Speedway: Entertainment on the track

The streetstocks got stuck into each other.

The superstock class entertained the crowd at Stratford Speedway on Saturday night with some brilliant racing.

The class was racing for both the John and Gary Adamson Memorials, with the Gary Adamson trophy being awarded to the best stirrer.

Mitch Vickery won the stirrer's trophy last season and clearly had his sights set on retaining it. Throughout the three races he hit nearly every other car on the track, had several of them into or up the wall - taking home the trophy again. On the racing side, it came down to a three-way run off after Gary Johnson, Logan Sharpe and Andrew Lewis were tied on points.

Lewis drew the short straw and started on the second row for the run-off but made it into position two at the drop of the flag before Sharpe drove over his bonnet and dropped him back to third. Lewis attempted to slam Johnson into the concrete wall but couldn't quite make it work and Johnson went on to win ahead of Sharpe and Lewis.

Duane Hickman was the man to beat in the midget class and won the City of New Plymouth Classic by a large point margin from his nearest rival Chris Bagrie. Hickman recorded two wins and a second place on his way to the top step of the podium.
Wanganui drive Brent Huijs was third overall.

Craig Korff won the Plews Memorial for the saloon class after he and Mark Hinton dominated the night's racing. Korff recorded a first, second and seventh over the three races and Hinton a first, third and sixth.

This meant that the pair were tied on points and after a close four lap run off, Korff was the victor. Jarrod MacBeth finished one point behind the pair in third. Joe Ingram found his mojo in race three and made some brilliant outside passes in the later stages of the race but it was too late and he didn't quite make it to the podium.

After three races with plenty of spins and crashes, Steve Reed won the Streetstock Olsen Memorial after recording first, second and third placings. Experienced racer John Young was second and Paul Blinkhorne third.

An 18-strong field of Adult Ministocks raced for their City of New Plymouth Classic. After three competitive races, Kyle Wilson won the event by just one point from regular front runner Bradley Korff. Caleb Douglas was third. Youth Ministocks rounded out the race programme with race wins going to Alana Buckthought, Matthew Picard and Will Hart.

* The Caravan/Trailer Derby is on Saturday night and has 14 entrants.

Prior to the derby, there will be some on-track action with a field of superstocks expected to compete for the Taranaki Champs. The midget class will race for their Taranaki Champs also and the modifieds will race for their first trophy of the season - the City of New Plymouth Classic.

Joining the local modified competitors on the track will be two competitors from Greymouth. There will also be stockcars, with a large field expected including 10 competitors from Wanganui.

Saloons and minisprints will also race.