THE opening round of 2017-18 AHG Sprintcar Series will be held at Perth Motorplex next Saturday night as part of the Shannons Powerpalooza Grand Opening Showdown.

Defending series champion Brad Maiolo heads up the list of drivers who will be looking to strike the first blow of the big summer of racing ahead.

He will be joined by big brother Jamie who is the most successful driver in the AHG Sprintcar Series history and Jason Kendrick who is still chasing his maiden series championship.

Daniel Harding, Mitchell Wormall and Jason Pryde will be using the meeting as a shakedown for their machinery before they embark on World Series Sprintcars duties on the east coast from Boxing Day.

For Wormall and Pryde they will be looking to capitalise on some of the speed they produced when contesting a round of the 360 Power Series at Pithara Speedway on Saturday night.

Corey Hunter makes a return to racing after a year off and is looking forward to a competitive season, with two complete 410 cars ready to go.

James Inglis, who recently claimed three national dirt kart championships in Adelaide, already has two rounds of the 360 Power Series under his belt in the lead up to this show and is looking forward to having an impact on 410 racing this summer.

Kaiden Manders, who has been very fast and the one to beat in the opening two rounds of the 360 Series, is ready to make the successful transition into the open class, and given the quality of the machinery at his disposal, as well as an experienced crew chief, is tipped to go well.

It’s been a while since we have seen Sean Zemunik in action at the Motorplex and he will be looking to transfer some of the gains from his American racing season into local results in the #27 machine.

Ryan Lancaster only made one appearance at the Motorplex last year and he is locked and loaded for the season – and like quite a few others – has already raced twice in the 360 Power Series.

Darren Mewett makes a welcome return to the Motorplex and the presentation of the #55 machine this year will attract plenty of interest.

Shaun Bradford, Scott Chatwin, Kye Scroop and newcomer Matthew Cross complete the 410 nominations.