City of Sails Stockcars / Streetstock 290's

Auckland City of Sails Stockcars and Streetstock 290's
Waikaraka Park

Just a few photos from the meeting at WP last weekend. 59a Grant Littlewood took out the Auckland City of Sails Stockcar title from 95a Gary Lonergan and 242a Bernie Fox rounding out the top three. The stirrers trophy won by 137a Jamie Fergusson. The Streetstocks contested their delayed World 290's title, won by 11r Stephen DeMalmanche, 7g Travis Gooch second and 12k Daniel Curran taking third to keep the locals off the podium.

Auckland Stocks and SuperSaloons

Auckland Stockcar & Supersaloon Titles
Waikaraka Park





My last few visits to Waikaraka Park have involved rainouts and lighting malfunctions, but through it all good racing was always a given. Saturday night was more of the same, except this time a nasty accident in the Stockcar feature that involved 15a Carl Campbell being cut from his car on the track would be the reason for yet another meeting failing to go the distance. This meant that the Supersaloon feature was also canned and the results for both classes had to be obtained from previous laps or previous heats. It was unfortunate because the actual racing on the night for the two featured classes had been superb.

I never did a count of the Stockcars in the pits but they had been split into two groups. The pre-race estimate was around 50 cars which was fantastic. From my notes group one had 22 cars and group two had 21. Some of the cars in the pits didn't make it out onto the track so not sure what the reason behind that was. Two qualifying heats and the top 15 from each group would go through to a 30 car final, that raced two heats for points. After the first heat for both groups the obvious problem I saw was that the real entertainers (those going for the stirrers money) were not going to qualify for the finals. 67a Nick Krisnic took a fairly easy win for Group 1 heat 1, and with at least 4 or 5 cars dnf-ing our top 15 from this group was taking shape early on. 67a, 34a, 116h, 91a, 59a, 81h, 15a, 89r, 72r. For heat two only 20 cars fronted with 34a Mark Wearing and 9a Cameron Kenworthy on the front row. 9a had failed to finish heat one and would need a whole heap of points to get through. 67a Krizo was off the rear of the field. 59a Grant Littlewood took the victory from Wearing, Rinso and Mulholland. 59a, 34a 81h, 89r, 43a, 158a, 137a, 67a, 116h, 15a, 91a, 72r, 28h, 9a, 45a. Group 2 seemed to have a lot more action than group 1. 88h Justin Hutchby and 95a Gary Lonergan tussled for the lead and the Huntly cars banded together to hold up 95a giving Hutch the heat 1 win. 7a Ken Tyson spun 71h Tyson Wootton but was given some instant payback and put up the wall. 65a Mills gave a massive hit to stirrer 4h Matt Nilsson. 88h, 95a, 81r, 36h, 242a, 741a, 168a, 29a, 49h. Heat 2 had even more action with 85a Shannon Savage putting 4h up the wall but the biggest hit of the race was 71h Wootton on 95a Lonergan, it failed to stop the Aucklander qualifying. 81r Damian Orr taking the win. 81r, 242a, 95a, 29a, 7h, 5h, 741a, 34h, 168a, 88h, 13a.

The 30 qualifiers were: 168a, 81h, 34a, 158a, 43a, 71h, 49h, 36h, 29a, 5h, 45a, 13a, 89r, 91a, 59a, 15a, 34h, 48h, 81r, 28h, 95a, 72r, 741a, 116h, 7h, 88h, 67a, 242a, 137a, 85a.

Now this is where everything started to go pear shaped. By this stage the heats for the Auckland SuperSaloon title had been run and I hadn't taken too much notice of it as I was only going to write notes on the actual final race. Basically 8h Craig Cardwell had won the first heat, but it was heat two that had two rollovers, 12m and 99a (while running in 2nd place), and action aplenty. In their 3rd heat Cardwell had been sublime. Some nights he cant get a break but it was all going right for the 8h tonight. He managed to grab a 3rd place behind 24h and 1nz from a rear grid start, that would prove decisive. The Stockcars had the first of their two heats and it was spectacular to say the least. 137a Fergusson was rolled on the first lap but able to continue. 13a Hey and 158a Martin were early retirements. 29a Scott Tennant was leading from Billy Neill, Damian Orr and Lonergan. 137a went into stirring mode and slowed 81r Orr, he was then set upon by 71h Wootton and 48h Scott Gallop slowed Tennant. Krizo went into bat for the Aucklanders and removed 36h and put 28h up the wall by the start finish line but reversed out into the line of 81h Smythe resulting in a huge hit that brought on the red lights. Upon the restart 36h Mark Caldwell attacked 29a Tennant and 95a Lonergan took the victory. 95a, 34a, 88h, 15a, 29a, 168a, 89r, 34h, 81h, 72r, 741a, 81r, 45a.

After this we had protests apparently in both classes which resulted in a lot of filler as the meeting dragged on. Finally we had the Stockcars back out for the final heat. Hutchby was on grid 1 alongside 242a Fox while Lonergan was way back on grid 15 and Wearing would start from 7. From the green flag 137a tried to stop Hutchby while 95a and 34a were both spun sending them to the rear. Great blocking from 48h Gallop was making it very hard for the Aucklanders. 45a Taylor managed to put in a great shot on 34h Anton Leek but 95a was being held up by 71h. At about the 7 laps stage 34a Wearing was sent flying into the front straight wall head on and the red lights came on. 15a Carl Campbell had been injured in an incident I missed and the worst was feared. The meeting was halted and the race declared. There was no other option but to declare the Supersaloon result too. It was an unfortunate end to the meeting that had been action packed with both classes putting on a great show. Two more Auckland titles heading back to Waikato was almost as bad as the thousand of crickets that invaded the 'cemetery bend' end of the track (I'm not joking!) So we've now had floods, blackouts and PESTILENCE! I think WP has earned a break from Mother Nature!

Auckland Stockcar Champs
88h Justin Hutchby 58pts
15a Carl Campbell 53pts
29a Scott Tennant 51pts
89r Dean Mulholland 51pts
72r David Rumney 50pts
95a Gary Lonergan 47pts
81r Damian Orr 47pts
168a Billy Neill 47pts
34h Anton Leek 44pts
741a Craig Chatfield 43pts

Auckland SuperSaloon Champs
8h Craig Cardwell
1nz Shane MacIntyre
96a Lance Jennings
6m Gary Edwards
24h Ben Harding
8m Geoff Fletcher
7m Brent Emerson
63h Nigel Mouet
4a Shane Hick
58a Max Anderson

Stockcar Teams Update VIII

After a lull in teams racing in the past month, its come back to life over the weekend. Quite a few new teams appearing and a few changes to the standings. Composite teams are now shown in pink with no track letter as they usually only appear at one meeting as a fill in.



Oct 30:
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators

Nov 6:
Eastern States Titans 135 def KB Cowboys 34
KB Cowboys 130 def Canterbury Crushers 39
Eastern States Titans 124 def Canterbury Crushers 45

Nov 12:
Wanganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Canterbury Crushers def KB Cowboys
Wanganui Vulcans def Eastern States Titans
KB Cowboys def Eastern States Titans

Nov 19
Huntly Teams Meeting Night 1
Manawatu Steelers 140 def Meeanee Maulers 55
Gisborne Gladiators 180 def Waikato Raiders 0
Huntly Hawks 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Auckland Alleycats 105 def Wanganui Vulcans 90
Meeanee Maulers 160 def Stratford Stormers 30
Manawatu Steelers 165 def Huntly Hawks 30
Wanganui Vulcans 150 def Gisborne Gladiators 40
Auckland Alleycats 100 def Waikato Raiders 95
Night 2
Auckland Alleycats def Stratford Stormers
Waikato Raiders def Huntly Hawks
Meeanee Maulers def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Gisborne Gladiators
Stratford Stormers def Huntly Hawks
Waikator Raiders def Auckland Alleycats
Gisborne Gladiators def Wanganui Vulcans
Manawatu Steelers def Meeanee Maulers

Nov 27
Palmy Teams Invasion
Palmerston North Pumas 135 def Wellington Young Guns 60
Manawatu Steelers 185 def Stratford Stormers 10
Palmerston North Pumas 140 def Stratford Stormers 55
Wellington Young Guns 150 def Manawatu Steelers 45
Manawatu Steelers 3rd def Stratford Stormers 4th
Palmerston North Pumas 1st def Wellington Young Guns 2nd


Dec 10
NZ Stockcar Teams Night 1, Wellington
Palmerston Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans
Meeanee Maulers def Canterbury Crushers
Eastern States Titans def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Waikato Raiders
Auckland Alleycats def Gisborne Gladiators
Waganui Vulcans def Canterbury Crushers
Palmerston Pumas def Eastern States Titans
Meeanee Maulers def Waikato Raiders
Gisborne Gladiators def Stratford Stormers
Wellington Young Guns def Auckland Alleycats

Night 2
Wanganui Vulcans def Stratford Stormers
Auckland Alleycats def Eastern States Titans
Auckland Alleycats def Wanganui Vulcans
Palmerston North Pumas def Gisborne Gladiators
Wellington Young Guns def Meeanee Maulers
Gisborne Gladiators def Meeanee Maulers
Palmerston North Pumas def Wellington Young Guns

World 240's Meeting, Rotorua
Rotorua Rascals def Gisborne Gladiators

At Gisborne Speedway
Foreign Legion def Gisborne Gladiators

South Island Teams, Woodford Glen
Canterbury Crushers def Reece's Rebels
Southern Sharks def Eastern States Titans
Eastern States Titans def Reece's Rebels
Canterbury Crushers def Southern Sharks

At Stratford, 12-02-11
Manawatu Steelers def Stratford Stormers

At Wanganui, 13-02-11
Palmerston North Pumas def Wanganui Vulcans

The Pilgrimage

ENZED Superstock Teams Meeting
Palmerston North







It has become our yearly pilgrimage, our February journey to the Arena in Manawatu. Upon arrival in Palmerston North at lunchtime on Friday, we had that horrible sinking feeling that there was little chance the meeting would be going ahead that night, or even that weekend. We left the hotel at 4pm to see what the situation was at the gates outside the stadium and were shocked to see a queue of people waiting to get in. The meeting managed to proceed and we were very happy indeed! A massive effort to take the top layer off the track and run the meeting so long as there were no more heavy bouts of rain proved to be a great decision and I'm sure at many other tracks (in fact most) this meeting would have been canned hours earlier.

Eleven teams made it to the event but unfortunately for us the Auckland Allstars were not one of them. The same system they used last year was put in place meaning all teams had two races against random opposition, and the four teams with the highest points would fight it out to reach the one race, first across the line, final. There was a long delay to get the track right and once the parade laps for each team and the wheel packing were completed, it was after 8pm. The surrounding banks of threatening clouds failed to halt the meeting. The first few races were lacking in action and the track was slushy and difficult for the teams to put on much of a show. Just trying to stay on the track was proving difficult for some. It wouldn't be until the last race of the night, Wanganui Warriors vs Kihikihi Kings that the place really came alive. A one man demolition job by Dion Mooney who managed to roll two of the Kings cars gave the Warriors a massive victory and took them into the top four teams at the expense of the Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes. Joining them were the two best teams of the night, Nelson Tigers and Palmerston North Panthers and surprise package the Stratford Scrappers. Once again two very strong teams, Rotorua and Waikato had failed to make the step up and would be left fighting for the minor places. My drivers of the night were Mooney obviously, who really gave us a great taste of old school teams racing action and 95h Warwick Ansty from the unlucky Waikato team. His performance was one of the best I've ever seen in his many years of racing. Also Peter Rees who put in the biggest shot of the night on 77p in the Palmy v Manawatu derby. It was one of those 'ouch' hits that stuns the crowd for a few seconds.

Finals Night
Once again the weather held and the racing was all on for Saturday night. What a huge bonus considering we were expecting to be watching Sky TV inside our hotel room all weekend. Nelson beat Stratford and Palmy defeated Wanganui in two excellent encounters that were a huge step up from the night before. We were relishing the prospect of what would be a 'dream final' between the Tigers and the Panthers but Nelson's hopes of retaining their title were dashed before they even made it out of the pit gate. The crowd was given that news that 83n Brett Nicholls had cut the pole line on lap one of the semi final and was excluded from the results handing the win to Stratford. As you can imagine, this did not go down well with the crowd, except if you were wearing yellow and black or were a Panthers fan! The decision stood and as we now know Palmerston North took on the Scrappers in a final that was a non-event. Such was the brutal power of the Panthers that in the first few laps the Stratford team were annihilated. It was a fearsome return to form for Palmy who had looked shakey in their first race on Friday night. Nelson had to front up to race Rotorua for third and forth and produced one of the best races of the whole weekend, both teams had something to prove and ultimately it was Nelson that took the win. Ross Ashby in the tank, was rolled for the second time on the night and was one of the real entertainers all weekend. In fact the whole Rotorua team seemed light years better than in recent seasons and if they can keep some kind of continuity this group will be featuring in the finals next season I'm guessing. Finally, one of the funniest things that happened was during the usually boring "car of the week" segment, when the car is normally slowly driven round the track for a lap or two, instead the car was given a good thrashing and managed to bounce of the walls a couple of times. Had the crowd cheering wildly. Not sure if anyone would have been racing to buy it though. Great stuff, and there you have it, another fantastic teams racing weekend is over and the Panthers are the champions once again. I won't for one second belittle the Stratford Scrappers achievement of making the finals but I do hope that both Nelson and Palmy front up for the Auckland Teams Nationals, I think any meeting that pitched these two teams together would be worth the trip.

1. Palmerston North Panthers
2. Stratford Scrappers
3. Nelson Tigers
4. Rotorua Rebels
5. British Lions
6. Wanganui Warriors
7. Waikato Wanderers
8. Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes
9. Canterbury Glen Eagles
10. Manawatu Mustangs
11. Kihikihi Kings