The Oval Superstars Tour made its first appearance in Whanganui, and tour organiser Declan Roe was confident after the meeting it will become a regular addition to the Oceanview programme.
Christian Hermansen (48P) took out the River City Shootout 25 lap feature race.
Hermansen and Jade Barnett (37K) won the front row grid positions, and it was the 48P car that won the drag race to the first corner.
Hermansen built up a substantial lead, only to lose it when Karl McGill (93P) spun trying to make a pass into third place, activating the caution flags.
He held his nerve at the restart, and finished the 25 lapper 1.4 seconds ahead of Barnett, while Nathan Jeffries (8P) took the final podium spot.
Throttle control was the key to Hermansen's victory.
"I used full throttle maybe three times in the whole race and every time the rear tyres would start to spin" he said.
Earlier in the day, Barnett, Hermansen and Jeffries had won the heat races which determined their grid positions for the shootout.
The West Coast Youth Ministocks title is headed to Taranaki.
Brad Uhlenberg drove a faultless final heat to head home the 22-car field, and take the title.
Nicole Hickmott (47P) finished second overall and Waikato driver Dylan Marshall (57H) finished third.
Best of the locals was Callum Sturzaker (15V) who finished one point behind Marshall.
The racing was fast and furious all afternoon, and only four points separated the top four contestants.
The Superstocks again turned on plenty of action.
Ron Tye (599V) made a nuisance of himself in the first race, then in the feature race had a race-long battle with Scott Duncan (23V).
Tye's car left the track with its wing hanging on by a single bolt.
Duncan took the first race, with the other two races taken by Manawatu Superstocks winner Jordan Dare (581P) from his Red Waka team-mate Wayne Hemi (591P).
The Stockcars also provided plenty of contact.
Ben Neilson (64V) made his first appearance of the season, and was almost immediately fired into the wall at the southern end by Steve Read (42V). Wayne Wright (24V), Darryl Taylor (8V) and Blair Lockett (89V) all used the bumpers.
Dion Mooney (2NZ) took the first two races, with Lockett taking the feature race win.
But probably the happiest driver at the end of the day was former 1NZ Gerry Linklater (98V) who had a day without the mechanical gremlins which have plagued his season.
That was especially welcome with the New Zealand Stockcar Championships just a month away.
Jason Pointon (71V) consolidated his lead in the Production Saloon points race with a brace of wins.
Nathan Smith (97V) debuted a new car and improved with each race, taking out the feature with a commanding drive.
Former Youth Ministock star Dylan Smith made a rare appearance in the Adult Ministocks, winning the first race.
Craig Mason (77S) took out the second, and points leader Bradley Korff (86S) topped off a solid day with a feature victory.
The Sidecars struggled on the afternoon track.
John Hannam and Bryce Rose (19V) showed good form to take two wins, but Aaron Rose and Amelia Stanley's run of bad luck continued.
They will be looking to reverse that before Wanganui hosts the New Zealand Sidecar title in March.
The wind and sun took its toll, and there were lots of red faces at the post-race presentations.
Despite the less-than-ideal racing conditions Daryl James and his crew closed out the first half of the speedway season.
Supercheap Auto Oceanview Family Speedway takes a break now.
Racing will resume on the January 13-14 weekend when the Oceanview 5000 will see an invasion of 100 Youth Ministock competitors.
In the meantime, there will be plenty of Whanganui drivers competing at New Zealand Championship events in the Superstock and Stockcar classes as the championship season ramps up.
