While the hoi polloi headed off to see Eminem the discerning turned into Max Motors Family Speedway to witness some superb close racing from the female stars of tomorrow in the McGinty’s Towing Girls Invitational for Youth Ministocks.
The field of 26 contained drivers from every North Island track except Huntly and also featured one South Islander, 9c Laura Weir. In their first heat 81g Tara Whiteman took good advantage of her front grid when she streaked away from the field. 81m Jorja Mouat was having none of this and chased her down, but was unable to wrest the lead from her and the 81g went on to win the heat. One of the pre-meeting favourites 35s Alana Buckthought made up seven places to take 2nd place with 81m Jorja Mouat having to settle for 3rd. 454r Jessie Henderson also made up 7 places to take 4th place, 5b Kara Flynn went one better making up 8 places to 5th place.The two other big movers were 11w Holly McGee and 21a Kaylee Brooks who made up 8 and 10 places respectively. 29p Rachel Bradbury, who usually goes really well at Te Marua unfortunately registered a DNF. Their next heat was notable for producing one of the closest finishes we have ever seen and quite a number of DNF’s ,with some of the top contenders being sent to the infield by the referees. 21a Kaylee Brooks continued her good form coming from grid 9 to take the win by 15 thousandths of a second from 11w Holly McGee. 29p Rachel Bradbury showed what could have been when she came from grid 18 to take 3rd place ahead of the heat’s biggest mover 46r Kaylee Hika, who came from grid 22 to take 4th. 15w Hannah Thomson took 5th place with 9c Laura Weir in 6th. Another big mover in the field was 8k Jordana Furer who came from grid 25 to 10th. Leading the points going into the third heat was 11w Holly McGee on 45 but she had grid 23, her nearest rival 81m Jorja Mouat, on 44 points was on grid 22. 46r Kaylee Hika was 3 points behind the 11w but was starting on grid 10 and 21a Kaylee Brooks on 41 points was on grid 9 so Holly McGee had a battle on her hands if she was to win the event. 5b Kara Flynn made up for her disappointment in the second heat by absolutely blitzing the field from her front grid, going on to win by nearly six seconds from 24v Sarah Meyer. But the main interest in the race was where the points leaders finished. 46r Kaylee Hika came home in 3rd place, 21a Kaylee Brooks took 5th place behind 8k Jordana Furer with 11w Holly McGee taking 6th. This produced a run-off for 1st place between 46r Kaylee Hika and 11w Holly McGee. The two drivers raced side-by-side until the 11w got the lead only to be passed right on the finish line by the 46r in what can only be described as an even closer finish than that in Heat 2. Top six finishers in the McGinty Towing Girls Invitational:
1st 46r Kaylee Hika
2nd 11w Holly McGee
3rd 21a Kaylee Brooks
4th = 56p Holly Lowe and 81m Jorja Mouat
6th 8k Jordana Furer
Support classes on the night, with four races apiece were Panhead Streetstocks where 65w Eric Snow had the worst possible night with his car catching on fire before the meeting started. He was however able to do a lap in the Streetstock that is being raffled off, make sure you head to the pits next week and grab a ticket. The Panhead Streetstocks continue to entertain with their antics and to grow with the appearance of a new driver tonight, 92w Kaila Nickson, who showed that her 6 appearances in the Demo Derby had given her the ability to take to the track with confidence, improving every race. Winners on the night were 77w Daniel Bouzaid, 18w Clive Rogers and 8w Tristan O’Donnell who took two chequereds. Others to feature in the top three were 9w Aaron Wilton and 13w Paul Sammons.
The Saloons also had a first-time driver with Mike Denham taking the controls of the ex-Garry Smith 8w. They too featured an extremely close finish in their second race when 57p Calvin Honore bested 9w Craig Burton by .0049 of a second. Other winners were 34w Amy Eckersley and 9w Craig Burton who took two wins.
The Capital Pools and Spas Stockcars also saw a new car and driver on track, the ex-91b driven by Alan Gill although Hayden Thomas took it for its first spin of the night. Desire Craike’s 10w was on loan for the night to Ben Gray on the proviso that he kept it off the wall. The field was also supplemented by four Palmerston North visitors. Still sporting the 719c number after his appearance for the Canterbury Crushers at the NZ Stockcar Teams, Dimitrios Amos had a good night taking 3 of the 4 chequered flags with 52w Josh Lockett taking the other and a 2nd placing. 96w Brad McGee, 25w Jarod Higgins, 98w Ashlee Gaskin-Robertson, 223p Raetea Robinson and 12w James Martin were the others to feature in the top three.
Next week looks to be a meeting not to be missed with the Ultimate Stockcars event, now running as a miniature teams event with 2 drivers on each team and the second round of the Friday Homes Superstocks Tri-Series and the one race Wellington Superstock Champs.