The DC Equipment NZ Super Stock Championship concluded on a sunny Sunday afternoon with 100 of the best drivers in the country battling it out for national supremacy at Milestone Homes Top of the South Speedway in Appleby.
The weekend’s racing began with qualifying races on Friday night to find 25 of the 26 cars to contest the title on Saturday, with one more going though after a last-chance race to make the final group.
Three local drivers qualified – former NZ Champion Shane Harwood, Alex Hill and Brett Nicholls.
The drama started on the first lap and continued throughout the qualifying night. A couple of cars ended up on top of each other along the back straight with the speed of the racing electrifying.
The Championship night unfolded with a blockbuster final chance race. A regular visitor from Napier, James Buckrell, sneaked in on the final laps, and Palmerston North driver Scott Miers ended up on his side in the dying laps.
The first championship race got underway and open club champion, Tim Ross from Gisborne, was the big mover. So was Shane, while Brett and Alex struggled on a dry track.
The rain came in as they were gridding up for their second heat and the rest of the meeting was put off until Sunday afternoon.
It was another solid race for Shane as racing commenced on Sunday. Brett helped his club mate out by stopping a block car trying to slow Shane, while Alex ended up parked on the grass with a broken gearbox. Three-time current champion 1nz Asher Rees was a target early in the race. He was caught sideways near the wall and the car ended up upside-down on a momentum roll. James couldn’t avoid the car and ended up putting it back on its wheels leaving the car too damaged to continue.
The race was full of huge hits as the Gisborne cars were pitted against the rest of the field. It was a battlefield from top to tail.
Brett and Alex did their best to support Shane as he made his way up from the rear of the field. With 11 cars failing to finish the race, this aided his chances as the hits kept coming.
The race winner, Ethan Levien, did enough to tie with points leader Todd Hemmingway from Tauranga, ensuring a run-off was needed to decide the NZ Championship. Shane kept out of trouble to secure the 3nz spot, to return to the podium after winning the title in 2016. His retirement a couple of years ago was short-lived, to help the club secure hosting rights, and his third placing was great reward for his continued support of the club.
The run-off between the two former NZ Youth Ministock teammates ended with Todd grabbing the lead from Ethan on lap two to win the four lap dash.
Todd is the first driver in 50 years to claim the title for the Tauranga Club and Ethan will defend the 2nz at his home track in Wellington next year. The club did a sterling job hosting the championship over what turned out to be a very busy and challenging three day weekend. weather-wise.
