By Daniel Neville

After a weather interrupted beginning to the season at TWS Paradise Valley Speedway, there was finally some more racing on December 27th with the Streetstock teams and Superstock dash for cash taking the top billing on the programme.

The Streetstock teams event consisted of 4 squads, the Southwest Select, the Auckland Assassins, the Mag & Tyre Select and the local Rotorua Ratbags who battled it out over a series of races to find an overall winner.
The big Superstock field was split into 2 groups with 2 qualifying heats each and the top 26 heading to the one race, winner takes all, final In support racing, there were full fields in both the senior and junior divisions of the Youth Ministocks. 

It was a windy but otherwise fine day in the valley as the first race rolled out the pit gate which was the Youth Ministock orange group and the big field was led away by Auckland’s 23a Lucas Baldwin who was never threatened taking the win from Gisborne visitor 59g Koby Gooch with local 972r Jimmy Crawford home third. Race two was another good one taken out by 22b Lachlan Timmins from 33r Jaimee Burley with race one winner Baldwin home third. Race three had a spectacular start with 247r Loky Chapman clipping the pole line then darting across the track into the wall hard. Later on in the race 61r Kelly Yorke was also sent in to the wall in turn four as 971r George Crawford won from his brother 972r Jimmy Crawford with 137r Peanuckle Rawiri third in the final race of the night. 

The orange Youth Ministock group had 3 competitive races with race one going the way of 17a Korbin Seales and the next two going to 23b Troy Peach from Hawkes Bay, making his trip to Paradise Valley very worthwhile.  

The first of the Streetstock races was up next with an open race. Just the 6 entries for this with72b Darren Melling winning by quarter of a lap. Race two was Palmerston North benefit with 4p Dean Dingwall getting the win. 

The first of the Streetstock teams was between Rotorua Ratbags and the Mag & Tyre Select. From the flag it was 858r Shane Bracken who took the lead for the Mag & Tyre Select team was well protected by his team mates, especially 9r Phil McNamara. About midway through Bracken was tagged and 58r Mike King took over for the Ratbags but he too was blocked and Bracken was back in front. Bracken went on to take the win for the Mag & Tyre Select team which saw them through to the final. 

The next Streetstock teams race was the Auckland Assassins vs the Southwest Select. The Assassins made a great beginning running first and second early through 92a Liam Williams and 11a Corry TeRito. The Southwest Select team went into block mode after that but the severity of the hits resulted in 9w Aaron Wilton losing his bonnet and was forced to retire. From that point it was flat tyres that dictated the result with 16s Shaun Hall and 69s Ronald Washer both suffering outside punctures and finished up on the infield. Williams was untroubled on his way to the flag and a win for the Assassins that sent his team to the final. 

The run off for third between the Ratbags and the Southwest Select saw the Ratbags take the lead through 12r Daniel Curran who drove an intelligent race, shrugging off multiple attacks to take the win for the Ratbags and third place overall. The Southwest Select did their best, despite Wilton again shedding his bonnet, but the local team did the business. 

The Streetstock teams final between the Assassins and the Mag & Tyre Select was a doozy of battle. It was 9r McNamara who lit things up getting Williams into the walk then was almost on his lid then was sent to the infield with a flat outside tyre. Three Assassin cars went off at almost the same time which effectively ended the fight from the Aucklanders with just one car still mobile. Meanwhile up front Shane Bracken led a charmed life with 848r Richard Bracken watching his bumper all the way to the flag and first place overall. 

The all in Streetstock feature saw the consolation cars and survivors from the teams races come out for one last skid. Hitman from the teams racing McNamara lined up and launched 99a Adam Graham with both off to the infield soon after with damage. At the front though it was a familiar sight with Melling in the lead until 21r Blair Castleton tapped and spun the 72b out. Castleton went on to win from 7r Alistair Howatson second with Melling recovering for third. 

The first of the Superstock qualifying races for group one saw a great 12 laps with a few lead changes but 77m Luke Alderdice was ahead when it mattered most getting the win from 94r Dale Stewart and 21r Brendan Ashton. Heat 2 had a dramatic start with heat one second place getter Stewart getting stuck in the wall on lap one and once extracted from there got into a tangle with 33r Chloe Burley and was tipped over onto his side. Towards the end 15r Paul Mabey had moment as he was spun and stranded in turn four with flames erupting form his car. At the flag, 193r Gary Hunter took the win from 18m Dan Pollock with heat one winner Alderdice in third. 

Group two heat one had a messy start with cars all over the place early until 99m Todd Hemingway settled into the lead with 351r Paul Vazey behind him. As the laps ticked by the top two remained the same and finished that was with 10r Alan McRobbie close behind in third overall. Heat two was another win for Hemingway as he took the lead early and was never headed from there. Second was 198r Mark Costello with 23r Caleb Ashton third. 

A consolation before the Superstock final had just five starters and a win for 7r Michael Rumney who had been present in the pits all night but only made the track for this race.

The 17 lap Superstock feature with $2k for the winner saw an all Baypark from row with team mates Hemingway and Alderdice earning those spots via their heat placings. It was frantic from the start with Alderdice in the wall hard and 5 r Logan Nicholson-Mabey also carnaged by many after getting spun. After the restart it was another red light for 16m Kyle Benton who got all out of shape and rolled. Early race leader Hemingway was held up by Stewart and walled by 95r Daryl Williams as McRobbie took the lead. There was many a battle as the laps passed by and McRobbie survived a lunge by 422b Dylan Ashton who only missed taking the leader out by inches. The 10r had had some help on his way to the overall win with Rebels team mate Stewart ensuing his captain pocketed the $2k after a busy race. Second was 23r Caleb Ashton with 18m Dan Pollock home in third with just 13 of the 26 starters classified finishers.

The next meeting at TWS Paradise Valley Speedway is not to be missed. January 24th and 25th will see the annual TWS World Invitation Superstock Champs over 2 nights featuring the best in the world coming to take on the NZ drivers in a bid to be the champion. Also over those same 2 nights will be the 2025 installment of the Rees Race Car Aotearoa Ladies Stockcar Crown with cars from all over the country coming to sort out who’s the best.

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