Centrals Season Of Speedway Kicks Off In Style

Andrew Andrew

• RACE REPORTS

Centrals Season Of Speedway Kicks Off In Style

Central Motor Speedway

Shuttleworth Motorsport Media

Photography by Christopher Scrimgour

Images supplied by: Christopher Scrimgour

It is no wonder Central Motor Speedway in Cromwell is one of the favorite tracks for race fans from throughout the country, rolling into the arena yesterday with temperatures in the low twenties, not a cloud in the sky but still snow on the mountains must make it one of the most picturesque speedway tracks on the planet.The hard work put in by the clubs volunteers across the off season were noticeable with the track and grounds looking an absolute picture. This would be Central Motor Speedways opening meeting of the season, and headlining it was the Civil Construction Southern Sprintcar Series, the round two event sponsored by Wakatipu Gravel Supplies. After a round at Beachlands Speedway in Dunedin last weekend Cromwell driver Adam Evans was at the top of the points table, just ahead of Nelson's Connor Rangi in second with Riverside's Jack Brown in third place overall. The Sprintcars were in two seperate groups but all raced together. Heat one was a fairly fast pace race, Cromwell driver Jayden Dodge took control early and the only time he really came under any pressure was when clubmate Josh "Young Buck" Buchanan put his car over onto its side part way through the race. At the restart Dodge would control the race, managing a decent gap back to Rangi who had worked his way to second but was gaining valuable metres lap in lap out. Behind Rangi was a great battle unfolding with Cromwell's Mathew Anderson and Jason Scott also from Cromwell, who had fought through traffic to get up towards the business end. Dodge though would have enough in the tank to take the race one win ahead of Rangi in second with Anderson third. All three drivers were in Group A, while Group B results were Scott ahead of Riverside's Jacob McIntyre in second with Hayden Johnston of Cromwell third.

Heat two and it was pure Rangi dominance in a race that would go the distance without any stoppages at all. Rangi was in a league of his own out front, relishing the clean air he had as an advantage over the field. Behind Rangi was series leader Evans who last season was running Six Shooters, but has fast become a natural in the Sprintcar grade. Evans exchanged punches with Dodge who again looked racey. Rangi would take an easy win in this heat ahead of Evans and Dodge, Group B would see the win awarded to McIntyre ahead of Scott with Cromwell's Shanarrah Stronach driving well to place third. Heat three was slightly delayed as Rangi's car got wheeled out onto the track with no bonnet as the rest of the field were started and good to go. The Daltons sponsored teamed worked furiously to get Rangi sorted and in the grid, just managing to get the car fixed and bonnet on to take part in the third heat. There was a number of stoppages in this heat, the first coming when Brown spun in turn one, backing his car into the wall. As the field lined up for the restart the green flag dropped, unfortunately Dodge was deemed to had jumped and got put to the rear of the field, this would separate him and Rangi who were clearly the two fastest cars on track. Rangi would soon get to the front of the pack and once again start to dominate, the only pressure applied was at the third restart which came out due to Johnston hit the wall hard in turn four, the car seemed to grip up mid corner, break into a wheelstand then fire Johnston out and into the wall. Rangi would go on to take a well driven win in heat three ahead of Buchanan who came back from his earlier roll over and Anderson again in third place. These results were added to establish the Central Otago Championship which was also being run, Rangi would claim that title with Evans second and Anderson third.The twenty lap feature final would round up a great nights action, Brown wasted no time getting away from the pack at the outset, clearing off to a handy lead while all the cars behind him pretty much came to a screaming halt coming out of turn two. Unfortunately for both Dodge and Rangi they were the meat in the Sprintcar sandwich and both the in form hard chargers would find themselves as spectators with not even one lap run of the feature. Once again at the restart it was Brown who got off to a flying start but Evans went with him and remained patient just measuring Brown up as the early laps ticked by. Behind the leaders Anderson, McIntyre and Buchanan went toe to toe putting on a great show for the fans. Evans would eventually make a move on Brown and from there it was pretty much game over up front, Evans got a clean run and raced off to a half a lap lead, picking off a number of lapped cars in the process. Brown kept his cool and sat happily in second for the rest of the race while McIntyre cleared off from Anderson and Buchanan. McIntyre put some late pressure on his Riverside clubmate Brown with about three laps to run, taking a late dive to slip past Brown but failing to hold the advantage, in fact losing ground on Brown and inviting Buchanan to have a crack at third place. Buchanan didnt make the move allowing McIntyre to secure third place, Brown in second and Evans dominating with the race win. A solid field of Saloons rolled out on track, and for many the last chance to iron out any issues they may have before the Brian FM South Island Saloon Series kicks of in Cromwell in early November. This would be the first outing for Cromwell's George Phillips in his new Stealth and the fans were keen to see how the current 2NZ would go in a car thats foreign to him. Phillips however would waste no time whatsoever charging to the front of the pack and controlling the race. Phillips looked patient and unlike his old car that he would hang out on the fence line Phillips looked for grip all over the track and drove wherever he could find it. Phillips would break his own Central Motor Speedway lap record three times in this race, making the competition look on in envy.

Phillips would take an easy win in this heat ahead of Cromwell's Ivan Murdoch who drove well after a season off in second and "The Flying Scotsman" Stu Millar of Dunedin looking the goods in his new car solid in third. The only caution of the race was when local driver Phil Burgess came to a stand still in his new Stealth on turn three. Race two would only last a lap and a half before Burgess would tangle with clubmate Lyndon Houliston and Dunedin's Paul Carr in turn three ending Burgess's night. At the restart Phillips would do battle with Cromwell's Barry Taylor and Dunedin's Jason Gold. Taylor and Phillips would eventually clear off from Gold and as the laps ticked down it looked as if Taylor was going to take a heat win, however as the pair contended with lapped traffic Phillips got a great run down the outside of the back straight on the very last lap to snatch the lead from Taylor and take his second win of the day, Taylor came home with a well driven second with Gold in third. The final heat would see Phillips start well down the pack, this would be the hardest race for Phillips having to work his way through a decent sized field of cars. The battle up front was white hot, Gold was in full control but being attacked from behind by clubmate Aaron Andrews who was keen to pick up a win and Steve Robertson was looking like he had his new home built chassis well dialed in, these three cars put on a brilliant battle. As the race progressed Gold managed to pull a slender lead, behind him Robertson took advantage of an Andrews mistake to grab second. Andrews would however charge back hard and be rewarded with third when the checkered flag dropped, Robertson second with Gold taking the race win. Phillips got as far up as fourth which gave him enough points to be crowned Central Otago Saloon Champion, Gold took second overall and Taylor third. A very small field of Super Saloons battled out their three heat races, "Racin" Ray Stewart of Cromwell was just too good in heats one and two powering off to big wins, Alister Lister of Dunedin grabbed a pair of second placings in his stunning looking new Hypermac, while Riverside's Barry Redpath was third in race one and his clubmate Grant Molloy was third in heat two. The third heat looked like Stewart would once again cruise to victory up front but Stewart would see the chances of winning the championship disappear when mechanical dramas sent him to the infield early. From here Lister would collect an early season race win, Redpath passed Molloy late in the race for second and Molloy finished third. Overall the Central Otago Championship went the way of Lister with Stewart banking enough points for second and Redpath third. A big field of Stockcars entered Central Motor Speedways Club Championship with representation from neighbouring clubs Riverside and Beachland's strong.Heat one was a good display of fast clean racing, plenty of tap and spin battles and the only stoppage when Cromwell's Kamryn Reddy put a solid hit on Beachland's Zara Lee Tuhura in turn two, this contact would put Tuhura out for the rest of the event. Casey McEwan of Cromwell look fast in his new Robb Racing machine taking out the heat one win over Jack Honeybone also of Cromwell and Shanan Knight of Riverside in third. Riverside's Luke Molloy was an early casualty in heat two, the young driver being speared into the fence between turns two and three to bring the first stoppage. At the restart Reddy tried to put a hit on Nico Tuhura of Dunedin however Tuhura would battle back and take Reddy to the wall in turn two putting both cars to the infield before the next restart. Beachland's Mark Taylor got to the front early in this race and kept his nose clean despite a number of cars attempting to slow him, Taylor would take a well manufactured race win with McEwan second and Brodie McDonald of Cromwell fresh out of Youth Ministocks third. Race three was brutal, McDonald got off to an early lead as a number of cars remained held up on the start line. Taylor put in a massive hit on Shannon Simon of Dunedin in turn one bringing out the first stoppage of the race. Simon would spend the remainder of the race on the infield while this put Taylor almost a lap down. At the restart McDonald continued to impress but was being hunted down by McEwan and Honeybone who were hot on his trail. Benji Smail of Dunedin would join the party up front and send McDonald the race leader hard into the wall between turns one and two at force, this stoppage put the race leader of of the race but it showed the young bloke has plenty of promise in the grade. By this stage Taylor had worked his way well up the field after being held up early, McEwan came under some attention to see him fall back in the pack and Honeybone took the lead from Knight who was consistent all night. Knight would try to throw everything at Honeybone but the gap was too great when the flag fell giving Honeybone the race three win, Knight second and Taylor impressive getting himself up to third place. This result would see Honeybone and Taylor battle it out in a run of for the Central Otago Championship for first and second. Honeybone took early advantage in the run off before Taylor took control, Honeybone would slow up and wait for Taylor with half a lap remaining but Taylor managed to slip past to claim the title, Honeybone second with Knight third overall. Six Shooters put on a great show with a number of new drivers and plenty of experience battling it out. Heat one saw Kane Jemmett of Christchurch lead the majority of the race, Jemmett was fast and looked as if he may bank maximum points in this heat but newly crowned Southland Six Shooter Champion Ben Smart of Cromwell made the most of lapped traffic and stole the lead late in the heat. Smart would take the win with Jemmett second ahead of Blair Smith of Cromwell in third. Race two got off to a fiery start with former Youth Ministock driver George Hedley having a big roll over in turn one, Hedley would land on his side after damaging the catch fence and the car burst into flames for a brief moment before the crash and fire crew hit the scene. Hedley thankfully walked away unscathed. At the restart Riverside's Nigel Marshall and Cromwell's Luke Shearing battled it out for the lead, Shearing holding a slight advantage but Marshall was not letting the gap widen too much. Late in the race Marshall would spin up in turn two, falling to the rear of the pack and giving Shearing the breathing space needed to take the race win. Second would go the way of Smart with Cromwell's Emma Gordon third. Race three was fast and furious and impressive young peddler Jake Shearing of Cromwell raced off early and never looked like being dragged in, but unfortunately for Shearing he would spin on his own accord mid race and while he managed to keep going an race back through the pack he would never get back to challenge for the lead. Shearing's older brother Luke took advantage of Jake Shearings misfortune and claimed a hard fought race win, his second for the event after battling hard with both Gordon who claimed second and Smart third. This result gave Smart the Central Otago Six Shooter title, his second major championship within a week, Luke Shearing would take second with Gordon rewarded for third. Youth Ministocks turned on a display that the adult classes could only envy, three heats run without one stoppage or caution, a real credit to every driver in the class.Cromwell's Clay Dawson left off where he finished last season, the man to beat. Dawson was clinical, got to the front early and then drove off into the sunset to take his first win of the season, some great battled were unfolding behind Dawson but it would be Dylan Jones of Cromwell who was the early race leader who would come home for a well driven second ahead of Trent Ainsley of Cromwell third. More of the same in heat two, Dawson again tearing apart the opposition after starting up the front, the question would be, is anyone going to lay a finger on Dawson this season?, his early season form looking menacing. Dawson made it two wins from as many starts but the man in second was the surprise package. Joshua McIntyre of Invercargill has contracted his Youth Ministock to Central Motor Speedway as Riverside dont contract them. McIntyre is in his second season of Youth Saloon racing and is fast becoming one of the stand out drivers of the grade. This event would be McIntyres debut meeting in Ministocks and after a mid pack finish in heat one, McIntyre would secure a solid second in race two ahead of Ashdyn Gable of Cromwell third. If you were a gambling man then all money would have been on Dawson to win race three despite starting well down the order. Dawson passed a number of cars early but this allowed Ainsley who has never won at his home track to get an early lead despite good battles with McIntyre and early race leader Cooper Arkell of Cromwell.Despite Dawson feeding his way through the field he wouldn't have enough laps to chase down the leaders. Ainsley was patient, never put a foot wrong and finally got the monkey off his back, celebrating his first race win at Central Motor Speedway, McIntyre again was impressive on debut in second with Arkell in third place.The overall championship for Youth Mini Stocks would go the way of Dawson, McIntyre second and Ainsley third. The final grade to compete for the Central Otago Championship was Production Saloons with cars entered from Riverside, Beachlands set to do battle with the locals.Heat one saw Cromwell's Des McTaggart chase down clubmate Gavin Hurring, passing him mid race and pulling away to bag a solid fist full of points in the championship. Hurring would hold onto second place ahead of a fast finishing Sam McKenzie also from Cromwell. Heat two saw a bit more biff and barge, and would see a few drivers lined up outside the Speedway NZ Stewards office at the conclusion of the race. Dunedin's Aaron Brookland took the brunt of the hits when clubmate Hayden Skilling nailed him on more than one occasion. Skilling would have looked more at home in a Streetstock race with the big rear wheel drive Commodore struggling to handle the track surface. Out front Cromwell driver James Wood would take a commanding race lead and beat the field to the flag by a margin. Behind him a battled and bruised Brookland found some late pace getting up to second with Hurring in third. The third heat saw only a handful of cars hit the track, Cromwell's Steven Nicholas started up front and got the mechanical gremlins that seen him finish infield in race two all sorted and looking far more competitive. McTaggart looked to threaten Nicholas's lead mid race but Nicholas withstood the pressure and actually built a handy lead over the field, taking his first checkered flag of the new season. McTaggart held on to second with Brookland once again fast, placing third. Overall championship points went the way of Hurring who showed being consistent will win you championship, second was McTaggart with McKenzie third overall.

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