KEY POINTS:
A record-breaking crowd came to farewell the V8 Supercars at Pukekohe over the weekend - some in hope of seeing a Ford win.
But Ford was sent packing by yet another dominant Holden performance.
Pukekohe will go down as one of Holden's happiest hunting grounds.
The red team
won every round and 20 of the 21 races held there since 2001.
A horror pit-stop in the feature race cost Garth Tander a clean sweep. His Holden teammate Rick Kelly cashed in to win the last race, the round and maintain his Australian V8 Supercar Championship lead.
It was the last time the Supercars will grace what some call the last of the old-school tracks. The event goes to a Hamilton street circuit next year.
Australian television commitments cut the feature race short, but Kelly wasn't complaining.
"I was surprised to be in the lead after the pit stops," Kelly said, referring to a jammed wheel nut that almost certainly cost Tander the race.
Tander followed his maximum point round in Perth last month by winning races one and two, but the slow wheel change dropped him from first to tenth.
The West Australian fought back to finish eighth and equal with Kelly on 58 points for the round.
But Kelly won the round by finishing higher in the final race.
Ford's Jamie Whincup finished the round third on 48 points.
Kelly said he would have to improve in the next few rounds if he was to keep Tander at bay in the race for the championship.
"I've got to pull my finger out.
"He was quicker than us again this weekend as well as Perth, so we've got a bit of work to do."
There was a scare early in the main race when the Holden of Paul Morris flipped twice and landed on its roof.
But Morris was lucky and walked away without a scratch.
The accident happened after Ford's Brad Jones bounced off the kerb going into the final turn and slammed into Morris, forcing him into the wall and eventually upside down.
Team Kiwi's Paul Radisich had a solid weekend, finishing as the leading New Zealander in 11th place for the round, after a seventh in the final race.
"At the moment it's all about building blocks and getting up to speed," said Radisich.
Tasman Motorsport's Greg Murphy finished in 13th, his teammate Jason Richards was 18th and Fabian Coulthard was 19th.
It will be a while before Richards forgets his last Supercars spin at the circuit - he speared straight ahead at the hairpin in yesterday's first race.
"I was at max speed at 275km/h when I hit the brakes and the lower control arm bolt broke and I was just a passenger.
"I've been at races here when somebody has been killed at the same spot, and I don't mind saying, I thought I was going to die.
"It was frightening. I had absolutely no control, and no brakes," he said.
"Luckily the sand pit did its job."
