Stock Shock treatment

The only shocking aspect of last night's qualifying races for Nelson speedway's Stock Shock were the names that weren't on the finals list by 11pm.

Andrew Quy? Not this season, sorry. Gavin Marshall? Nil points. Matt Inwood? Didn't even get to turn a wheel in anger.

Instead the Anchor Construction Stock Shock finals at the Tahuna Beach Holiday Park Speedway tonight will feature three cars from neighbouring clubs all carrying the number 11, five northern invaders and six from the home track, with a couple of rookies thrown in for good measure.

A 36-car field was reduced to 35 for round one when the meeting's hard luck driver, Graeme Read from Christchurch, was delayed by a flat tyre on his transporter. Read made the track for heats two and three but the failure to get on the grid for round one ruled out any realistic chance of qualifying.

The entry list was split into four groups of nine with A group taking on B, then C versus D and so on, until everyone had faced everyone else to find tonight's 20 finalists.

Many drivers seemed to be keeping everything in reserve for tonight, driving to survive the heats.

Blenheim's Brent Goulding was one who stepped outside the comfort zone, though. After being spun by Nelson's Adam Hall in round one, Goulding threw the clutch in to stop his Tank's engine from stalling and it rolled back into the path of the rapidly moving Nathan Heyburn.

"It wasn't an intentional back-up," Goulding said. "The car rolled backwards and I saw the 51 car coming and thought `this is going to hurt'."

As it happened, Heyburn, who is Wellington-based but registered with Nelson, came off second best, clipping the corner of the Tank and rolling in turn four.

Goulding's next act was to be brushed into the wall by Wellington's Hamish Freeman, only to repay the deed 10-fold two corners later, slamming the capital car into the concrete so hard it wasn't sighted again all evening.

Neither driver made the final qualifying list but hope to return for cash races tonight.

Among those to keep their car's bumpers clean and move safely into the finals were Blenheim's Tim Alexander, who totalled 52 points from B group, the low-key George Frear (Palmerston North), Wellington's Dean Bullock and Cantabrian Owen McFall. Each managed one win, with the others going to Nelson's Heyburn and a flying Ben Keys.

Other Nelson drivers to make the cut were Andrew Murphy and Caleb Russ, along with stockcar newcomers Alistair Greig and Trevor Lineham. Quy was a point shy after a wire fell off the starter in round one, killing the power from his Holden V6.

The meeting also featured part one of the Lift and Shift Mainland Ministock promotion, 26 cars going at it for points which will carry over to tonight's meeting, and a triples event for production saloons.

While Heyburn had the only stockcar to flash its undercarriage to the crowd, the youth ministocks and production saloons managed a spectacular roll apiece.

Greymouth ministock visitor Bryden Stewart was on the pointy end of a pile-driving collision into the turn two wall with clubmate Brogan Jackson and ended up on his lid, while production saloon driver Kirsty Russ had earlier found herself four wide on a piece of track that only accommodates three, with her Mitsubishi being squeezed up the wall and onto its side.

Her inversion didn't help her triples team, which had to bow to the consistent combination of Isaac Russ, Mike Arnold and Steve Watson.

Race winners in the productions were Trevor Wilkinson (one) and Scott James, who picked up a hat-trick and is regularly the quickest and cleanest competitor in the class.

Standing out among the teens in the ministock field were Dale McKenzie and Steve Soper. Troy Currie got his season back on track with a win in heat three.

Wanganui's Kyle Heibner is on a mission to race at as many venues as he can before his 17th birthday means he is no longer eligible for the youth ranks and he placed consistently well as he mastered the quirks of the Appleby track.

Last night's support classes, sidecars and streetstocks, will share centre-circuit with the Stock Shock tonight.

The sidecars will compete for the Brett Lusty Memorial Trophy, with little between the favoured pairings of Nigel Payton and swinger Mike De Gray and Dallas Kelman with Adie Drake on the chair. Both teams won twice with the Nathan Ching-Brad Kirk bike hunting close behind.

Former national streetstock champion Simon Bland, who helmed the Gordon Ingham Falcon last night, doesn't get to compete in the Nelson-Blenheim teams race but he'd still be favoured to win it as a one-man gang, such was the Christchurch driver's dominance in the class. Best of the chasers were Phil Harper, Pete Arnesen and Nathan Thomas.

Nelson's Ian Burson won an accident-marred New Zealand super saloon grand prix at Dunedin's Island Park Speedway last night. The final was marred by a 12-car pileup on the opening lap with five cars failing to make the restart.

Anchor Construction Stock Shock finals, from 7 tonight, Tahuna Beach Holiday Park Speedway, Lansdowne rd, Richmond.

- © Fairfax NZ News