A reasonable sized crowd gathered at Max Motors Family Speedway on a clear night to witness the inaugural running of the Max Price Memorial for Stockcars. Max Price, 52W was a former Wildcat and Wellington Champ in the 1970’s and is well remembered for his sense of humour, cheeky grin and his keen, aggressive driving style.
Paying tribute to Max was one of his wildcat teammates, Clive Elliot, in his Superstock which sports in its Wildcat livery Max’s old number 52W. We also saw 622W Karl Vanderweil having his first run in his new Superstock. The two cars did hot laps together with 622W having his first Superstock win according to Karl’s greatest fan, his little boy.
The format for the night was 2 heats for points with the highest points scorer getting the front grid for the one race final.
Heat 1 saw Scott MacIntosh 24W pulled into the lead by the 2nd lap and showed good pace to outrun the rest of the field for the chequered. 66P Graeme Peter, 67W Kane Hargreaves and 22W Richard Gaskin were having a great battle for the minor places until a tangle dropped all three back down the field. The main benefactor was 35W Jason Kinsey who came home 2nd with Dean Bullock, again piloting the 6W of Paul Gaskin taking 3rd.
In the next heat 22W Richard Gaskin had a start to finish win with 35W Jason Kinsey and 6W Dean Bullock consolidating their points advantage with a 2nd and 3rd respectively. But the entertainment of the race was provided by the likes of 669W Brendon Tye who put visitor 223P Kyle Taylor up the wall on the start/finish line and 5W Jaden Munn who seems to be entering into the spirit of the class with relish.
The final points had 35W Jason Kinsey off the front of the grid with 6W Dean Bullock alongside and 22W Richard Gaskin and 24W Scott MacIntosh on the next row. From the outset 4W Josh Kahui and 669W Brendon Tye made their intentions clear with the rolling block holding up the likes of 71W Benji Sneddon and 6W Dean Bullock. 86W Kent Hawkins and 5W Jaden Munn kept up their running battle thrilling the crowd, while at the front of the field 35W Jason Kinsey showed form that will stand him in good stead next week at the NZ Under-23’s. To the delight of his loudest supporter Mrs Kinsey aka ma Bunter, Jason took the chequered flag and became the inaugural winner of the Max Price Memorial. 22W Richard Gaskin and 24W Scott MacIntosh filled the minor spots.
The Tommy’s Real Estate Minisprints ran a similar but opposite format with the first 2 heats being for points and the highest points scorer at the back grid.
A field of 11 faced the starter for Heat 1 with 11W James Hadley having his first run for some time. 2NZ Jamie Larsen started from the front and not unpredictably stayed there till the chequered flag. Regular visitor 7P Dean Fitness made a few passes to grab 2nd from 4W Shane Simpson on the final lap. 11P Robert Orr’s race was short and definitely not sweet when he made acquaintance with the wall in the first lap.
In Heat 2 4W Shane Simpson showed some real pace to take the lead halfway through the race but unfortunately was held up by lap traffic allowing 93P Declan Roe to snatch 1st. Simpson recovered for 2nd place and 21W Stephen Taylor shot home for 3rd. First heat winner 2NZ Jamie Larsen registered a DNF.
Shane Simpson 4W must have been pleased with his last grid for the feature race, being the highest point scorer on the night. After two false starts that saw 26W Scott Woodhouse sent to the back of the field, the benefit of a DNF played into 2NZ Jamie Larsen’s hands as he made his way into the lead and never looked like being headed. 11P Robert Orr finished his night on a better note than it started with 2nd place with 7P Dean Fitness getting 3rd place.
The CDC Concrete Streetstocks entertained the crowd with their usual antics, showing both skill and daring as they made their way around the track. The first heat, in particular was action-packed with only 3 of the 8 cars finishing the race. One of the DNF’s belonged to the Class Rep Lauren McGhie who, in the 81W of Brian Hughes, was shown no deference due to her gender. Race winners were 85W Lance Anderson, 13W Paul Sammons and 26W Hayden Bonner.
The Moving Company Saloons saw the appearance of 24W Gary Marshall’s new acquisition, still sporting its previous livery of 273M.
Heat 1 was notable for the number of DNF’s. 16W Taylor Mahey after taking the lead early in the race had an ignominious exit after meeting the wall, 8W Brian England also had an unfortunate brush with the concrete but showed skill in avoiding the oncoming traffic as he spun to the infield. 10W Todd Moffat and 31P Troy Clifton also registered DNF’s. Vic Abbott 38W started his trifecta for the night with the race win.
Heat 2 saw a reduced field shrink even further with Stu Cunningham 17W and 911W Scott Jones register DNF’s. Gary Marshall showed his new car has pace taking the race win in both this heat and the next. 12W Nigel Greenside was another to have a good night with two second places.
The Resene Paint Production Saloons saw former Stockcar driver Matt Gaskin again pedalling a Production Saloon but this time the 34W Holden of Scott Hilder. There were a number of close battles including a good one between 73W Michael Wood and 18W Darren McKay in the third heat and Matt and Tim Gaskin 32W going toe to toe in the second. Winners on the night were 18W Darren McKay in the first and third with Matt Gaskin taking the second heat.
The C & M Modifieds produced a smaller field than usual this week with only 5 mods making onto the track. Gary Smith climbed behind the controls of the 9W of Blair McPhee for the second and third heats while Jonas England pedalled the 8W of Michael Burt for the night. The first heat was claimed by Blair McPhee with 4W Paul Hodson taking the next two.
The evening was topped off with a trailer derby, with the England family celebrating Dad Brian’s birthday with a real smash. Jonas England in the 117 beat Corey England in the 17 and outlasted the rest of the pack with his trailer intact and car still running to take the victory.
