Stratford Speedway spectators and fans were in for a treat with the lineup of classes racing on Saturday night. It was a very busy night for the drivers, officials and volunteers with a huge lineup on the programme including the Taranaki Superstock Champs, Taranaki Youth Ministock Champs, Heritage Shield's for Midgets and Stockcars and the Rusty Kay Memorial for Modifieds with Streetstocks racing as a supporting class.
The Taranaki Superstock Champs saw a field of 21 cars line up in the first race, with each of the drivers determined to be the next Taranaki Superstock Champion, but the racing on track proved it was going to be a challenging night. One driver who proved he was going be tough competition was Carl Shearer (75s), with plenty of pace and the skill to avoid the carnage Carl (75s) managed to get the 1st and 2nd heat wins for the night. Heat 2 for the Superstocks had a large pile-up coming into turn 2, involving at least 5 cars including Michael Millemsen (39s), Wayne Moss (25s), Logan Sharpe (33s), and Gary Johnson (52s). Logan's car was sandwiched up the wall resulting in part of his roof wing ending up under the wheel of his car. This heat also saw a hard hit on Kyle Stove (7m) by Clint Hill (66s) which saw Kyle fly with all 4 wheels in the air & resulting in him retiring from the race. After the first 2 heats, Carl Shearer (75s) was top on points with 42, three points ahead of Blair Johnson who was 2nd. Heat 3 saw Brent Crookes (84a) hit the wall with Michael Kiser (95s) coming in behind & shunting him, resulting in the rear end of his car catching fire. He then retired from the race. There was also a large pile-up in turn 4 with at least 11 cars getting up caught in the carnage. Regan Gernhoefer (62s) went on win the final heat. The new Taranaki Superstock Champion is Carl Shearer (75s) who won with a total of 60 points, followed in 2nd place by Bruce Williams (41s) on 57 points and Blair Johnson (53s) in 3rd with a total of 54 points.
The Modified class saw the biggest field of Modifieds this season with 7 out of town cars, from Huntly, Auckland and Wellington travelling to race against 7 Stratford cars for the Rusty Kay Memorial. Heat 1 proved it was going to be a tough night for the Modifieds, with Jason Kalin (12s) having problems on the first lap which saw him stop on the back straight, leading to a complete restart. Sadly for Jason (12s) his night was short lived when he went into turn 2 of the restart in a cloud of smoke & he was out for the rest of the night. The winner of heat 1 was Ray Chatfield (78h) with Bunter Pierce (67s) right behind and Blair McPhee (9w) in 3rd. Heat 2 saw some brilliant driving and showed the spectacular skills of all of these drivers. Bunter Pierce (67s) and team mate Farron Lowry (31s) had a fantastic battle that had the crowd cheering until Bunter found some hidden speed and overtook Farron, who then ended up sustaining a lot of damage in an incident which resulted in him retiring for the night. Blair McPhee (9w) went on to win race 2 with John Jackson (Jacko) (71s) in 2nd and Jacob Ward (77s) in 3rd. Heat 3 was a reasonably incident free race, with Jacko (71s) taking the lead at the drop of the green flag and retaining nearly a half track lead on the rest of the pack till the drop of the chequered flag. Paul Ward (55s) came in 2nd and Bunter (67s) in 3rd. The format of this Memorial was 3 twelve lap races & a 4th race of 15 laps with the drivers dropping their worst race to find the winner. The 4th heat saw a lot of carnage within the first 5 laps with all of the drivers racing hard to gain maximum points. An incident in the first corner of the first lap, resulted in 3 cars retiring to the infield, including Blair McPhee (9w), Jamie Fox (2NZ) and Luke Brown (89a). Jacob Ward (77s) spun on the last lap of the race resulting in him joining the group on the infield. Jacko (71s) and Bunter (67s) battled for first and second right to the very end, with Bunter (67s) taking the win. Jacko (71s) took out the Rusty Kay Memorial on 40 points, 2nd was Bunter Pierce (67s) on 39 points and 3rd went to Paul Ward (55s) with 35 points.
The Midget class raced for their Heritage Shield on Saturday night with 12 cars competing. Duane Hickman (95s) was racing hard to retain this shield for another year & won the first heat with Greg Jones (42s) in 2nd and Anthony Batley (26s) in 3rd. Heat 2 saw some very fast & competitive driving from Ricky Paul (11s) and Daryl Hughes (15s) who were fighting for the win. Almost every driver went through turn one on 3 wheels demonstrating their impressing driving skills. Ricky was leading right down to the last few meters of the last lap, when Daryl Hughes (15s) passed him and took the win with Duane Hickman (95s) taking 3rd. Heat 3 for the midgets saw speedway legend Eric Beardmore lead the class around the track in his vintage midget, pulling off just before the start of the last heat for the Heritage Shield. This race was going to be very competitive with each driver trying to gain those crucial final points. Jimmy Greenhough (27s) led the race from the start to the drop of the chequered flag, avoiding all of the on track incidents. An 8 car pileup in turn one had only 4 cars manage to avoid getting involved, including Duane, Jimmy, Anthony and Neil Brill (8s). Jimmy took the final win for the Midgets which saw Duane who started in 10th finish in 2nd and Anthony Batley (26s) finish in 3rd place. After the final Midget heat Anthony Batley (26s) and Ricky Paul (11s) were both tied on 29 points, meaning a run of was needed to determine 2nd and 3rd places. Anthony Batley (26s) went on to win the run off securing him 2nd place behind Duane Hickman (95s) who won the Heritage Shield again with a total of 33 points, 3rd place went to Ricky Paul (33s).
Youth Ministocks also ran for their Taranaki Champs on Saturday night with 29 cars taking to the track. Chris Collingwood (7s) became the 2014/15 Taranaki Youth Ministock Champion with 78 points after a runoff with Brad Uhlenberg (85s) for 1st and 2nd places. Brad took 2nd and Bayley Betts (58s) finished in 3rd place with 76 points.
The competitive Stockcar class also ran for their Heritage Shield on Saturday and this saw some carnage filled racing which had the crowd cheering during the first 2 heats. The 3rd race had fewer incidents but this was because the drivers needed to accumulate those last points for the championship. Another run off was needed to determine who had finished in 2nd and 3rd places between Todd Duthie (21s) and Shane Hurliman (79s) who were tied on 53 points. Shane (79s) went on to win the run off and 2nd place in the Heritage Shield, behind winner Mark Woods (517s). Mark won with a total of 62 points after winning 2 races & coming 2nd in the other.
Stratford Speedway had 2 teams entered in the Saloon Teams Challenge in Huntly on Saturday night & the Stratford Black team (Craig Korff 8s, Thomas Korff 16s, Richard Dreaver 7s) took out 3rd place with Stratford Yellow (Mark Hinton 45s, Daniel Hinton 46s, Joe Ingram 27s) taking 5th. Well done to all involved & we all wish Daniel Hinton 46s a speedy recovery from his broken wrist.
Huge congratulations to goes out to Conrad Hall (88s) who won the Manawatu Adult Ministock Champs in Palmerston North on Saturday night, Shane Denham (37s) who placed 2nd and Hamish Booker (82s) who took 3rd place. Congratulations also to Bayley Betts (58s) who won the West Coast Youth Ministock Champs in Wanganui on Sunday.
It is so great to see all of the Stratford drivers doing so well!