The second meeting for Stratford Speedway was going to be a ripper, with the last few classes scheduled to take to the track for the first time this season. Unfortunately some classes were unable to make their minimum required numbers which leaves streetstocks, modifieds and minisprints still to hit the track this season. Stockcars and midgets raced for their City of New Plymouth Classic titles, and with a good field of cars and drivers in both classes it was a night full of hard, fast racing.
Stockcars had 16 cars line up for the first race, which was full of big pushes, shunts and very fast racing. Heat 2 saw Mark Woods (517s) hit the wall in a cloud of smoke which led to his retirement from the night's racing. Sandy Flett (898v) put a massive hit on Daniel Perrett (328s) which caused him to re-enter the track in the wrong place and be collected by Dale Michelsen (85s). Tyler Walker won every stockcar race for the night which made him the winner of the City of New Plymouth Classic for stockcars on 51 points. Second place went to Todd Duthie (21s) on 46 points and Bevan Phillips (72s) placed third with 40 points.
Midgets also ran for their City of New Plymouth Classic with a field of 10 cars for the night. Visiting drivers Peter (21v) and Brent Huijs (12v) came from Wanganui to check out Stratford's track. Peter Huijs (21v) took the lead from the drop of the green flag in the first race and while he was pushing his hardest to keep the lead, Duane Hickman (95s) made a clean pass on him to take the win. Race two had Anthony Batley (26s) leading from the drop of the green flag, with Jimmy Greenough (27s) and Hickman (95s) chasing closely behind. Lydia Dickinson (75s) spun but managed to continue and finish in fourth. Hickman again took the win with Peter Huijs (21v) in second and Batley (26s) in third. Heat 3 saw Mark Willans (24s) win his first race of the season, with Hickman (95s) in second place and Greenough (27s) in third. Hickman (95s) won the City of New Plymouth Classic with a total of 28 points followed by Batley with 25 points. With Greenough and Willans on equal points, a run-off was required to lock in third place which was taken by Greenough.
Superstocks were a supporting class for the night with visiting drivers such as Bernie Fox (42a), Peter Rees (1NZ), Asher Rees (126g) and Ethan Rees (127g) taking to the track in preparation for the Waste Management New Zealand Superstock Championship being hosted in Stratford next January.
