By Daniel Neville 

That was kinda how things went at TWS Paradise Valley Speedway as the 2024/25 race season got off to a fantastic start on November 8th with racing for Superstocks, Stockcars, Ministocks and Streetstocks. 

The other, and no doubt the biggest attraction for the Friday night meeting was the Motion Entertainment Fireworks Spectacular that saw thousands of dollars worth of pyrotechnics launched into lower orbit to the awe of the big crowd. A shout out to the team from Van Teil Pyrotechnics who provided the bangs that lit up the Paradise Valley sky and echoed throughout the Ngongotaha Valley area. 

Three of the four classes on the opening night programme were racing for double points with the senior Ministocks the only exception. The Ministocks and Streetstocks had 3 heats each with Superstocks and Stockcars racing in 2 groups with 2 heats each then a feature for the qualifiers.

Group 1 for Stockcars had the honour of launching the season with 5r of Dion Henderson and 94a Sam Wright heading the grid. It was a drag race to begin between the front runners with Wright leading much of the way until getting caught up in lap traffic as Henderson slipped past for the win with local 735r Keegan Orr getting through for second as Wright finished third. The rest of the race was pretty clean with returning racer 192r Josh Fraser home fourth from current Aotearoa Ladies Stockcar Crown champion 189r Milla Theobald. Heat 2 was a reverse grid and it wasn’t long before Wright and Henderson were leading the charge with Wright this time getting the better of the battle taking the win from Henderson. Theobald was again fast and was rewarded with a fine third place. 

Stockcars Group One Points
 

Group 2 heat 1 for Stockcars was a smooth race and a quality field won by current 2nz Logan Peat Heat 2 had a few gaps on the grid which made things easier for pole sitter 87r Chris Shingleton who led from start to finish with 208a Blake Brooks second from the 45r car which had former NZ champion Benjamin Ellis at the wheel.

Stockcars Group Two Points

The feature saw the top 30 grid up. A busy opening few laps claimed a few cars with Wright leading early, only to get tangled up allowing 98g Bryce Simpson to the take over. That was short lived too as Peat got by the Gisborne driver. Unfortunately Henderson sustained damage and was out along with a few others. As the laps ticked by Peat continued to lead and took a commanding win. Simpson hung in there for second with Shingleton home third. Wright fought his way back for fourth from 139r Caleb Stanaway who was on the pace all meeting.

Stockcars Final Points

The Ministocks had a few bumps and crashes for their opening race in a decent field and at the end of 8 laps it was a familiar winner from last season with 971r George Crawford carrying the black and white flag. Race 2 went the way of Hawkes Bay driver 77b Macy Penn who held off race 1 winner Crawford who came all the way from the rear of the grid for second place. The Ministock feature saw a few red light stoppages to rescue stranded cars. The win eventually went to 972r Jimmy Crawford from 98r Reve Transom with 191r Aidan Tidd who had been fast in all races home third. Overall George Crawford finished first for the night from 351r Karl Vazey wIth Tidd and 64r Riley McKeown tied for third.

Superstocks were next with group 1 heat 1 and the push into the first turn saw 638r Robbie Morris pop out in front and led until the final corner where 94r Dale Stewart nudged Morris wide to claim the first win of the season. The 33r of Robbie Mabey didn’t have such good fortune, departing mid race with collapsed front suspension. Heat 2 developed into an epic battle up front with bumpers thrown in all directions. After much paint trading it was 77m Luke Alderdice who got the win from 45r Dion Henderson with 2nz Blair Uhlenberg well in the mix home.

Superstocks Group One Points
 

Group 2 was led away by 118r Joel Steiner until about mid race where he over cooked it in turn 4 which let through the 94p William Humphies and 422b Dylan Ashton who battled hard at the front with Humphries winning by a slim margin. Heat 2 was a bit more violent with 247r Hayden Chapman, 5r Logan Nicholsen Mabey and 7r Michael Rumney all finding the wall at different stages. The race win went to 9r Brent Stewart who kept his bonnet on after losing it late in race one.

Superstocks Group Two Points

The feature had the top 26 go into battle. From the start it was an epic race with bumpers shown by many and sparks off the wall. Dale Stewart hit the lead closely followed by Humphries who stuck with the leader until 81v Hayden Hart ended his charge. Some excellent brotherly teamwork saw Brent Stewart slot in behind Dale and shield his sibling home for an excellent feature win. William Hughes in 99s from Stratford was quick and too advantage of the others battling with each other to claim second 14r AJ Axtens third from Henderson and Dylan Ashton.

Superstock Final Points

Streetstocks heat 1 was won by Auckland visitor 11a Corey Te Rito after he broke away from the local 11r of Steve De Malmanche. Heat 2 was in the reverse direction with a bit more carnage than the previous race. A great fight for the win took place and 59r Mike King got the better of 858r Shane Bracken who got balked by a lap car and had to settle for second place. A carnage filled third heat saw a stirling performance by 9r Philip Mcnamara who by my calculations hit every other car on the track except race winner Shane Bracken. The 9r was a brand new race car at the beginning of the meeting but after this race it had that used look about it but entertained everyone in doing so. Overall from the three races it was Bracken who topped the points from Mike King with 6r Rikki Malcolm and 12r Daniel Curran having a share of third.

Streetstocks Points

The next meeting at TWS Paradise Valley Speedway is on Friday November 15th which will be the first of 4 Club Nights. Sponsored by Toyshed which will feature Superstocks, Stockcars, Ministocks, Streetstocks, Production Saloons, Six Shooters and TQ Midgets. Racing starts at 7pm that night. 

Media Results
Fastest Lap

Club Points

Photos On: www.speedwaynz.com