Boy Oh Boy, where do you start, arriving to an expanded pits, watching the crowd streams in, a quiet hum slowly got louder, the anticipation building into what became an epic night, the drivers lighting up the track and the Fireworks lit up the sky. While many tracks around the country were succumbing to wet weather, it was shining brightly as the racing got underway, an enclave of visiting drivers adding spice for a full house of spectators, many might’ve just been there for the Fireworks but are subtly being lured to becoming speedway fans, the racing couldn’t have done a better job of converting fans to the clay oval club. The mixture of events making the perfect recipe for success, Fireworks, the kids cycle race, combined with the Heart Kids NZ fundraiser clearly aimed at the huge family attendance, add the Hit to Pass amongst the contact grades, the drivers provided the action to match the fireworks. The return to old-school Super Stock racing a highlight for the night, a handful of Christchurch drivers making their way up, were happy to mix it up with the younger drivers and slightly older ones trying to make their way up the pecking order, or at least hold their own ground, the last heat clearly defining the old N v C battles we haven’t seen for a number of years.  Brett Nicholls was lucky enough to stay out of the trouble around him, pipping Shane Harwood by fastest lap after being tied on points after the final heat, the hectic heat 2 saw only 6 cars finish the race, clearly drawing a line in the sand for the final heat, which lived up to expectations, action from start to finish.   Ian Clayworth was one of the first to find trouble, his wing looking very second hand after a brief wall ride and remaining missing for the rest of the meeting, Blake Hearne was clearly in blocking form, making a clear nuisance of himself all meeting, while Cantabrian’s Harley Robb and Riley Evans happy to reply. Jay Holtham was still working out the bugs in his new car but the win in heat 2, showed he was heading in the right direction. There were few cars that didn’t have to take evasive action at some stage throughout the racing, Callum Russ not quick enough to evade 48n with a tap and then rolled, the Tiger Cub getting rolled by the Glen Eagles chief enforcer in the final heat. Pit crews were kept busy all night, an unlucky Kelin Keith suffering gearbox damage in heat 1 and missing most of the fun.  The upcoming Cubs V Beagles race should be entertaining, it’s been many years since the rivalry between the Tigers and the Eagles has happened, the backbone of both clubs over many years making a welcome return. The Eagles are at the best they have ever been while the Tigers are in rebirth mode, but there’s no bigger learning curve than racing against the current no.1 team strategists in the country, both clubs are building new members for the future. The field of 15 cars on the weekend a huge step forward from the 6 or so just a couple of years ago, some wise work being done in the background paying benefits, the mixture of youth and experience providing fans a choice of driver to back, add the mix of visiting drivers and the grade is back to the old school days of racing, a bit of biff amongst the speed. The stock cars continue to impress, the new drivers are making their mark in the grade, no longer cannon fodder for the visitors, the bigger fields and those quite happy to mix it up is making for some action-packed races. The club are hosting the Queen of the Clay towards the end of the season, with several ladies making the podium over the weekend, it’s shaping up to be an interesting meeting, 5 female drivers were racing on the night with Zoe Hughes and Shinnae McNally making the podium with their respective race partners. There was plenty of bumper-work being put in, battles within battles were happening at both ends of the track, the speedsters trying to sneak between the spinning cars, there is still work to do with reliability with some to finish races, fix that and the influx of new drivers gaining confidence, the outcomes may not be as predictable in future meetings. Canterbury’s Shinnae McNally enjoying her new “RRR” race car, picking up best pairs with club mate Troy Cleveland, Reefton’s Cruiz McCreath joining forces with Jason Del Favero for 2nd with Zoe Hughes and Jack Rarity in 3rd. Club champs next meeting should be a highly interesting affair with plenty of visitors likely to attend. The T.Q.’s results couldn’t be tighter, half the field can win at any time, 3 different winners on the night proves getting the club championship will require a top effort over the 3 meetings and 9 races to decide the outcome, it might come down to just inches as a dropped point could decide the outcome, reliability the key to the championship, the dark horse could be Kohen Thompson, having to start from the rear for the opening round due to being on the mentor program, a 2nd place finish in the feature shows he has what it takes, a messy last race would’ve seen a couple of disappointed drivers parked on the infield, Clinton Cross having a topple over to end his night. Morgan Frost leads by 5 points from Kynan Bezett with defending champion Alicia Hill and feature winner Jonti Austin tied on 3rd a point back Production Saloon ran their blind champs, a boost to the locals with the return of Kaylim McNabb, it was another competitive night, not knowing who their partner was until prizegiving kept the suspense going long after the racing finished. The pairing of Dave Leitch and Sam Martin getting the job done, Eddy Frans and Vaughan Cornelius claiming 2nd with the Blenheim pairing of Jonathon Webb and David Allen in 3rd,  it was a hard night on some of the aging crews, parked out on the grass with the expanded  pits, it was a lengthy walk from their usual spots, luckily an oxygen tank, a cup of tea and biscuits were provided at the halfway point of their cross pits trek.(lol) Quarter Midgets went into their feature race with Taylor Martin, Darcey Rasmussen and Lakyn Thompson all tied on points, they were joined by Bailey Bensemann in a for way battle in their feature race, Rasmussen getting the lead and getting out to a handy lead while the other 3 battled away,  Lakyn broke free and was about to challenge for the lead when he ran over the back wheel of a lapped car, his fast reactions just keeping the car on his wheels, when it looked like he was about to roll, the incident gave Rasmussen the gap and he held on to win the feature, Thompson being put back 4 places by the referees, it put Bensemann into 2nd with Taylor 3rd.   The Youth Ministocks continue to improve their racing, the 4-race format working with less cars on the track and giving the faster cars a bit more space to pass the newbies. The lap record was broken twice by eventual winner, Conley Webley, making amends after a DNF cost his chances in the Trackman Trophy meeting, the battle for top spot is going to be hard fought, birthday girl on the night Leilah Jefcoate finishing second with a 3-way tie for 3rd, Jaxon Dacombe getting the nod with a faster lap time from Andre Musgrove 4th and Locky Martin 5th. There are some great battles, grid draws and groups making it a hard to pick the overall results, 5 drivers were within 4 points of each other, plans for future Tiger cubs looking good, the biggest grade in the club going from strength to strength. Least but not last, the Streetstocks, they weren’t about to let the contact grades down, providing plenty of hitting throughout the night, the field boosted by the visiting 1nz of Allan Finch all the way from the “Clutha”, most of his 1nz crew not travelling north ended up bored, sitting at home after Beachlands was washed out. It will be a happy ride South for the 1nz, to park the car up ready for W/Glen next week, a red sash sitting in the glovebox after winning the Hit to Pass points on the night. (It’s a bit of a shame Steve Soper is playing footy in England, a missed chance to have the 1, 2 and 3nz on track at the same time in Nelson) It wasn’t an easy start for Finch, spat out onto the infield at the start of the first heat, it was a mammoth effort to get the 5th spot by the end of the race, a 2nd behind Ryan Musgrove in great battle over the last part of the race in heat 2 was bettered by the win in heat 3, with the overall points win pushed from 2 points after heat two to 7 in the final wash-up. Perry Soper’s consistency earned him 2nd spot with Harry Moffat-Schwass 3rd. The donut shop was being matched by the cars on the track, plenty of crumpled panels, a few flat tyres and plenty of tangle-ups keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats. The wind was likely the only negative factor on the night, the cool breeze that bought all the rain elsewhere dropped the temperature after dark, but the heat of the racing warmed up the crowd. The 23 race program with time allowed for the bike race and fireworks edged on the 10pm time limit, chatting to Allan Finch after racing, he was stunned with how quickly the races were turned around and was looking forward to be returning for the Tri-Series in December, the post-match speech from Huggies is always entertaining, the visiting drivers having a successful night amongst the local drivers, the clubrooms full once again after an entertaining nights racing. It's 2 from 2 at the Nelson club, but with the NZ Super Stock title still to happen, that’s the one the club need the weather gods to be kind with, its step by step as the big one approaches, just 4 more meetings to get things sorted. The good news is the first run of NZ T-Shirts have arrived, the club are sorting out online availability, keep posted on the website and FB page if you’re looking to purchase gear before title weekend. Our resident sparky Alister Thomas enjoyed playing the new lights in front of a full house, busy flicking them on and off, dare we suggest to add some colours and relays into the system in his free time and it could be party time all around the track….

Article added: Sunday 03 November 2024