Sprintcar pilot Greg Pickerill won the Uhlenberg Haulage Taranaki Sprintcar Champs at Stratford Speedway on Saturday night, for the second consecutive year.
Seven cars fronted for the event and Pickerill won the first heat before placing fourth in the second to secure a front row start in the one race final for the champs.
He snared the lead at the drop of the green flag in the final and never looked back, beating Kendall Savage and Raymond Griffen to the finish line while Tony Uhlenberg was fourth.
The Adult Ministock class contested their Taranaki Champs on the night also with a field of 21 competitors racing in the event, including visiting drivers from Wanganui and Palmerston North.
Bradley Korff, who has won the Taranaki title the previous three seasons kept a firm grip on the trophy and won the event for the fourth time after recording two race wins and a seventh place.
Malissa Alexander and Craig Mason were tied on points for second place, just one point behind Korff. The pair raced a four-lap run off to determine who would claim second and third places. Alexander led in the early stages before Mason made a pass to take the lead which he held to the completion and therefore nabbed the second step on the podium.
Stockcars raced with a large field of 29 competitors. The first race had plenty of action with Bradley Podjursky in the thick of it, including rolling Nathan Nolly in turn four. Damien Hiestand Picked up a good win in the first race before Tyler Walker dominated the remaining races and carried the chequered flag in each one.
Superstocks also fronted with a good field of 23 cars. Gary Johnson picked up a well-earnt win in race one while Wayne Moss, Adam Joblin and Scott Joblin won the next three races.
The Midget class raced with a slightly different format and had three eight-lap sprint races and then a 15-lap, highest points scorer off the rear feature which was sponsored by Hungry Pet.
Greg Jones was in excellent form and somehow managed to find drive out wide on the slick track to move through the field in each of the three sprint races, recording a third and two wins. In the Hungry Pet feature he was again running wide in an attempt to make forward ground before he got caught in an incident in turn two, damaging his front end and ending his race.
This same incident forced the retirement of a large portion of competitors with just Duane Hickman, Mark Willans and Tony Johnson left to complete the distance, in that order.
On the same night Stratford drivers achieved good results around the North Island. Thomas Korff won the New Zealand Saloon Championship in Huntly, Richard (Bunter) Pierce won the Modified Grand Prix in Auckland and Cody Ogle placed second in the top tier of Ministocks in Paradise in Rotorua.
The next meeting at Stratford Speedway is on Saturday February 22 and will feature the John and Gary Adamson Superstock Memorials, Taranaki Midget Champs and the Youth Ministock Spectacular.
With Superstock competitors Peter Rees, Ethan Rees and Adam Joblin expected to attend this meeting, the racing will be red hot! Gates open at 5pm and racing gets underway at 7pm.