24a Ben Harding 3rd in the Super saloon series, the best placed Auckland competitor. Photo / Supplied
On Saturday night the Prestige Pools Waikaraka Speedway celebrated the 50th anniversary of stockcar racing at the park with a meeting featuring 29 races. The pits were filled to overflowing which meant some competitors had to 'park' in a 'back paddock'.
A maximum field of stockcars were entered, although a
small group decided not to contest the Golden Anniversary Championship races. Gary Lonergan (95a) won the big race but the 50th Celebration Stockcar Shoot-out, V-shaped trophy was won by 735a Keegan Orr who made a successful from-behind, attack on Lonergan who had, initially, been leading the unique, three-car shootout final.
The capacity field of Super Stocks featured many visitors including from tracks such as Stratford, Palmerston North, Gisborne, Tauranga, Rotorua and Huntly. The feature was won by Waikato visitor Scott Redfern. Heat wins went to Huntly racer Jared Wade, and Tauranga's Mark Costello. Costello, who came home second in the feature set a quick lap in that race just 1/100th of a second slower than the track record set by Redfern earlier in the 50th anniversary season.
A large field of Super Saloons contested a round of the Burger King series. The racing was fast and furious which caused major collisions in all most every race and some serious damage to race cars. Through the carnage the cars that survived to win heats were Sam Waddell (Mount Maunganui) , Ben Harding (Auckland) and Mark Osborne (Christchurch).
Grant Flynn 6b won the B-Main. There a pole shuffle shoot-out that featured contact in most of the two lap dashes. The shoot-out was won by 16m Mark Osborne who defeated Dean Waddell in the decider but the most exciting match up was that of local veteran Lance Jennings and the eventual winner of the 30-lap final, Dan Corrin. The two went side by side for most of the two laps and at the finish line it appeared that 96a Lance Jennings had won, but the electronic lap scoring showed the Tauranga visitor to have pipped the Aucklander at the line. On measuring it was discovered that the radio transmitter under the Jenning's car is mounted 300mm more towards the rear than the transmitter in the front of the Corrin car.
