21&22-02-03
NZ Stockcar Teams Champs
Palmerston North
By Macgor
Packed houses both nights meant that this annual clash of the titans is
still the top attraction of the season .
I really don't have the time or inclination to write a detailed review
of the happenings .
The Baypark Busters won the deal which they rightly deserved becasue
their on track team was first rate . 92m Kyle Fraser was my driver of the
weekend for his blocking and attack tactics . Highly recommended and a
surprise performer was 38m Ross Ashby . Kerry Remnant while not overly
spectacular was racing smart adding finesse to the Buster team .
It was great to see the Auckland Allstars make the semifinals , their
first win on the friday night had an element of luck to it but their second
success was well earned . They seemed to loose their way somewhat on finals
night but all the same their potential was showing .
Hats off to the Otago team . Their first time at this big time event
and despite the hammering they took they keep fronting cars on the track
for some more of the same . Brave beyond words .
Hard luck for the Stratford Scrappers again this year . , Trevor Mason
was spectacular in his executions . 82s Paul Johnston impressed . I couldn't
help but wonder how much more successful the Scrappers would have been
if 51s Jay Knight had been included as part of their line up . The Scrappers
versus Busters free for all qualifying race was the match of the weekend
for many so I guess there is some solice for the Scrappers in knowing they
were only narrowly beaten by the best of the lot .
There were plenty of other good individual performances too . 12h Chris
Bear , ?b Paul Demanser , 98r Gary Hunter and 85n Dale Ewers to just name
a few .
Quite a few of the teams were looking great in team attire , the best
were those that stayed with their original racing numbers . Those that
used consecutive teams numbers just created confusion for everyone
including themselves .
Overall the teams racing made great watching despite some of the matchs
failing to fire with the expected intensity. Commentating was
good , food barely average and the running of the meetings was good enough
apart from the time wasting that crept in at the end of finals night.
The Manawatu modified champs were run on the second night and despite
the class being one of my favorites I can't figure why a promotion would
want to cover their packed house customers with dust as they did .
2nz Tony Galbraith won on points while I was buying hotdogs or just generally
making my self scarce .
Images below are from semifinals on saturday night .
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| Ross Ashby ,committed teams racer |
Awesome crowd for finals night |
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| Rodney Wood's woeful season continues |
Kelvin Gray's short season isn't going well |
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| Peter Rees tried hard |
Kyle Fraser foiled Barry Podjursky |
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| Likewise did Ross Ashby |
Peter Rees used his rear bumper to good effect
on 19m Kerry Remnant |
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58p Peter Bengston getting roughed up by
Kyle Fraser |
6a Dayne Wright's good run coming to an end |
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| Wright's race ended soon after |
Allstars in trouble |
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| 2nz Tony Galbraith = Manawatu Mod champion |
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