After a gorgeous day it was off down to Placemakers Huntly Speedway. I felt they had the best chance of putting together a decent meeting from the three tracks running in the upper North Island. And a good show it was. Every now and again you find a meeting like this one on the schedule that flys below the radar but produces consistent entertainment throughout the night. With good field sizes across the board tonight was one of those nights.

The track was downright wet upon arrival. To be fair clouds had rolled in over the late afternoon period and the heat was taken out of the day. With such a high moisture content Placemakers bend cut up a bit and a nasty rut formed on the exit that caught out plenty of drivers in all classes. The track was allowed to slick off and we saw more outside passing than the first meeting I attended at Huntly earlier this year. 6/10

Not advertised during the week, the 5 Modifieds did three hot laps sessions to try and dial in the equipment. It wasn't without it's drama as 8h (I think the commentators mentioned it was being driven by someone other than Dean Martin) backed it into the concrete in turn 1 and split the fuel tank in the opening session. Without realising he drove it onto the infield and a fire sprung up. 78h Ray Chatfield was the best on display as he fought his way through his own smokescreen to record the best laps.

A big field of 18 entrants proved that Productions can add something to the programme. The heavy conditions in race 1 were a good test of driver skill and it was 5k Vaughan Glidden and 48h Dave Pilkington leading the way (albeit both should have been relegated). Race 2 saw the unusual instance of two bonnets coming loose and obscuring the windshield of both drivers. Both cars had a K on the side, conspiracy theory anyone?? As luck would have it the driver I was most impressed with over the 2nd and 3rd heats doesn't appear to be in the results but I think it was 6h Nick Sparrow.
Winners - 48h Dave Pilkington (2 incl feature), 55h Larry Bingham

A field of 8 cars faced the starter although 15h Karl Pegg didn't last long. The field was surprisingly competitive and although 96h Scott Redfearn was clearly the standout he didn't have everything his own way. The only visitor in the field, 77r Regan Carter certainly added some spice. Very fast at times and remarkably loose at others. He wasn't scared to show other drivers where the concrete was without going all out.
Winners - 96h Scott Redfearn (2 incl feature), 73h Karl Ross

A solid field of 13 cars faced the starter. 43h Aaron Tonks was the star of the show and could be one to watch at the NZ Saloon Champs. Tonks was particularly impressive around the high line. 77k Ross Cresswell was another to watch and 9a Steve Louden showed his ability in taking the heat two win. It all went horribly wrong in the feature with a few tangles that saw the race called due to time.
Winners - 43h Aaron Tonks (2 incl feature), 9a Steve Louden

Stockcars were meant to be the feature attraction but I thought the class was outdone by the open-wheelers tonight. The Stockcars were good without being spectacular. Race 1 saw plenty of incidental contact without too much anger being dealt. 9h Amy Pitt was the race leader but ended up well down the listing after getting herself caught up in the action. Race 2 saw 17h Jason Patrick unleash his fury on the field.

I believe it was 57h Courtney Syveston on the end of a big hit coming out of Placemakers Bend. Patrick almost repeated the dose on another driver at the other end of the track but just missed. Patrick had to pull off and his night was over. If it wasn't for Syveston still being in the wall, 98h Steve Gray may well have landed the hit of the night. But it wasn't to be for Gray. The third heat featured a few drivers making a nuisance of themselves rather than producing a race defining hit.

55h Neville Hazelton, 77h Kevin Ngakai and 507h Aaron Cooper were all a pain in the neck for the rest of the field. 39h Darryl John seemed to cop the worst of the action. I think the commentators mentioned that Tony Wootton was behind the wheel of the 97h entry rather than Andrew Dreadon and it is he by my calculations who took out George Hazelton Memorial
Winners - 97h Tony Wootton (2), 36h Mark Caldwell

A surprise appearance from American 88usa Davey Ray spiced things up amongst the 14 car Midget field. The racing was punctuated by several yellow flags - the boys were not holding back. On the third attempt heat one got underway and it didn't take long for Ray to make mince meat of what was a pretty decent field. He was followed by 9h Angus MacLeod and 33a Graham Standring. Lapped traffic made life interesting but Ray retained enough of a lead to get the win.

Race 1 seemed to be fastest to the back and race 2 was fastest to the front. It all went wrong as 1nz Shaun Insley and 33a Graham Standring powered into Placemakers Bend, spun and the unsuspecting MacLeod ended up on his roof (or roll cage as the case is for a Midget). From the restart 5h Alvin Cobb held off Ray for several laps until a mistake coming out of Placemakers allowed Ray through. The feature was an opportunity for Graham Standring to take his 100th feature win. For once Ray was a non-factor as he seemed to miss the setup on what was now a fairly slick surface.

Standring was up to third with Insley and MacLeod to go. Standring took to the high line and it looked like he was a chance to take a historic victory. 8h Steve Shanley had other ideas and passed Standring up the inside. Despite all his endeavour Standring was unable to make up any spots. The race was called two laps early after yet more yellow flags although it was a perplexing decision given it takes 30 seconds to run two laps and the water truck ran around the track for about a minute without dumping any water whilst we waited for the next class to appear.
Winners - 88usa Davey Ray (2), 9h Angus MacLeod (feature)

The first time I saw this class was many years ago at Kihikihi. They had at least 20 cars and put on a great show in support of the NZ Midget Champs. Tonights racing was the best I have seen since that day and to a certain extent the Minisprints stole the show. 72k Brian Edwards was electric in the opening heat but failed to finish and wasn't seen again. Also impressing were 1nz Shaun Cooke, 55h Daniel Thomas and 17h Jarvis Tidd. The best of the rest was one of the two Palmy Army representatives on display, 81p Sean Rice.

For once Cooke didn't have things his own way. In heat two the yellows came on with about 5 to go with Thomas leading from Cooke. From the restart Cooke was unable to make an impact on the impressive youngster. A genuine challenger for Mr Cooke perhaps? The racing was fast, aggressive and clean all night - a credit to all 17 drivers who showed for the meeting.
Winners - 1nz Shaun Cooke, 55h Daniel Thomas (2 incl feature)

Production Saloons aside, the officials had an impeccable night. Twice cars lost tyres and the yellows were on in a flash. Throughout the night the yellows came on quickly with the exception of the last Saloon race where the officials might have been better to assume a spun car couldn't restart rather than leaving it on the pole line. Starts and restarts were very tidy.

But the rule book went out the window for Production Saloons. A restart in heat one saw the leaders half a lap ahead of the rest! Clear use of the grass and barging also went unpunished. Overall though the officials were on the ball. 8/10

Not running Ministocks proved to be a real positive in my opinion. Only running the one real budget class allowed better entertainment flow and as such the programme was well rounded. Another positive aspect was the spread of the classes on display. 2 Stockcar, 2 Saloon, 2 Open Wheel and a few Modifieds thrown in provided variety.

Perhaps the biggest concern of the night was the upcoming North Island Midget Champs. Per the official entry form the Huntly Promotion are hoping to run the three heat format. This could be a recipe for disaster. Tonight 14 Midgets couldn't get around Huntly, I fail to see how a field of 20 cars could get around Huntly in 3 x 15 lap races. I will suggest the "format could change" clause gets used about now. I think the volume of the entry list may prohibit the three heat format being used although this was the track that so famously tried to race 26 Super Saloons at a disastrous North Island Champs a few seasons back.

There is plenty to be positive about in the next few weeks at Huntly Speedway. I hope to be back down there next Friday/Saturday for the Stockcar Teams. Some spectators may find themselves down there for the next month with the Stockcar Teams followed by a big Waikato Champs night, the NZ Saloon Champs and finally the North Island Midgets on December 13th. It promises to be a big month for Huntly.