It was a very busy night at Stratford Speedway on Saturday night with three classes running for championships of some type. Modifieds raced for their City of New Plymouth Classic title, saloons for the Sam Korff Memorial Trophy and minisprints competed in a round of the Oval Superstars Tour (Western Stampede) title.
Youth Ministocks' first race saw Kadin Woods (11s) get hit going into turn four which threw him into the air before landing and rolling back onto his wheels. The freshly ripped track proved to be challenging for some classes and the decision was made that Youth Ministocks would not complete the night's racing due to the track conditions and the potential damage the cars and drivers could face.
Modifieds were the second class out and the racing had the crowd on their feet. John Jackson (Jacko, 71s) took the lead from the drop of the green flag, holding on to first place until the end. Behind him, Bunter Pierce (67s) and Farron Lowry (31s) battled their way through with Bunter holding on to second after nearly losing control and Farron clipping the wall and going on to finish race 1 in fifth place. Race two saw the only travelling modified, Blair McPhee (9w) come home with the win closely followed by Farron and Bunter. After the third race of the night three drivers - Jacko, Farron, and Blair were all tied on 15 points, which meant a three-way run off to determine second and third. Jacko (71s) took the lead from the start, taking the win, placing him second and Farron (31s) finishing right behind him giving him the third spot on the podium. Bunter (67s) won the trophy after an awesome show of good driving on a rough track.
Saloons saw a field of 12 cars take the track to race for the Sam Korff Memorial trophy, a trophy that many, if not all, drivers race their hardest to win. The first race made it evident that the track was going to be a tough one. Alan Hooper (26s) lost control of his car after the right rear tyre came off the rim, sending him to the infield. John Young (28s) was having a skid in Ash Cooks (4s) mustang for the night but due to mechanical problems he was unable to continue racing after the first race. A pile up in turn four saw Daniel Hinton (46s) and Ali Stewart (95s) retire from the race with Jarrod MacBeth following them to the infield after being thrown into the wall coming off a rut in turn one. Thomas Korff (16s) went on to win.
In the second race, Craig Korff (8s) hit the wall at the grandstand but continued to race in his position. Another pile up had Tony Schrader (53s) sandwiched between two cars after being rear ended and pushed up onto the bonnet of another car. Mark Hinton (45s) went on to win by avoiding the carnage. The third race was incident free but still proved to be a challenge for the drivers and afterwards a run off was needed between Paula Hinton (25s) and Russell Gorrie (51s) to determine third place. Russell took the spot in the Sam Korff Memorial with 26 points behind Mark Hinton (45s) on 27 points. Craig Korff (car 8s, 29 points) was the winner of of the trophy named in memorial of his son .