Palmerston North's Chevron Taniwha was crowned the new king of standard stocks after organisers decided to brave the inclement weather for the finals of the Wanganui Tyres and Alloys NZ Stockcar Grand Prix at Oceanview Speedway on Saturday night.
A meeting was held just over two hours before the doorsopened to confirm the speedway would try to get through the three tiers of competition, involving 100 cars coming out of the Friday night qualifiers.
"It was a huge call, but we did it," said president Alan Luoni.
The top 26 drivers contested the Grand Prix championship, with Taniwha (car 74p) coming out on top over Wellington's Richard Gaskin (22w) and Palmerston North's Jordan Dare (581p).
Dare won a run-off for third place with Wanganui's Kyle Heibner (15v), finishing best of the local boys in fourth a good achievement given the size of the field.
In existence since the 2001-02 season, Oceanview Speedwaywas hosting the Grand Prix for the second time, the previous occasion being back in 2003.
Of the 6-7 club meetings this season, the next will be the Christmas special on December 21, while a big one will be Luoni's 50th birthday bash on February 15.
