Motorsport: Kiwis eagerly waiting for Boxing Day

Brock Maskovich in action at Western Springs Speedway. Photo / www.shot360.co.nz

Most people look forward to Christmas and count down the sleeps until the big day but Kiwi speedway driver Brock Maskovich is counting down to Boxing Day.

Maskovich will join fellow New Zealanders Michael Pickens and Hayden Williams as the trio go up against the Australians and Americans in the first night of the United Truck International Midget series at Western Springs Speedway - the first of four meetings at the Auckland track, plus one at Baypark in Tauranga over the next 10 days.

"The Boxing Day crowd usually is the biggest of the year and they definitely get behind the teams races," Maskovich tells herald.co.nz. "They are definitely going for the Kiwis and they cheer whenever the Kiwis do something against the Aussies or Americans.

"It is probably the only track in the world where you can hear the crowd over the cars so I am definitely looking forward to that."

Maskovich says there is no bigger night than Boxing Day especially with his selection in the New Zealand team.

"This year it will be big for us because we have made the New Zealand team," Maskovich says. "It will definitely be an honour racing for the New Zealand side against the Australians and the Americans.

"I have raced in America and Australia against all of those other drivers so I know they are tough competitors - even away from home down here they will be hard to beat."

While the battle between countries certainly draws out some nationalism Maskovich says every driver still has their eyes firmly focused on the final race of the night.

"You want to be the first car home but in the pits everyone looks after one another. Everyone is racing each other hard out on the track.

"You really want to look after your own car because at the end of the night the big feature race is the one you want to win.

"You still want to beat the Americans and the Australians but you do look out the for the Kiwis - you don't want to hurt their cars and give yourself the best chance of winning the last race of the night."

A staggering 36 cars are entered for Boxing Day in the open midget class. They are going to battle for a starting spot in the feature race, which will be capped at 20, meaning 16 miss out.