Fast-paced mayhem on the track

Photos courtesy of MNP Productions

The racing at Stratford Speedway on Saturday night was very fast paced and entertaining.

Superstocks were added to the programme on Tuesday night after modifieds and streetstocks had to pull out due to low numbers. The first Superstock Best Pairs Title was held, along with the Adult Ministocks City of New Plymouth Classic. Supporting classes were stockcars, midgets and saloons.

Photos courtesy of MNP Productions

There was some fantastic action in the superstock class, with five visiting drivers coming to gear up their cars in preparation for the New Zealand Superstock Championship in January. Adam Joblin (62p), Scott Joblin (52p), Simon Joblin (72p), Richard Hard (67p) and Wayne Hemi (591p) were the visitors who helped make up some of the 22-car field.

Superstocks were the first race for the night and the action was fierce, with Richard Hart (67p), Kyle Stove (7s) and Neville Nolly (35s) tangled together with Neville ending up jammed against the wall between turn 2 and 3. Regan Gernhoefer (62s) took the win for heat one gaining points for him and his partner Kyle Stove (7s). Race two saw Mitch Vickery (26s) and Adam Joblin (62p) fighting for first throughout , with Adam getting the better of Mitch and winning the race, gaining top points for him and partner Mark Phipps (37s). Race 3 saw Wayne Hemi (591p) in a fast-paced battle against the rest of the field taking the win. This put Hemi and his partner Logan Sharpe, 33s top on points with 110, resulting in these drivers winning first place for Best Pairs. Simon Joblin (72p) and his partner Gary Johnson (52s) finished in second place on 92 points with Blair Johnson (53s) and Nik Kiser (5s) finishing in third.

Adult Ministocks raced for their City of New Plymouth Classic with a field of 23 cars. Hamish Booker (82s) took the first race win with Nathan Nolly (39s) following in second and Shane Denham (27s) taking third. Carol Podjursky (69s) took the win in race two with Hamish Booker taking second and Shane Denham again taking third. After the first two races, Hamish Booker was leading on 47 points followed by Shane Denham with 44 points and Craig Mason (77s) third with 39 points. Going into the third race the drivers knew it was going to be battle. Nathan Edgecombe (59s) went on to take the race win, with Kaydin Woods finishing second and Ella Sharpe (26s) in third. Hamish Booker (82s) won the City of New Plymouth Classic with a total of 67 points, Shane Denham (27s) in second place on 62 points and Nathan Edgecombe third on 57 points.

The Stockcar class gave the crowd some great entertainment . Tyler Walker (33s) took the win for the first race, managing to keep himself out of the carnage on track. At the end of the race, seven of the 24 cars racing had retired to the infield due to damage or mechanical issues. New driver Daniel Perrett (328s) finished five laps down on the rest of the field after some issues getting off the start line at the green flag and then spinning himself in turn 2 and being shunted around by other cars. Race two saw some very hard, fast racing from all of the drivers, with Haydin Barker (84s) winning . The crowd was excited for race three, anticipating more carnage with six cars retiring to the infield . During first few laps Wayne Booker's (711s) wing fell off after a massive shunt from a fellow driver . Another crowd-pleasing battle was Daniel Perrett (328s) attempting to chase Dale Michelsen (85s) throughout the race with Dale proving to have more pace than Daniel. A red light saw Daniel and Dale's cars stuck together in turn three with Daniel continuing to accelerate under the red light which resulted in him being fined . Dale remained in the race while Daniel sustained damage and retired to the infield. Tyler Walker (33s) went on to take his second win for the night.

Midgets saw two cars roll over with Mark Willans (24s) barrel-rolling four times into turn one after hitting a rut in the track, bouncing up and hitting the wire fence, coming to a stop on top of the concrete wall. Steve Paul (14s) crossed the finish line in fourth place, and then hit the same rut resulting in Steve rolling his car into the wall. Duane Hickman (95s) went on to win the race. Jimmy Greenough (27s) took the win for the second race and Lydia Dickinson (75s) won the third.

At the end of the night, three modifieds took to the track to run in their cars before the Taranaki Modified Championship is held this coming weekend. Shaun Bloeman (78s), Blair Luscombe (26s) and crowd favourite John (Jacko) Jackson (71s) had their cars screaming on the dirt and they looked ready to take on the visiting modifieds for their regional Championship and the Ginge Hayward Memorial.