8 AND 9 MARCH

Friday 8 March
The action was hot on the first night of the CJ Phillips Construction Sprintcar Summer Slam at Mag and Turbo Ruapuna Speedway on Friday evening, which featured the 25 lap Salute to Goodie plus Round 9 of the $60,000 War of the Wings Series. Australian Shaun Dobson took out the 25 Lap Salute to Goodie showing why he is recognised as one of the raising stars when holding out more powerful cars over the closing laps to win the highly sought after race. Jamie McDonald was second from Jamie Larsen both from Auckland, with Nelsons Kris Gerald fourth from Cromwells Jason Scott, the defending title holder, with Greg Clemence the first local home in sixth place. Tasmanian Dobson, who was runner-up in the Australian title last season, led from the opening lap with all the action coming behind in the 18 car field. Two of the favoured drivers, McDonald and local Jamie Duff had to work from the back of the field with Sydney-sider Allan Woods. The race went under yellow first the time when former Black Cap, Nathan Astle, clipped the fence on the Prison bend, forcing him to retire. Dobson maintained his lead from Chapman and Ray Baughan with the latter bringing on the yellows when he spun out on lap ten, which saw Larsen moved into third from McDonald, Woods and Duff, then slowing dropping back through the field two laps later. On lap 15 Duff and Woods race ended when they tangled on the Town Bend with both Daniel Anderson and Allan Chapman then crashing their cars heavily into the Duff and Woods machines. When the race resumed Dobson quickly opened a nearly two second lead, McDonald then closing in on Larsen for second spot with McDonald finally making a pass stick in the Town Bend with four laps to run, with the former New Zealand champion then closing the gap on Dobson but to no avail. Earlier in the meeting Baughan maintained his lead in the General Tyres WOW Series when claiming a win in one of his three heats while Scott closed the gap to Baughan to 60 points with one round remaining with Scott claiming a win in the final as well as a third and fourth placing. Nelsons Greg Teece moved into third place overall after Matt Honeywell suffered from car problems. Duff also had a horror night in heat racing leading all his races but forced to retire in all three due to mechanical issues. Ben Gilmore had a busy but successful evening racing in the TQ and Modified Sprint classes. In the TQ races he set a new 8 lap record when winning his opening heat before finishing behind

Jeremy Webb in the next ad then backing up with a win in the Feature. In the Modified Sprint he picked up a second and two thirds with Darryl and Kieran Harris each winning a heat race and Tom Lumsden claiming the Feature. Dave Kerr was unbeaten in the Midget racing with Nick Donaldson claiming three seconds. A packed field of Six Shooters provided close racing with Sam OCallaghan winning a heat and the Feature and Daryl Wright claiming the other heat win. Race Results Sprintcars War of the Wings Round 9 Ht 1. Allan Woods (Aust) 1, Brett Sullivan (Cromwell) 2, Kris Gerard (Nelson) 3. Ht 2. Ray Baughan 1, Caleb Brooks 2, Greg Clemence 3. Ht 3. Jamie Larsen (Auck) 1, Gerard 2, Allan Chapman 3. Ht 4. Shaun Dobson (Aust) 1, Nathan Astle 2, Greg Teece (Nelson) 3. Ht 5. Larsen 1, Daniel Anderson (Cromwell) 2, Dobson 3. Ht 6. Jason Scott (Cromwell) 1, Jamie McDonald 2, Teece 3. Series Points: Baughan 800, Scott 740, Teece 690, Matt Honeywell 630, Andy Erskine 615, Gerard 555, Nathan Astle 500, Chapman 435, Mark Evans 430, Sullivan 370, Anderson 370, Clemence 355, Brooks 275, Cory Price 195 Jamie Duff 180, Scott Gordon 175, Nigel Colvin 140, Kyle Shearing 115, Ross McKinnel 115, Nigel Molloy 95, Lindsay Gilbert 90, Aaron Cleveland 85, Nigel Crosbie 65, Robbie Brown 55, Bryan Menefy 45, Brent Gaudion 40 , Phill Collinson 25, Gareth Thomas 15, Russell Jack 10, Anthony Dawson 5 Salute To Goodie Feature. Dobson 1, McDonald 2, Larsen 3, Gerard 4, Scott 5, Clemence 6. Midgets Ht 1. Dave Kerr 1, Nick Donaldson 2, Gavin Wilkie (Dunedin) 3. Ht 2. Kerr 1, Donaldson 2, Scott Millar 3. Feature. Kerr 1, Donaldson 2, Millar 3. Three Quarter Midgets Ht 1. Ben Gilmore 1, Scott Bailey 2, Kate Warren 3. Ht 2. Jeremy Webb 1, Gilmore 2, Blair Warren 3. Feature. Gilmore 1, Webb 2, Glover 3. Modified Sprints Ht 1. Darryl Harris 1, Tom Lumdsen 2, Ben Gilmore 3. Ht 2. Kieran Harris 1, Gilmore 2, Lumsden 3. Feature. Lumsden 1, K Harris 2, Gilmore 3. Six Shooters Ht 1. Sam OCallaghan (Cromwell) 1, Ben Smit 2, Glenn Stevens 3. Ht 2. Daryl Wright 1, OCallaghan 2, Todd Hay (Cromwell) 3. Feature. OCallagan 1, Wright 2, Peter Keefe 3.

 Midgets Ht 1. Jayden Bradley (Nelson ) 1, Hunter Rowland 2, Montana Jamieson 3. Ht 2. Jamieson 1, Jack Low 2, Liam McCoubrey 3. Final. Low 1, Jay Basalaj (Nelson) 2, McCoubrey 3.

Saturday 9 March
Local Jamie Duff became the first driver to successfully defend the Sprintcar Gold Cup when he dominated the 25 lap Feature at Mag and Turbo Ruapuna Speedway on Saturday evening, with the meeting the second in the CJ Phillips Construction Sprintcar Summer Slam and the final of the 2021-13 season. After failing to finish a race the previous night, Duff showed that he was out to retain the cup when charging from near the back of the field to finish in fourth place in the opening heat behinds Australian, Allan Woods and locals Allan Chapman and Greg Clemence. Duff then led from start to finish to win his other heat winning the race by nearly half a lap from winner of the Salute to Goodie, young Aussie hot shot - Shaun Dobson, with Nelson Greg Teece in third place from Aucklands Jamie McDonald, with Duff setting the fastest time of the meeting at 13.16 seconds. McDonald then joined Duff on the front row for the Feature when winning the final heat from Arrowtowns Jason Scott and local Ray Baughan. McDonald, who was out to win the Gold Cup for the first time, charged to the lead in the Feature from Duff with Baughan in third place. Duff seemed content to stay in second place for the opening six laps and then closed in on the former New Zealand champion with the two racing side by side for two laps before Duff took the lead coming of the Prison bend on lap 10. From this point Duff was always in control of the race and was untroubled to weave his way through the lap traffic, interest then settling on the minor placings with Woods and Jamie Larsen (Auckland) challenging Baughan for third place. McDonald had a scare of the closing laps as his car started to produce oil smoke over the closing laps but it held together until the chequered flag, finishing second behind Duff with Baughan holding out the fast finishing Larsen to maintain third place. Duff who has based most of his racing in the North Island will contest the North Island championship before heading off to the US to crew for American Jonathon Allard. Nick Donaldson was unbeaten in the Canterbury Midget champs winning all three heats and established a new 8 lap record of 2:01.06 seconds when winning the opening heat. Nelsons Nick Marquet was second overall with Glenn Everett in third place. Ben Gilmore continued his recent dominance in the TQ class, winning a heat and the Feature. Darryl Harris and Tom Lumsden each took out heat wins in the Modified Sprint class with Kieran Harris winning the Feature.

Daryl Wright was the pick of the Six Shooter drivers with two wins. Jay Basalaj was the pick of the Quarter Midget class. The meeting brought an end to 40 years service by St John Officer at the track, Shirley Tavendale who was made a special presentation. Race Results Sprintcar Gold Cup Ht 1. Woods 1, Chapman 2, Clemence 3, Duff 4, Mora 5, Anderson 6. Ht 2. Duff 1, Dobson 2, Teece, McDonald 4, Colvin 5, Astle 6, Ht 3. McDonald 1, Scott 2, Baughan 3, Sullivan 4, Larsen 5, Anderson 6. Qualifying Points: Duff 27, McDonald 27, Baughan 22, Teece 21, Chapman 21, Anderson 20, Woods 20, Scott 19, Clemence 19, Gerald 18, Astle 17, Mora 17, Colvin 15, Dobson 14, Sullivan 12, Gordon 11, Larsen 11, Crosbie 9, Brooks 8, Thomas 5, Erskine 4, Low 0 Feature. Duff 1, McDonald 2, Baughan 3, Larsen 4, Woods 5, Scott 6, Astle 7, Teece 8, Andderson 9, Brooks 10. Midgets Canterbury Championship Ht 1. Donaldson 1, Nevil Basalaj (Nelson) 2, Glenn Everett 3. Ht 2. Donaldson 1, Nick Marquet (Nelson) 2, Millar 3. Feature. Donaldson 1, Marquet 2, Millar 3. Points: Donalson 18, Marquet 13, Everett 10, Millar 9, Basalaj 8, Barclay 4. Three Quarter Midgets Ht 1. Glen Milroy 1, Matt Leversedge 2, Warren 3. Ht 2. Gilmore 1, B Warren 2, Kate Warren 3. Feature. Gilmore 1, Webb 2, Kyle Glover 3. Modified Sprints Ht 1. D Harris 1, Lumsden 2, K Harris 3. Ht 2. Lumsden 1, D Harris 2, Nigel Jackson 3. Feature. K Harris 1, D Harris 2, Lumsden 3. Six Shooters Ht 1. Wright 1, OCallaghan 2, Shaun Ashton 3. Ht 2. OCallaghan 1, Matt Doncliff 2, Jayden Fitzgibbon 3. Feature. Wright 1, Kevin Clive 2, Ashton 3. Midgets Ht 1. Basalaj 1, Bradley 2, Low 3. Ht 2. Basalaj 1, Jamieson 2, McCoubrey3. Final. Jamieson 1, Brad Shearman 2, Low 3.