Baypark Busters make history

Huntly Speedway commentator and journalism student Gabriel Bowen, reports the latest from Huntly Speedway

Whoever said “three teams ain’t gonna be exciting” must be picking themselves up off the floor this morning and taking a good, hard look in the mirror after last night’s Pollock Cranes Superstock Teams Invitational at Huntly Speedway, with the Baypark Busters taking honours and becoming the first ever 2-time champions.

Auckland All-Stars, Stratford Scrappers and the Baypark Busters were the only teams to make their way to the annual event put on by the Huntly club for the last 5 years, but man did they put on a show for the Waikato crowd.

The initial idea for the event was to give teams a chance to iron things out early in the season and as well give young upcoming drivers a taste of what superstock teams racing is all about, before making their way to the big event in Palmerston North later in the season.

The format was set with all 3 teams racing each other, with the top 2 on points making it through to the 15 lap final at the end of night.

Race 1 – Auckland All Stars vs Stratford Scrappers

Auckland’s Codi Chatfield got off to a perfect start, he sliced and diced his way to pick up his team a first up win. Although, it wasn’t all good for the Auckland based side, 95a Gary Lonergan was put up the wall and suffered big damage which would mean his car wasn’t able to make the next race up. 

A valiant effort was put in by the Stratford side and a smart decision late in the race once they knew they weren’t going to win, with cars finishing over the line 2nd, 3rd and 4th to give them a decent points haul.

Final result – Auckland 110, Stratford 85. Top 5 cars were 74a, 89s, 87s, 28s and 16a

Race 2 – Auckland All Stars vs Baypark Busters

Before the event this race was hyped up to be the eventual final, and what seemed strange by some at the time, actually worked out to be a masterstroke by the Baypark Busters. They sat out experienced races Stefan Roigard and the 1nz Todd Hemingway and let the rest of the team try to take out the team from Auckland. For some parts it did work, with lead changes and big hits happening throughout the tight contest, however a couple of big blocks from Auckland drivers helped debutant Tyler Ingram pick up the win and secure his team into the final. Buster Dylan Towler did finish the race in 4th but was excluded from the results after being deemed to seek sanctuary during the race.

Final result – Auckland All Stars 120, Baypark Busters 65. Top 4 cars were: 16a, 77m, 777m, 96a

Race 3 – Baypark Busters vs Stratford Scrappers 

After sitting out two of their top names in heat one, the big boys came out to play as a win was needed for the Baypark team, otherwise an early beverage was on the cards. That experience and class showed in this one with Busters runners Alderdice assisted with Hemingway swapping leads throughout the tight race. Hemingway would eventually use Alderdice to put a hit on one Scrapper to help him ease past and pick up the victory after a hard chase from Stratford’s Blair Uhlenberg which was to no avail.

Final results – Baypark Busters 120, Stratford Scrappers 75. Top 5 cars were: 1nzm, 28s, 87s, 5m, 84s

Total points after 2 races each:

Auckland All Stars – 230, Baypark Busters – 185, Stratford Scrappers – 160

Final – Auckland All Stars vs Baypark Busters

Drama would start before the race with Auckland barely able to make 4 cars for the final. 96a Jamie Ferguson and 95a Gary Lonergan had sustained damage and even needed a short break to try and get the cars sorted. Lonergan’s was able to get somewhat fixed most to make up the numbers. Busters again rested 777m Dan Pollock and 96m Dylan Towler for the 15 lap winner take all race.

The race started out well and never looked in doubt after the Busters runners Alderdice and Hemingway raced in tandem and sneaked through multiple attacks from Auckland cars who were either getting blocked or just too damaged to make a difference. Hemingway would eventually get to the lead and like a lot of his racing this year wasn’t touched. Birthday boy Craig Chatfield tried his best with a big hit on Alderdice late in the race but also stopped his chances at catching up to Hemingway.

Hemingway would eventually win the race by 4 laps and help the Busters be the first ever team to win the event for the second time.

Top 5 cars in the final: 1nzm, 741a, 77m, 58m and 16a

The next meeting for Huntly Speedway is on the 6th of December is the Outback 4×4 Showdown as well as the popular Turf Wars.

Racing starts at 6pm with gates opening at 4pm. For more information head to the Huntly Speedway website here.