Matt Nielsen will defend the North Island Superstock crown this weekend. Photo / Sportsweb Photography
Matt Nielsen will defend the North Island Superstock crown this weekend. Photo / Sportsweb Photography
The rumble of highly tuned V8 engines will become a roar at Fast Lane Spares Oceanview Family Speedway this weekend.
The Sharp As! Group North Island Superstock Championship has attracted a quality field of about 70 cars and drivers to compete for the final Speedway New Zealand championship for the class this season.
Former Wanganui Stockcar and Speedway Club president Daryl James and his wife and business partner Kylie have come on board as the title sponsors through their transportation business, Sharp As! Group.
Ironically, it's the second North Island Superstock title held this season, after the 2019-20 event was postponed due to the Covid-19 lockdown a year ago.
That event was finally run at Auckland in November, with Kihikihi driver Matt Nielsen taking the title, which he will defend this weekend.
1NZ Asher Rees will be looking to add the North Island title to his New Zealand championship. Photo / Sportsweb Photography
The North Island Championship is one of Speedway NZ's oldest titles, having first been contested at Meeanee Speedway in Napier in the 1965-66 season, where the first New Zealand Stockcar champion Graeme Stretch from Palmerston North was victorious.
It will be the sixth time the Wanganui club has hosted the event, with the last being in the 2012-13 season.
Drivers have been drawn into four groups for Friday night's qualifying heats.
Each group will have three 10-lap heats, and the top six drivers from each group will go directly to Saturday night's finals.
The two drivers with the highest points who do not qualify directly from their group will be added to the 26-car field for the finals.
The finals on Saturday night will comprise three 15-lap heats, with points allocated according to finishing positions, with the driver amassing the most points winning the North Island title.
Heading the field are defending champion Nielsen, and current 1NZ Asher Rees who also runs out of Kihikihi.
The field also includes a several past North Island champions including brothers Simon and Adam Joblin from Palmerston North, Wellington flyer Dale Robertson and veteran Peter Rees.
Reigning 1NZ Stockcar driver Ben Ellis will take part in the Best Pairs on Saturday night. Photo / Sportsweb Photography
Other notables in the field include Randal Tarrant, who won the New Zealand title at Oceanview last season, Cody McKee from Auckland, who has been in sensational form this season, West Coast champion Carl Shearer, Gisborne flyers Jamie Hamilton and Tim Ross and veteran Clive Elliot, who has been chasing this title since the early 1970s.
Of the locals, Shaun Smith has been in good form of late, Dylan Marshall finished third in the West Coast Superstocks, Hayden Green has finally found some consistency, Kaelin Mooney has looked right at home in the ex-Maddie Wise car and the Dykstra brothers, Ricky and Zane, will be in the thick of the action.
Saturday night's racing also features championships for three classes.
An excellent field of 10 sidecars will compete for the Karl Barritt Memorial, remembering the young Whanganui rider who died in a racing accident in Auckland in 2005.
The Rose brothers, Bryce and Aaron, will make their season debut.
1NZ Dylan Smith will make his first appearance at Oceanview since winning the New Zealand title in January as the minisprints race for their West Coast Championship, combined with a round of the Oval Superstars Tour.
And a big field of stockcars will race in a Best Pairs championship, where local drivers are paired with a competitor from out of town.
Drivers from Hawke's Bay, Stratford, Palmerston North and Wellington have entered, along with the current New Zealand stockcar champion Ben Ellis from Kihikihi.
To have three 1NZs racing at Whanganui on the same night is a rarity.
There are some interesting pairings, with Ellis teaming up with local speedster Callum Sturzaker, West Coast champion William Hughes from Stratford paired with Mark Johnston, and Blair Lockett running alongside promising Palmerston North youngster Kyle Rowe.
But the most interesting of all sees Evan Mooney, the patriarch of the Mooney family, team up with former New Zealand stockcar champion and current superstock champion Asher Rees.
Racing starts at 6pm each night, with Grand Parades on Friday at 5.30pm and Saturday at 5.45pm.
The public gates open at 3.30pm both nights, and additional public parking has been provided in the vicinity of Oceanview Family Speedway.
It has been a memorable season at the Oval by the Ocean, but the programme for the weekend should see the speedway season finish on an outstanding note.
