Cross aims high for Maulers spot

It's no secret - Hawke's Bay stockcar driver Bryce Cross' mission is to make the Meeanee Maulers team.
"Definitely within the next season or two," said Cross after Saturday night's meeting at ZM Meeanee Speedway.
The 19-year-old big-hitting regular entertainer proved how serious he was when he held off the Maulers' best runner, Andrew Powell, to win the feature race for the class.
"That's no easy feat ... I was packing it," said Cross, who drives a four-litre Falcon XR6 powered car.
"Everybody came up to me afterwards and told me how awesome I drove. It showed I'm starting to think a bit more about what I should be doing."
Cross is the third season driver in the class who will be among the Maulers supporters when they tackle the national teams championship at Wellington's Te Marua track this weekend.
While Cross' performance was commendable, he was never going to beat Hawke's Bay Hawkeyes Superstocks team member Steve Jude for the Pro Parts Driver of the Night award. Jude, who is in his second season in Shane Penn's old Silver Bullet, won all three of his races.
A new track lap record from veteran Glenn Dudding was a highlight of the 11-strong Kiwilite class. Dudding, who had a second and two third placings, completed a lap in 16.871sec in his first heat.
Fellow veteran Justin Power dominated the class with two wins and a second placing.
Although there were only 10 starters in the TQ class, the racing was again high quality. Host club 19-year-old Bede Anderson, a second-season driver in the class, produced his class highlight with a feature-race victory, including a lap which was three tenths of a second off record pace.
Nine sidechair crews provided some spectacular racing. While the in-form Gisborne father-and-son duo of Dean and Rob Miller dominated the early heats they were last in the feature, which was won by the host club pair of Dave Black and Pete Steigenberger.
Hawke's Bay's former national champion Andrew Bargh accumulated the most points in the 11-strong solobike class, where veterans Darrin Wilson and Craig Ramsay were other Hawke's Bay-contracted riders to record wins.
The Hawke's Bay-based Palmerston North-contracted Michael Pattey also did well to register a win.
Hawke's Bay's Darren Melling took out the 21-car feature in the streetstock class.