American drivers dominated the New Zealand Sprintcar Championship raced over two nights at Ruapuna Speedway when they filled the top three placing. Open wheel super star Sammy Swindell lifted the title on Saturday night from defending title holder, Jonathan Allard with Austen Wheatley rounding out the podium to claim third place after passing Auckland’s Dean Brindle on the final lap of the 25 lap final. Both nights producing some of the best ever sprintcar racing seen in Christchurch, with the seventeen races producing twelve different race winners.

The Ruapuna stadium attracted its biggest for many a year on Saturday evening as the final series of heats were raced to find the top drivers that would contest the A Final for the New Zealand title with Swindell, three time World of Outlaws champion finishing as top qualifier after Allard, who was the leading qualifier after Friday’s racing, failed to finish his fifth and final heat after rolling on the Prison bend when attempting an outside pass on local Jamie Duff, the current South Island titleholder, for the race lead.

This meant Swindell started on the front row for the final alongside Brindle with Allard on the second row with Auckland Ryan O’Conner in  18 car final. Swindell who has be racing for over thirty years took the lead on the drop of the green flag from Brindle and Allard but the race was stopped in the second lap when seven cars running in the middle of the pack were involved a crash which saw wrecked cars strewn down the front straight going into turn one will none of the drivers, including title contenders, Duff along with Palmerston North’s Ian Easton and Skinny Colson.

On the restart Swindell, a native of Tennessee quickly opened up a handy lead over Brindle and Allard with Wheatley moving into fourth place when the 20 year old passed O’Conner on the third lap. On lap ten Allard got by Brindle and set out closing down the 80 metre lead that Swindell had built up, with the leading driving also having to contend with lap traffic.

Between laps eleven and fifteen Allard closed right up on Swindell’s but could not mount a passing move as the car ran bumper to bumper. Over the closing laps Allard’s car ‘tighten up’ which allowed Swindell to again open up a lead to take the chequered flag by a good margin with all the drama on the last lap seeing Bridle suffering cars problems which allowed Wheatley by with Brindle ending up not finishing the race.

O’Conner, who is a team mate of Swindell’s make it a good meeting to Slater Racing when claiming fourth spot from former title holder, Rodney Woods (Tauranga) with locals Ray Baughan and Karen Forsey finishing in sixth and seventh places respectively. Australian driver, Allan Woods, rolled his car heavily in hot laps on Friday evening and rebuilt his car overnight but was ruled out of racing on Saturday having swapped a chassis which is not permitted under Speedway New Zealand rules.

Race Results. (Competitors from Christchurch Unless Stated)

Redpaths New Zealand Sprintcar Championships

Ht 1. Jonathan Allard (USA) 1, Dean Brindle (Auck) 2, Rodney Wood (Tauranga) 3, Bradley Tyrell (Tauranga) 4, Matt Honeywell 5, Jason Scott (Cromwell) 6.

Ht 2. Sammy Swindell (USA) 1, Ryan O’Connor(Auck) 2, Carl Wilson(Auck) 3, Ray Baughan 4, Barry Martinez (USA) 5, Nelson Hartley (P North) 6.

Ht 3. Jamie McDonald (Auck) 1, Jamie Duff 2, Skinny Colson((Tauranga) 3, Jamie Larson(P North) 4, Austen Wheatley (USA) 5, Ian Easton (P North) 6.

Ht 4.  R Wood 1, Martinez 2, Allard 3, Baughan 4, Scott 5,  Honeywell 6.

Ht 5.  Swindell 1, Wilson 2, Paul Donovan (P North) 3, Hartley 4, Duff 4, Karen Forsey 6.

Ht 6. Wheatley 1, Tyrell 2, Easton 3, Brindle 4, Bryan Menefy (P North) 5, Greg Teece (Nelson) 6.

Ht 7. Allard 1, Hartley 2, Donovan 3, Scott 4, Swindell 5, Honeywell 6.

Ht 8. Larson 1, Brindle 2, Forsey 3, Colson 4, Teece 5.

Ht 9. Easton 1, O’Conner 2, Baughan 3, Wheatley 4, Menefy 5, McDonald 6.

Ht 10. Donovan 1, Brindle 2, Swindell 3, Wilson 4, Teece 5, Hartley 6.

Ht 11. Kyle Shearing (Inv.) O’Conner 2, Duff 3, Forsey 4, Larson 5, Colson 6.

Ht 12. Allard 1, Honeywell 2, McDonald 3, Wheatley 4, Wood 5, Easton 6.

Ht 13.O’Conner 1, Brindle 2, Martinez 3, Baughan 4, Tyrell 5, Shearing 6.

Ht 14. Swindell 1, McDonald 2, Wheatley 3, Easton 4, Hartley 5, Wilson 6.

Ht 15. Colson 1, Wood 2, Duff 3, Larson 4, Scott 5, Forsey 6.

Qualiflying Points. Swindell 44, Brindle 43, O'Connor 41, Allard 38, Wheatley 38, Wood 36, Easton 35, Colson 34, Ray Baughan 34, Larsen 33, Donovan 33, Wilson 33, Hartley 32, McDonald 32, Duff 31, Honeywell 29, Forsey 29, Scott 28, Martinez 27, Tyrell 26, Teece 25, Shearing 24, Menefy 21, Steve Mora 13, Daniel Anderson (Cromwell) 10, Allan Woods (Aust) 0

B Main. Scott 1. Forsey 2, Tyrell 3, Shearing 4, Teece 5, Menefy 6.

A Main Final. Swindell 1, Allard 2, Wheatley 3, O’Conner 4, Wood 4, Baughan 6, Forsey 7, Donovan 8.

Electric, breathtaking and pulsating summed up the opening nights action of the Redpaths New Zealand Sprintcar championship at Ruapuna Speedway on Friday evening. Twenty six cars are contesting the title race with the racing in the first nine heats some of the best every seen in Christchurch.

Defending champion, American Jonathan Allard showed that he is looking for back to back titles when head the points table with 28 points out of a possible 30 from two wins and third placing. His second win saw him out pace USA superstar Sammy Swindell, who had won his first to heat, with Swindell a distant fifth, all Allard also smashing the 10 lap race record when winning the opening heat.

Overall there were seven different heat winners on the night to show how close the title race will be. Local hopeful Jamie Duff was in the wrong place in heat 8 when Bradley Tyrell spun on the town bend with Duff left with on room causing his car to roll.

Aussie Allan Woods rolled his car during the hot-laps causing heavy damage and took no part in the heats but heading away to rebuild his car with a new chassis.  

Race Results. (Competitors from Christchurch Unless Stated)

Sprintcars

Ht 1. Jonathan Allard (USA) 1, Dean Brindle (Auck) 2, Rodney Wood (Tauranga) 3, Bradley Tyrell (Tauranga) 4, Matt Honeywell 5, Jason Scott (Cromwell) 6.

Ht 2. Sammy Swindell (USA) 1, Ryan O’Connor(Auck) 2, Carl Wilson(Auck) 3, Ray Baughan 4, Barry Martinez (USA) 5, Nelson Hartley (P North) 6.

Ht 3. Jamie McDonald (Auck) 1, Jamie Duff 2, Skinny Colson((Tauranga) 3, Jamie Larson(P North) 4, Austen Wheatley (USA) 5, Ian Easton (P North) 6.

Ht 4.  R Wood 1, Martinez 2, Allard 3, Baughan 4, Scott 5,  Honeywell 6.

Ht 5.  Swindell 1, Wilson 2, Paul Donovan (P North) 3, Hartley 4, Duff 4, Karen Forsey 6.

Ht 6. Wheatley 1, Tyrell 2, Easton 3, Brindle 4, Bryan Menefy (P North) 5, Greg Teece (Nelson) 6.

Ht 7. Allard 1, Hartley 2, Donovan 3, Scott 4, Swindell 5, Honeywell 6.

Ht 8. Larson 1, Brindle 2, Forsey 3, Colson 4, Teece 5.

Ht 9. Easton 1, O’Conner 2, Baughan 3, Wheatley 4, Menefy 5, McDonald 6.

Speedway fans were treated to a great nights racing in the opening round of the Triple Crown Midget cars series at Holland Collision Centre Ruapuna Speedway on Friday evening when American superstar, Jerry Coons Junior went toe to toe with New Zealand ace Michael Pickens in the 35 lap Feature. After a great battle between these two for the duration of the race which Coons won, holding out the current New Zealand champion by less that a second. Auckland drivers Shane O'Conner and Scott Buckley finished in third and fourth place respectively.

Coons showed his world class standing when he shattered the 10 lap record by over three seconds when he won the opening heat
from local David Kerr and Huntly's Alvin Cobb. Coons had to settle for third place in his next heat behind Pickens, who had won his opening heat, and Nelson's Nevil Basalaj. Basalaj held the lead until lap five when Pickens made an outside pass with Coons losing ground after spinning his car on the same turn but skillfully managed to keep the car running without losing a place. 

Other heat winners were Kerr and Stratford Duane Hickman with Phillippa Melrose impressing on her first meeting back, to just miss out on the top 10 pole shuffle and then take out the Semi Main. 
 
In the Pole Shuffle O'Conner moved up five grid spots before losing out to Kerr who was then defeated by Coons who claimed the grid choice on the front row of the Feature with a breathtaking outside passing movement on Pickens on the Town bend.
 
Pickens got the jump on his rival to lead the Feature into the first turn from Coons, Kerr and Hickman. The leading two cars were locked together for the next six laps with the yellows coming on when Cobb spun. Coons tried the outside pass on the restart but Pickens saw off the
challenge with the top two then slowly pulling away from the chasing pack with a great developing between Kerr, Basalaj, O'Conner and Buckley for the third place. 
 
The lead changed on lap sixteen when Pickens was baulked by a slower car in lapped traffic and Coons dived to the inside coming out of the Town bend to hit fresh air. A tangle on the Prison bend three laps later saw the race under caution again. On the restart Coons and Pickens
raced side by side for several laps with Coons just managing to hold the Kiwi at bay before opening a small lead. Pickens mounted one final challenge over the closing five laps closing right up on bumper of the American but could not find a passing line. The third place swapped six
times before O'Conner re-passed Buckley with ten laps remaining with O'Conner holding on the podium shot by less than half a second at the chequered flag. 
 
Lance Begbie and Jeremy Webb were the pick of the TQ drivers with Begbie winning the first two races with Webb winning the final two races, however Begbie's night came to an abrupt he when he rolled his car heavily in the feature. The veteran racer emerged from his badly damaged car unscathed. In the Modified class Luke Keegan starred with a win and two seconds with a relegation costing him a Feature win. Clint Warwood and Paul Auton were unbeaten on their sidecar with three different winners in the Streetstock class.