Keys gives best shot – and it hurt

Ben Keys had one shot to secure the most significant placing in his brief stockcar career on Saturday – and what a shot it was.

When Nelson's Keys planted his right foot to the floor and lined up George Frear entering turn three at the Tahuna Beach Holiday Park Speedway, it was a gamble that would either make him a star or leave him seeing stars.

The ensuing collision shook the seats at the Richmond race track, Keys catching the rear left hand corner of Frear's Rees-Ford and drilling the Foxton car into the concrete. But it also left Keys fully committed and his head-on trajectory into the wall silenced the car and the crowd as he drifted infield to be treated by medical staff.

Keys' kamikaze crash provided a spectacular exclamation point to the Anchor Construction Stock Shock, a two-night, 36-car promotion that featured drivers from Manawatu, Wellington, Blenheim, Nelson, the West Coast, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Blenheim's Tim Alexander confirmed his position as the top stockcar pedaller in these parts with a total of 52 points for the overall victory, while Frear and Keys were tied on 49 points after three heats and needed the ill-fated runoff to decide second place.

After the meeting, there was debate over whether the runoff had been required as it was staged while heat three was still under protest but, by then, Frear was secure in second and Keys had managed to climb out of his car under his own steam to claim third.

Heats one and two were like the early rounds of a heavyweight boxing bout, the drivers circling each other, throwing the occasional jab but rarely connecting. Wellington's Kane Hargraves took the opener from clubmate Dean Bullock, with Alexander third, while the Blenheim driver comfortably claimed the second ahead of Hargraves and Keys.

With Hargraves a point ahead of Alexander entering the final heat, the battle lines were drawn somewhere through Cook Strait with the Wellington and Blenheim contingents banding together for one almighty teams race.

Mal Ayers struck the first blow for Wellington, standing on the brakes off the startline before Bullock aimed for Alexander and Christchurch's Nick Sidaway lined up Hargraves.

Ayers tagged Cantabrian Ivan McPhail before Hargraves delivered payback on Sidaway in turn two and then sorted out McPhail, who recovered to finish off the Wellingtonian with help from Blenheim's Sam Thompson.

Through the flying (car) body parts, Frear and Keys kept their heads and their right boots down to claim first and second, forcing the runoff for second overall. Alexander managed to finish fourth to be comfortably clear as the Stock Shock champion with Dunedin's Mark Taylor and Blenheim's Steve Biddulph rounding out the top five.

Nathan Heyburn was seventh overall in his first meeting representing Nelson, after riding the wall in heat one and scoring just seven points.

A non-qualifiers' field of 10 weren't about to accept second billing with the Tanks of Cliff Henderson and Brent Goulding putting the hurt on each other as Blenheim's Gavin Marshall sewed up a series win from Graeme Read (Christchurch) and Blenheim's Goulding. Former production saloon driver Reuban Staufer survived a pre-meeting headbutt with the wall to claim fourth on debut.

Collision classes dominated the programme with Blenheim blitzing Nelson's streetstock team and the highly-charged hormones of the teenaged drivers in the Lift and Shift Mainland Ministocks prompting plenty of push and shove.

The ministocks began a six-race series on Friday night with points being carried over to Saturday's meeting. Race wins for Dale McKenzie (two) and Jayden Corkhill saw McKenzie head off brother Ryan and Keightley Teece for novice driver honours, while Steve Soper took out the experienced grade from Troy Currie and Levi Collier.

Nelson didn't get a look-in during the streetstock teams race, Blenheim finishing 1-2-3-4, with Phil Harper and Christchurch's Simon Bland taking the open races.

The three-quarter midget class saw the emergence of a contender for Paul Russ' position as the main man in Nelson with Jason Riley turning in a great drive to reel in Russ in heat two and come away with the victory. Russ bookended that heat with wins in races one and three but Riley was quick and consistently harried the leader.

The final class to perform was the sidecars and they almost stole the show. The Brett Lusty Memorial Trophy brought out the best in the five teams to complete all four heats, New Zealand Grand Prix champions Nigel Payton and Mike De Gray having to settle for second behind the Dallas Kelman-Adie Drake combination.

The 97N Kelman-Drake Suzuki catapulted away from the start in heats one and two and protected their position for the full four laps as Payton-De Gray searched for a path past.

Heat three was won by Payton and De Gray but the fourth was claimed by Kelman and swinger Drake to give them 19 points, two clear of their chasers with Nathan Ching and Leighton Matheson well back in third.

Nelson's penultimate meeting of the summer will feature the South Island sidecar championships, the Elf Super Cup series for super saloons, a stockcar triples promotion and the Classic Hits ramp demolition derby on March 27.

- © Fairfax NZ News