By Daniel Neville

Saturday March 22nd saw the Bay of Plenty Championships held at TWS Paradise Valley Speedway for five classes with Superstocks, Stockcars, Streetstocks, Production Saloons and Six Shooters all competing for respective titles. Unfortunately 3 of the 5 titles went to visiting drivers but it was still an enjoyable meeting nevertheless.

A beautifully sunny day and evening greeted race fans and competitors for the 15 race programme with some top racing from all classes. The format was 3 heats with accumulated points deciding the overall winners. 

Opening the night was the Toolshed BOP Production Saloon Champs with 10 cars on the grid for the heat one. When the flag dropped it was 27r of James Cunningham who shot the field to pieces from grid 3 grabbing the lead and leaving the rest to chase. It was a quarter of a lap win for Cunningham with 68h Brian Jackson second from 13r Justin Driver. Heat 2 saw 21r Melville Horn get up for the win with Cunningham second from Jackson. Regular winner 63r Peter Cradock was in the mix for a while until his car stopped mid race. That gave Cunningham the advantage with a heat to run. Heat 3 saw 48r Dave Pilkington take the win from 25h Mark Levin with Horn in third. Cunningham trundled home fourth to take the BOP Championship from Pilkington with Horn doing well for third overall.

The Toolshed Production Saloons Points
 

The Central Auto Dismantlers BOP Champs for Superstocks with a full field of 26 for heat one. 1nz Todd Hemingway sprinted away from pole position to establish a good lead and the rest negotiated the often tricky turn one. A very push and shove race ensued with 18m Joe Carter squeezed up and over just seconds after one of the red light stoppages. Hemingway took the win with 10r Alan McRobbie second from 193r Dan Hunter. Heat 2 saw 7r Michael Rumney lead them from pole to the win from 24r Kyle Ashton with 87g Brodie James third in another hectic 12 lapper. Hemingway backed up his first up win with a 7th while second place from heat 1 McRobbie finished outside the top 10. The points leader was James in the 87g with a fourth and a third helping him to that position. Heat 3 got off to a frantic start with 89g Tyler James charging from near the back into the top four. There was all sorts of push and shove as they sorted themselves and each other out. 93r Gary Hunter took the race win from James in the 89g with Henderson third. Overall It was an out of town shut out with Tyler James who took out the BOP Championship from Hemingway in the 1nz with 77m Luke Alderdice who was consistent all night completing the podium in third.

Central Auto Dismantlers Superstocks Points

The Bimlers Kennel & Cattery BOP Streetstock Champs started with just the 9 cars but it definitely was a quality field with former and current champions among them. A reasonably tidy heat 1 was won by 11a Corry TeRito with 21r Blair Castleton second from 58r Mike King. Heat 2 had all 9 cars back and a win for King with Castleton second again with 72b Darren Melling improving for third. The points tally had a tie for first with King and Castleton both on 50 with a heat to go. Heat 3 had a bit more going on with 67r Blake Castleton and 12r Daniel Curran on the brakes slowing TeRito and Melling especially with 199r Jaxon Whyte chiming in. King took the race win from Melling and Blair Castleton third. Overall it was King who took out the BOP Championship from Blair Castleton with Melling third despite some attention in the deciding heat.

Bimlers Kennel & Cattery Streetstocks Points

The Alpha Waterproofing BOP Six Shooter Champs had only 7 starters for their 3 heats. Heat 1 was won by 28a Laurie Peterson from 79r Billy Griffiths with the 2 Westbury’s Luke and Boyd third and fourth respectively. Heat 2 saw 54a Stuart Crawford take the win off the front row with Peterson second after the first heat win with 17r Luke Westbury third. Heading into the last heat it was Peterson with the advantage from Luke Westbury. Heat 3 was a formality with Luke Westbury winning from Griffiths and Peterson and it was those 3 who made up the podium for the BOP Championship with Peterson first overall from Luke Westbury with Griffiths third.

Alpha Waterproofing Six Shooters Points

The Classic Builder BOP Stockcar Champs had a big field of 28 to fight it out. A greasy track caught a few out early on with 189r Milla Theobald leading them away. A very busy race saw 94a Sam Wright bide his time before making the pass for the lead and the win with Theobald second from 192r Josh Fraser. Notably was the low attrition rate with 25 of the 28 cars crossing the finish line. Heat 2 saw 2 of the top 3 from heat 1 have dramas with Theobald caught up in a meelee while Fraser dropped out of the lead early with his car giving up the ghost. Up front it was 45r Dion Henderson who was leading and eventually took the win Wright with 48r Jacob Soper third. Points saw Wright with the lead with Henderson and 144r Steven Pattle not too far behind. Heat 3 was bound to deliver with an out of towner leading on points but it didn’t quite work out that way. Wright got off to a good start as his partner 82a Azaria Simpson had the early lead. Pattle soon took over and went on to win the race. Wright had a pretty free run with only 139r Caleb Stanaway prepared to have a crack at the 94a but was unable to hinder his progress. Henderson kept his foot down for second in the race with Wright cruising home third to secure the BOP Championship. Second overall was Henderson with Pattle completing the podium in third.

Classic Builders Stockcars Points

The next meeting at TWS Paradise Valley Speedway is on April 5th and it’s the Memorial Meeting featuring the Hawker Trucks Superstock Memorial Champs, the Ace Auto Dismantlers Stockcar Memorial Champs, the David “Stumpy” Schrader Streetstock Memorial Champs, the Ginge Hayward Modified Memorial Champs, the McRobbie Contracting Limited TQ Midget Memorial Champs and the Matamata Tanks and Vats Six Shooter Memorial Champs with racing underway from 5pm that night.

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Photos On: www.speedwaynz.com