KEY POINTS:
It's a great example of the crazy politics in New Zealand that boy racers can torment the public 24 hours a day with exhausts rated under 95 decibels while the noise emission limit for speedway at Western Springs is 90.
Even when the on-road limit drops to 90
from June 2008, street cars will still be noisier than the majority of the dirt track racers.
The Springs' season of 12 meetings opened last Saturday with Americans Craig Dollansky and Jason Statler, fresh from the World of Outlaws series in the US, finishing first and third in the 30-lap feature, split by Kiwi Jamie McDonald who is 2006/07 champion.
The international sprint car series continues at Wellington this weekend then Palmerston North, before the final at Western Springs on Boxing Day.
The Outlaw series is rated as the toughest four-wheel competition, with 100 races over nine months at venues around the US and Canada. And the motors that power the winged sprint cars produce more horsepower than any others in racing. Restricted to 410 cubic inches, the best of the high-compression methanol-powered machines turn out up to 820hp; the 305cu, V8 supercars return around 620hp; NASCAR racers at 358cu produce 750hp and a 146cu F1 V8 turns in the same.
The cars driven by the top-rated locals McDonald, 25, from Auckland's North Shore, Henderson panelbeater Allan Wakeling, 47, and Dean Brindle, 32, from Hamilton, are in the same class and will clearly compete. But it's likely the lower-ranked qualifiers in the 20-car sprint races will be lapped twice or more by the American professionals.
Wakeling, eight times the national champion, is carrying on because he still enjoys it.
At the other end of the scale is national 125cc kart champion Daniel Eggleton who has spent time learning at Jimmy Sills' driving school in the US and is stepping up.
At each of the four meets in the sprintcar series all racers contest two heats, where starting positions for heat one are determined by a numbered marble draw then reversed for heat two. The drivers accumulate points and the top 20 make the 30-lap final, where there is $20,000 prize money on offer.
The US racers have the short window to come Downunder when their season is over. Dollansky, 41, from Elk River Minnesota is down here for the third consecutive year after finishing seventh in the Outlaws series. Also back is Joey Saldana, 34, from Brownsburg Indiana who was second in the Outlaws competition. Jason Statler, 36, from Los Gatos in California, finished fourth in the Golden State championship. At 190cm, Statler is one of the tallest sprint car racers ever, with his car roof raised an extra 60mm.
Midget car racer Ricky Logan, 35, from Little Rock, Arkansas, plans to race the full New Zealand season and got an early look at the national title with a win in race one on opening night, only to be relegated for a rules breach.
He holds the track record of 11.772 seconds for the quarter-mile Springs oval.
Logan's main opposition will come from Michael Pickens, 24, from Greenhithe in Auckland. The reigning NZ champ has had the benefit of experience in the US over winter. After a slow start, he picked up third placings in Hickory, North Carolina and Birmingham, Alabama before he and fellow Kiwi Brad Mosen pulled off a remarkable one-two finish at the famous Angell Park speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Pickens aims to take another podium spot this year as he pushes on in his ambition to drive in the NASCAR series.
A New Zealand midgets race team will be selected on January 12 to prepare for the four-race test series against a US team including Logan. The first event is on January 30 at Western Springs. Mosen, 20, from Bucklands Beach, pushed Logan all the way to finish second behind the American in the second night of racing last Saturday.
The US Auto Club midget champion Jerry Coons Jr joins Logan, Brad Loyet, Brad Kuhn and Davey Ray in the American team.
The Springs promoters have another six years on their contract with the Auckland City Council to use the stadium. The court action via which the racers were found to be in breach of the limit of 85 decibels at the boundary is in abeyance but still hovers. The agreement the organisers have with residents is for restriction to 12 meetings, finish no later than 10.30pm, a 90-decibel maximum limit at the boundary but with 40 per cent of races to be under 88 decibels.
An ACC-contracted noise consultant sits with the race managers watching automated monitoring equipment via computer, which gives an instant read-out of noise levels.
"The cars are measured [by race scrutineers] before every meeting," said promoter Dave Stewart. "The drivers are very good, all the cars comply. One thing is that we have got rid of the dodgy older cars. But when you get a feature race where everyone is flat-out from the start flag to the finish you can't keep under 88."
They have hit but not broken 90, he said. They will resist further restrictions.
"You can only do so much silencing before you have to change the whole motor. We could have a bunch of stock-standard Toyotas running around but that would not be speedway, would it?" Stewart said.