"None of us were rolled and considering we are a new-look team we have to be happy with what we achieved," he added.
Jude had every right to praise captain McLachlan and O'Brien's contributions. McLachlan smashed former national champion Kyle Fraser into the wall on lap one and as McLachlan left the contact area Fraser rolled, much to the delight of the home crowd.
O'Brien took Busters captain Ross Ashby to the fence at a crucial stage of lap six. Jude secured the lead on lap eight and retained it until the flag.
Groome and O'Brien finished second and third respectively.
Hawke's Bay-based Palmerston North-contracted national champion Shane Penn and three former national champions, Hawke's Bay's Joe Faram, Fraser and Palmerston North's Wayne Hemi were among them.
Hawke's Bay's first season driver in the class, Jarrod Lindsay, won the first heat.
Heat two was dominated by the big names with Hemi becoming the first driver in the class to break the 18s lap time mark this season with a 17.9. Penn and Faram were second and third respectively.
Faram also recorded a 17.9s lap on the way to a second placing to Penn in heat three. His Bay clubmate Tony Meechan was third.
Hawke's Bay ministock driver Sheldon Mataira-Evetts was taken to Hawke's Bay Hospital for checks after he rolled on the first lap of his first heat which saw Wellington visitor Jacob Free capture the chequered flag. His clubmate Benjamin Prebble rolled in heat two which saw three third generation drivers from three prominent Hawke's Bay speedway families, Jakob Flynn, Regan Penn and Sam Warner, take the first three placings.
Warner's brother Brandon raced in the kiwilite class for the first time. He had a DNF in the first heat won by class stalwart Justin Power and in the second and third heats drove Power's car to victory to claim the driver of the night award for the class.
In-form Hawke's Bay streetstock driver Darren Melling had two wins in his own car before completing a hat-trick for the night with a victory in clubmate Ben Yeoman's car.
Hawke's Bay's former national TQ champion Craig Todd clocked a 17.2s lap on the way to winning heat one. His cousin and clubmate Duane Todd won the next two heats.
Hawke's Bay sidecar crew Dave Black and Cole Pettersen celebrated their return to racing with a win in the only completed race for their class.