The Meat Merchant NZ T.Q. Grand Prix proved a happy hunting ground for local driver Morgan Frost after a frustrating start at the Milestone Homes Top of the South Speedway.
Afternoon rain left the track saturated and it took several hours of wheel packing to bring the surface back to race condition.
There was plenty of bite in the track as racing got underway with three rounds of qualifying, before a last chance race before the 25-lap championship decider.
Six Nelson drivers made the final.
Alicia Hill, Kohen Thompson, Ben Stillborn and Morgan Frost all qualified directly to the final with Jonti Austin and Kynan Bezett making it through the last chance race.
Alicia and Morgan lined up on grids 7 and 8 respectively for the feature, which proved one of endurance.
Several incidents throughout the race, including a huge rollover from Ben Stillborn, kept the field tightly packed.
Six-time NZ Champion Jeremy Webb sat behind the lead car of Dylan Cooke, but on lap 21 his rear wheel detached leaving him parked on the infield. It moved Morgan up to 2nd spot on the restart, but the Kihikihi driver was dominating the race as the field battled for the minor placings.
Morgan was runner-up, holding off the hard-charging 2nz of Regan Tyler, former-2nz Kayden Barker and 3nz Peter Hunnibell as they crossed the finish line.
Alicia finished 6th, with Kohen 14th just in front of Jonti and Kynan was 17th.
Dylan won his first major SNZ title, Morgan emotional with his second placing as the hard work finally paid off. The majority of the drivers will now head to Greymouth to contest the South Island title.
The Stock cars stirred it up once again with Harlen Brunt having three wall rides on the night.
The Streetstocks weren’t to be outdone with several riding the pole line in block mode, much to the crowd’s delight.
Youth Ministocks and Quarter Midgets got a couple of races in as time got tight, with Meneka Rawson, Leilah Jefcoate, Darcy Rasmussen and Josh Lovell all recording wins.
Jack Rarity, Toby Walker and James Mackel won the blind triples in the Stock cars with debutant Shaun Heath joining William Sherlock and David Allen as Production Saloon winners.
Midgets made their first visit to Nelson this season, racing for the Leigh Marquet Memorial.
Local driver Nathan Wilkie held on to the win after a great battle with Christchurch’s Ben Morgan with Craig Cox third.
The Nelson track staff did an amazing job getting the Appleby circuit back to speed to race on the night. The next local meeting is War of the Wings on 15 Feb.
