Stratford Speedway race meeting has plenty of thrills

John Jackson won the Modified City of New Plymouth Classic at Stratford Speedway on Saturday night when the class made their first appearance of the season. Photo/ Kane Thompson, Tommo Photography.

Superstock competitors Blair Uhlenberg and William Humphries won the Best Pairs event at Stratford Speedway on Saturday night after working together like clockwork to pick off the opposition and move through the field in each race.

The pair made impressive ground in the first race with Uhlenberg notably pushing cars wide in the turns to allow both him and Humphries to gain position, with Uhlenberg finishing fifth and Humphries fourth.

Blair Uhlenberg and William Humphries worked together like clockwork to win the Superstock Best Pairs on Saturday night. Photo/ Kane Thompson, Tommo Photography.

Humphries won race two from a grid six start while Uhlenberg was sixth with Humphries then placing second in the last race and Uhlenberg further down the field.

Newcomer to the class, Zane Riddick along with his paring partner Michael Kiser were second while third place was tied between Simon Joblin/Kelly Shearer and Darryl Roper/Hamish Booker.

Twenty seven Stockcars graced the track to race for their King of the Mountain Champs.

After finishing third in race one and winning race two, New Zealand Champion Tyler Walker looked to have the title in the bag after grabbing an early lead in race three.

However a pole line infringement in the last race saw him excluded from the race and out of contention. William Hughes was the eventual winner of the event that saw plenty of contact from competitors after he recorded a first and two thirds. Damien Hiestand was second while Mark Woods came home in third place overall.

Modifieds made their first appearance of the season and former National Champion John Jackson was as impressive as always, streaking away from the field to win race one from Richard Pierce.

Newton Gordge won race two, with Jackson in hot pursuit while Jason Kalin had his turn with the chequered flag in race three, Jackson finishing third behind Carl Hinton.

Jackson's consistency made him the victor of the City of New Plymouth Classic that the class was racing for. Carl Hinton was second and Jason Kalin third.

Supporting classes on the night were Midgets, Adult Ministocks and Streetstocks. Both Tyla Robins and Kerry Brocklebank rolled their Midgets in separate incidents during the course of the night while race victories went to Duane Hickman (two) and Mark Willans.

Craig Mason won the first Adult Ministock race after a close battle with Bradley Korff while Korff won race two and then Mason again grabbed the chequered flag in race three. John Young was again in good form and won two races in the Streetstock class with Adam Young winning the other.

The Hinton Contracting Fireworks Spectacular completed the evening of action and thrilled spectators with the bright colours and loud noises.

The next meeting at Stratford Speedway is on Saturday November 16th and will feature the Stratford ITM West Coast Stockcar Teams Champs. Six teams will take part in the event including the New Zealand Champion Stratford Stormers as well as the Kihikihi Crusaders, Waikato Raiders and Wellington Young Guns. Gates open at 5pm and racing starts at 7pm.