A beautiful day left an OK crowd with a chilly evening at Placemakers Huntly Speedway. Commentator Mike Howe somehow managed to find Percy in the crowd and conducted an interview before the racing began! I think the crowd would rather hear a driver being interviewed but I guess I do provide a certain level of entertainment at times. Percy decided to tip 17a Murray Kitt who would go on to record two DNF's in the championship races. Kitt joins a long line of competitors who have been affected by Percy's tipping this year. I would like to apologise the the following:

World 240's
52p Scott Joblin (Didn't turn up)
37r Darcy Hunter (DNQ)
72p Simon Joblin (Out of contention 1st heat)
515r Stan Hickey (Flat tyre 3rd heat)

NZ Sprintcar Champs
0usa Jonathan Allard (Crash whilst leading championship race)

NZ Midgets
54a Michael Pickens (Crash in first championship heat)

Pretty much if I tip you to win, the best thing to do is to put the car on the trailor

Commentator Mike Howe was certainly keen to get a track rating from Percy prior to the event. This reviewer knows better than that! The track was pretty much spot on given that Stockcars were the main event. It was dry and slick without the slightest hint of a rut. My only criticism is that it did make life difficult for the Saloons as the high line didn't really form. Overall though this was a fine track. 9/10

With just five cars in attendance the Modifieds were really an exhibition class. Race 1 saw 97h Matt Hazelton spear off into the turn one concrete. The track was quite tricky at this time. 78h Ray Chatfield was dominant but wasn't able to back up his performance in heat two. 8h Dean Martin got the initial jump and ended up beating Chatfield by half a lap. Martin has a spectacular element to his driving but it can all go horribly wrong at times as shown in heat three where Martin spun more times than a Streetstock would on a normal night.
Winners - 78h Ray Chatfield (2), 8h Dean Martin

16 Productions fronted including a couple from Gisborne. Race 1 was exciting as the track had been watered. Moisture on top of a hard surface proved a tricky combination and cars were heading in all directions. From memory 71g Wayne Hall led for much of the race until the locals were able to assert control. Race two saw 88g Mike Hall flying the Gisborne flag, but alas the locals would once again rule the roost. Heat three and the locals completed a clean sweep. It was typical Production racing, close and with little contact.
Winners - 6h Nic Sparrow, 55h Larry Bingham, 65h Daniel Bennett

A massive field of 30 cars was probably a few too many to be perfectly honest. The Gisborne invasion was continued in this class with somewhat more success than the Productions. I would go as far as saying the Gisborne Ministocks gave the Huntly guys and girls a bit of a lesson. Race 1 saw a nasty incident where the 228h entry was spun and collected head on. The driver was carried by the infield staff to the ambulance which at the same time was trying to make an entry to the track via the pit gate! Both parties were able to rendevous soon enough.

Indeed the driving did get rougher as the night progressed. According to the commentary team, the officials were slapping plenty of wrists after the second heat. They might have been slapping a bit more than just wrists after heat three. The opening five laps featured at least a spin per lap! Through all the carnage there was some good racing. In particular the heat two battle between 88h Mitchell Buck, 32g and 71g. If someone could but who these guys are (and all the other registered competitors) on the Gisborne website that would be great. The crowd was also presented with the top three from the Waikato Ministock Champs. They should give out haircuts as prizes, c'mon guys long hair went out when Led Zepplin stopped making records.
Winners - 5h Sean McKenzie, 19g, 61g

A field of 11 cars included 85h Jared Wade in the tank, 91b S J Cavell, 63a Bill Clarkson Jr and 53a Phil Marx. Race 1 saw 23h being driven by Brendan Ashton according the the commentators, take an early lead. Lapped traffic played a role and Wade was able to catch Ashton and execute a perfect spin to take the win. The tank would see no further action, a fuel issue sidelining it for the evening. Race two saw Cavell take a surprise lead. Ashton gave chase and was using the full width of the race track.

When this kid gets behind the wheel of a Superstock, I get the impression that the brake pedal is for decorative purposes only. Try as he might, Ashton couldn't run down the Napier registered Cavell who would go on to take his first race win. Ashton would finally get the win he deserved in heat three while 816h Wayne Lucey finally showed the sort of pace he is capable of.
Winners - 85h Jared Wade, 91b S J Cavell, 23h Brendan Ashton

11 Saloons fronted and it would have pleased the promotion to see 8 cars sporting an H on the side. Hopefully the class can continue to grow here in the off-season along with the Modifieds. Heat one was a little lacklustre with little passing. From memory 77k Ross Cresswell may have found the turn one concrete in this one. But the fireworks were to come. Heat two saw 98h Greg Powell attempt an outside pass on 17h Andrew Ross. Powell couldn't make the move stick and Ross ran him out of room coming down the ensuing straight. Powell had to turn hard left to avoid the concrete and the fibreglass flew as he made contact with Ross. Both would retire to the infield, Powell forceably so.

As luck would have it, a couple of early passed saw the same two drivers back at it in heat three. This is what the crowd had come to see! A bit of contact spiced up the action but this time Powell was ultimately successful with his move. Powell would run down race leader Cresswell only to see Cresswell spin right in front of him. With nowhere to go the two collided head to head. It wasn't going to be Powell's night. For the Kihikihi contingent 5k Graham Brockelsby was the standout.
Winners - 67h Scott Wilkins, 43h Aaron Tonks, 17h Andrew Ross

The Stockcars put in a starring performance with some of the best Stockcar racing I have seen for a long time. Many of the drivers appeared totally oblivious to the fact a title was on the line. As always 6h Lindsay Trotter was in the thick of the action but tonight he had plenty of adversaries willing to have a play. Race 1 was led away by 61h Cody Webster. Webster was showing good pace but would ultimately succumb. Percy was looking like a genius as 17a Murray Kitt took the lead and won the race from 48m Nicky Gallop. The best hit of the race saw Trotter take the pesky 82a Robert Neil to the wall.

But an electronic lap-scoring disaster saw the race re-run! Whatever happened to the manual lap-scoring backup? 55h Neville Hazelton was one driver to take advantage, pinning Gallop up the wall and ultimately rolling him onto his side. Kitt also copped a shot from Trotter but was still able to qualify. Thankfully Gallop would qualify through the repechage, what an injustice that could have been. The Trotter tank ended up being rolled by 4a Brian Campbell after Trotter had taken Campbell to the turn one concrete. The second group wasn't quite as intent on destroying each other.

So after 3 races that became four, the field was set for the Waikato Stockcar Championship.
Winners - 17a Murray Kitt (original), 64a Marty Chestnutt (re-run), 218h Aaron Alderton, 48m Scott Gallop (repechage)

A massive 30 car field was set and ready to roll. Despite the absence of Trotter there was no shortage of action. Somehow the 82a Robert Neil had qualified despite trying not to for the best part of the night. He was a pain in the backside, as were several others. The Waikato domination of the event from previous years was to continue. Kitt was out early and the best the Aucklanders could do was sixth in the opening heat. Going under the radar was the sole Rotorua entrant 89r Paul Mabey. Why there weren't more Rotorua cars I will never know.

31h Rodney Smythe won the first race and was largely untouched. I guess it doesn't hurt to be formerly of the A. In-between races the commentators suggested that some drivers were being paid not to hit other drivers in the second race. Surely they were joking, chequebook diplomacy?? Go and buy a Superstock! Anyway, Smythe once again went through untouched as it all happened around him. We all was said and done, Maybe had secured third and a run-off was required between Smythe and 218h Aaron Alderton for the title.

Smythe got a bit excited on the original start but second time around he shot into the lead. Alderton didn't panic and stalked him. Alderton had a chance on lap 3 but chose not to take it as Smythe went wide coming out of turn two. On the final lap turn two also posed problems for Smythe and Alderton was right on his bumper. Alderton made the hit entering turn four and cleverly put on the brakes, exiting the scene just prior to impact with the concrete and going to win the Waikato Stockcar Championship.
Winner - 218h Aaron Alderton

A quiet night for the officials. Reds and yellows were deployed well with the exception of the first Ministock race when the reds were slow to be activated for the 228h and 32a incident. A couple of the race starts in the Saloons were questionnable but let go. They did appear to miss an incident in the Stockcars. 6h Lindsay Trotter was forced infield entering turn three but kept the foot down and proceeded to drive his opponent to the wall from the infield. I am suggesting the officials missed it on the basis that Trotter was given a stirrers award at the end of the night. Whatever happened with the lap scoring in Stockcar heat one needs to be fixed. Thank goodness it wasn't an SNZ championship. 7/10

Things are starting to point in the right direction at Huntly. Tonight they were recording how fast things happen so they can improve efficiency in future meetings. And when almost half the programme consists of Ministocks, Production Saloons and a Modified Exhibition, time is a critical factor in providing an entertaining night. We have also seen a price reduction from $20 to $15 in the gate charge which is more in line with the level of entertainment being provided.

Where Huntly has struggled a bit in the past is in it's reliance on other tracks competitors to fill up classes. So to see a decent number of H Saloons and 5 H Modifieds must have been very pleasing for all concerned. I know we are still dealing with single figure numbers but it's a starting point and if the Huntly club can build up these classes it will give the club more options to provide a higher level of entertainment in the future.

Tonight the Stockcars were great, everything else was OK. It's bringing the support classes from "OK" to "really good" that will see Huntly attract higher ratings and ultimately more spectators.