Oceanview Family Speedway set for night of racing and fireworks

Matt Buckley and his 94V car will make a first appearance of the season on Saturday night.

There’ll be fireworks on the track, and in the sky at Fast Lane Spares Oceanview Family Speedway tonight.

The Whanganui Stockcar and Speedway Club’s annual Fireworks Meeting always attracts a big crowd.

And WSSC president Daryn Smith said the enthusiasm of the crowd always seemed to flow over to the drivers

“Our drivers love to race in front of a big crowd, and it adds an edge to their performances,” Smith said.

“That usually leads to plenty of entertainment for the spectators”.

Even with neighbouring tracks running on Saturday night, Oceanview’s meeting will feature strong fields in all classes.

In the Stockcar class, current 1NZ Caleb Ireland from Meeanee will be racing, along with 2021-22 champion Ben Ellis from Wellington.

The Lockett twins, Cody and Mitchell, make their first appearances of the season along with Blair Reeves-Smith.

But 13V Lucas Hey, newly contracted to Whanganui this season, has been in strong form in the opening two meetings and has a good advantage in the points.

A small but competitive Superstock field will be bolstered by the season debut of Matt Buckley and the debut of former Youth Ministock pilot Harry Jurgens in the Superstock class.

Buckley’s 94V car, a Rees chassis with a Hartley Toyota engine, will be on display at the Whanganui River Market this morning.

Minisprints turned on some excellent racing on opening night and 3NZ Nathan Jeffries and 2NZ Glen McCutcheon were both in hot form.

Production Saloons and Youth and Adult Ministocks make up the programme, and all classes have been very competitive in the early part of the season.

With 19 of the 31 Youth Ministocks being contracted to Whanganui, we have a strong local contingent of drivers developing, which bodes well for the future of the sport.

Then, at some point in the night, the lights will be turned off and the Kairanga Lions Club will detonate a trailer-load of fireworks to light up the sky.

It’s the only public fireworks display in Whanganui.

Public gates open at 4.30pm and racing gets underway at 6pm.

Bring a picnic tea, jackets and make it a family outing; it’s going to be a night of plenty of fireworks.