rubber, I just didn’t know when to move. We had a little discussion there in that open red, and I couldn’t get off two real good, so I was just gonna try and float to the fence. A lap later, (there was) an extreme amount of rubber off of two. So, yeah, just pumped for my guys. They worked their butts off.

“Sucks the track ended up that way, but, you know, that’s the way dirt-track racing is,” McFadden added. “I’m sure the guys would go back to the drawing board tomorrow and do a great job. Last night was unreal. It was fun until it took rubber.”

McFadden found himself chasing the leader early on once again Sunday when pole-starting Kyle Larson led the opening eight laps. But then a misstep in traffic sent Larson too high up the banking as the former NASCAR Cup champion slapped the wall and damaged the rear-end his Jason Pryde-owned No. 1K machine.

“I was just watching Kyle there and he was pounding it, (the wall),” McFadden said. “Racing this track a little bit, I knew I had to look after my tire. He made a mistake and I was able to capitalize on that.”

Larson salvaged a ninth-place finish, but the mishap kept him out of Monday’s all-important Dash as he finished seven points shy (three feature positions short) of a top-four lock-in. All told, seven cautions slowed Sunday’s 30-lap feature that lasted 37 minutes.

Five of those cautions occurred in an 11-lap span from laps nine through 19. Through those testy moments, McFadden’s poise rung true, especially on restarts.

“Being as experienced as I am and doing as many races as I am, you just gotta keep your calm and mix your restarts up as much as you can, and try to change what you’re doing a little bit just to catch them off guard a little bit,” McFadden said. “But yeah, when it starts taking rubber like that, you’re kind of just a sitting duck. I was able to move around at the right time and kind of watch lapped cars.”

Macedo, meanwhile, finished second as he continues to impress at Perth. On Saturday, he set overall quick time, placed third in his heat, and led the opening 14 laps before backsliding to finish sixth in the feature. On Sunday, he qualified eighth, won his heat and kept McFadden honest in the feature.

Even after Saturday’s strong run, Macedo and the Trent Pigdon-owned No. 7 team “made a lot of changes on (the car), believe it or not.”

“It all made sense in our head, and luckily it paid off and it worked tonight,” Macedo said. “Unfortunate it went rubber, but I’m happy to run second. We’re in a really good points spot. Thankful to Trent Pigdon and his whole family … hopefully we made them proud.”

For Engel, finishing third behind McFadden and Macedo, and in front of fourth-finish Sweet, “is pretty special.”

“We’ve had a really good race car all three nights,” said Engel, who’s sixth in event points entering Monday. “We just can’t start too far back. I was really happy with that race. … Those double-file restarts really cost me tonight. Starting on the bottom, it was hard to give up that front row when you’re choosing inside or outside. I knew it was going to hurt me, but managed to get a few back on that restart.”

Notes: Sunday's victory was James McFadden's 11th career win at Perth Motorplex and fourth career High Limit win. ... Australia standout Jock Goodyer rebounded to finish fifth Sunday after failing to qualify for Saturday's feature. He's 16th in event points. ... Seven cautions slowed the 30-lap feature that lasted 37 minutes: Andrew Piolo lap flip (he would not return, finishing 24th); Brock Zearfoss slowing on lap three (he rebounded to finish sixth); Kyle Larson slowing on lap nine after hitting the turn two wall; Cory Eliason slowing on the lap-nine restart (he rebounded to finish eighth); Dayne Kingshott spinning out of sixth after contact from Callum Williamson (Kingshott retired on lap 19, finishing 20th); Justin Whittall's spin out of 11th resulted in a three-car pileup with Kingshott and Taylor Milling.

The points have been totaled! 📊

McFadden, Sweet, Macedo & Williamson have punched their tickets into the Dash tomorrow at @PerthMotorplex.

The 34 others will split into Heat Races in the $100,000-to-win High Limit International finale. pic.twitter.com/FIY3RtzHy4

— High Limit Racing (@HighLimitRacing) December 29, 2024