Nathan has a reputation as a stirrer, warmed to his task in the second heat and by the time heat three came around he was, in his own words "hitting everything except the pace car".
He prowled the pole line, looking to slow the lead cars, take them to the wall, or generally make a nuisance of himself, and he thwarted Sturzaker's chances of a third win with a well-timed block allowing Dennis Black through for the win.
Heat two saw Dion Mooney's night end as Sturzaker inadvertently send Mooney's son Kaelin on a ride over the front of Dion's car, with Kaelin fortunate to land on his wheels and continue.
Zane Dykstra had a night to remember with a hat-trick of wins in the Diamond Cut Wheels Superstocks.
Dykstra had the 38V car absolutely dialled into the Oceanview track and showed an impressive level of consistency and pace.
His best lap times in the three races were all within 0.2 seconds of each other, and with a best lap of 16.147 seconds in the final Superstock heat of the night, he was within 0.15s of Asher Rees' lap record for the class.
Max Holloway picked up two seconds and a third place, while newcomer Trent James is quickly adjusting to Superstock racing, finishing second in the last race, having placed third in each of the earlier heats.
Gerry Linklater is another gaining Superstock experience after a long career in Stockcars, showing great consistency with three fourth-place finishes.
In the Grand Slam, six Superstocks started half a lap behind the nine Stockcars, and Dykstra was the only Superstock driver to catch and pass the flying Cody Lockett, who had another solid night in his immaculate new ride.
Sturzaker ended what had been an excellent night up the wall at turn four after a clash with James on the final lap.
After a chaotic opening night, the Get Glazed Midgets put on a much better show, with each of their three heats being stoppage-free.
Wanganui driver Jordan Russ won the opening heat, holding off a late-race challenge from Stratford's Mark Willans, who won the next two races.
It was a night to remember for Jurgens Demolition Youth Ministocks driver Fletcher Hoskins, with three confidence-building wins.
Ethan Linklater picked up two second places and a third in the final heat, with Ashton Mooney finishing ahead of him after a race-long battle.
Tobey Matthews looked fast in the first heat but went into turn two too hot in the second heat, rolling end-for-end and landing back on his wheels.
Matthews was uninjured, and he and his car were back out for the next race.
Conor Linklater picked up wins in the first two Sharp As Adult Ministocks heats, with Rhys White in hot pursuit.
White went one better in the final heat, picking up the win ahead of sister Ffion White with teammate Liam Linklater in third.
Former 2NZ Brent Hackett was as strong as usual in the Tom Francis Building Production Saloons winning the first and third heats, but he was unable to catch his teammate Ray Jaggard in the second race.
There was one unfortunate delay during the night after grass and scrub outside the pits caught fire.
Luckily for the club, rural firefighters were already on hand to supervise the fireworks display, and with professional firefighters joining them, the fire was brought under control, allowing racing to resume.
And the night ended with a real bang, and the Kairanga Lions Club delivered one of the best fireworks shows seen at Oceanview for many years, to the delight of the large, patient crowd.
It provided a spectacular finish to a night of sometimes frantic racing, with no shortage of on-track action on a beautiful Whanganui evening.
The season continues this Saturday night at 6pm with the ever-popular Trev's Concrete Stockcar Shootout, and the opening round of the Minisprint Oval Superstar Tour, which should attract a strong field of the nimble, winged cars.
Oceanview Speedway's 51st season is up and running, and there is plenty more high-octane speedway action to come.
