EMAIL: thepits@xtra.co.nz

Check out the new Sprint Car web site by clicking here.. Updated: 1/10/10

1/10/10 Uploaded... as promised the first of a huge video upload this week. Cliff Henderson's interview is the first. I must apologise now for the sound, I have traced it back to a problem with my camera which has been rectified. Click Here to watch this

Part 2 now uploaded on the Cliff Henderson update.

Also, an update on the Sprint Car web site where we interview Grant Lightfoot in the 17t Sprint Car.. check it out by clicking here

Added: Murray Greig let me have a quick look around his workshop .. Check it out by clicking here

31/08/10 Its coming .. one big mother of an update. Interviews completed as of today are... Joel Kergozou, Cliff Henderson a Saloon update from Barry Redpath regarding the Saloons down this part of the country and a chat with the pilot of 29c Murray Greig. Grant Lightfoot rounds off the list of people. Its been a while, but its worth the wait. For now.. Check out the news on the opposite side of the page. Please excuse the lack of updates to the site, but there has been a wee few issues to get through before I could get the time to get it sorted. This however, hasn't stopped me from getting out and about getting some interviews done for the site. Check back over the next few days as we start uploading the updates.

9/08/10 A bit of a up and down this update, with the latest video update uploaded today. If you are wondering what's happening to the Riverside track, then this is the update for you. Moe information on the track is to follow.

Nothing more from the 2 other tracks in the southern region, with the only real noise coming out of Cromwell with the pending NZ Streetstock G.P. We will be following up this story this week.

A teaser for the Joel Kergozou story can be found on the opposite page. Have a wee look at this. Its not far away

23/7/10 Quick news update added Click Here

20/7/10 Here goes with a huge amount of updates to go up over the next couple of days. First up we upload the Barry Redpath interview that was filmed a couple weeks ago. This is broken down into 2 different parts in fitting with the 10min per video policy with you tube. Both parts are ready to be viewed. We then head into a update about what's happening with the Saloons down this part of the country as well which might add a bit of an insight into the local lads and what they are up to.

The Kergozou video is nearing completion ... watch this space!!!

And we will be heading to Cliff Henderson's very soon with a video update from him.

Click Here to view latest stories....

29/6/10 first things first. Check this out

Cliff Henderson has been in touch with us and has agreed to do a video interview for The Pits web site. We are hoping to complete this by the weekend.

The Sprint Car web site will also gets its first profile done by Chris Burns. this will find its way to the web site this week.

19/6/10 Huge update for The Pits this time round, with the news update kicking off the first of 3 videos to be uploaded. We follow that with the results of the Island Park end of season Prize Giving, which actually happened, and then head back to Riverside for an interview with the 1NZ Streetstock driver by the name of Geoff Loan. Hope you enjoy. Some news has been posted on the news section on the opposite side of this page. Click here for the latest update.

4/6/10 Quick update to upload the video in regards to Riverside Speedways annual Prize Giving. Look out later in the weekend for the interview with the 1NZ driver of Geoff Loan

Coming up:

Cliff Henderson on Tanks:

Sprint Car web site video update:

Interview with some of the drivers who are racing in Kaikoura this weekend.

And the much awaited Kergozou update.....

Stay Tuned

Click here to see the latest video

1/6/10 The first update via video has had some pretty good feedback. It has reduced the amount of time it takes to do updates by half, which frees up time to go hunt down some info for the updates. But it needs your help to work. If you have any news, or want to be interviewed for the site, then please email me. the pits@xtra.co.nz . I promise the updates will get more better and professional as time goes by,

But here it goes with the second update, and a proper news update as well... enjoy it by clicking here

24/5/10 So here it is ... The first ever video update on the web site. The first ever is a little amateurish, but we will be developing these as time goes by, with a purpose built room being set up to do the updates. Look out for the first ever news update that will be uploaded in the next day or 2 which covers Riversides last meeting and prize giving.

Feedback and news is essential for this to work ... If you have any news, or updates on you or your car, then please email me.

Click here for Video Update

13/5/10 Never fear. The update is coming and its a beauty. But gone are the days of typing, we are going video. Included in the update is the Last meeting of Riverside's calendar (if you could call it that) and also a few news items that have come through. Check back after Riversides Prize giving.

13/4/10 This weeks update will take us to Island Park Speedway for the last meeting of the 09/10 season. Good fields, good racing, but still no good crowd.. here's what I had to say about this... click here

There has been a new video uploaded to the Vids section. It doesn't involve any of the Southern tracks, but was asked to out the video up for a Christchurch driver that hadn't seen this smash. Check it out by clicking here Also uploaded the first of many on vehicle cams. Check this out with the first being on bike footage from Oreti Park.

7/4/10 Here we go with another update within a few hours. This one is to add new video to the video section of Ray Stewart taking his new car for its first ever run... Have a look and see how well Ray did....click here

6/4/10 Update 2 Wow, its been a long time since there has been 2 updates in one day, but here goes the update featuring the meeting in Cromwell for Easter. Check it out by clicking here

6/4/10 The Pits is about to change!!! That's right, I have been working away breaking The Pits down into 3 different sections. Very shortly you will come to a new Index page that will, at this stage, have 3 sites you can go into. 1: Steve's Auto's The Pits Web Site, which will be offering generalized meeting reviews and the latest news. 2: The very fast growing Winton Flooring Xtra Triple S racing web site, which has all the latest info on the Sprint Cars around the whole of the South Island, and the new addition is the Cleanways Southern Streetstock Web Site. That's right, we have added a streetie web site to the mix. I am hoping that if anyone has any news that they contact me on the  email address above. The more the better.

I had taken down the Double Trouble logo which was a little outdated and have now added the more up to date logo to the site. My apologise to the Campbell Boys for taking a little longer than I had hoped to get this done.

The latest update on the Sprint Car site is huge and features the video from the meetings main race and a couple of extras. check out the site by clicking the link above.

2/4/10 A load of work to do on the web site, and its seems the work is never over for it. Battle of the Stocks update, along with Island Parks last meeting and of course (Read Here), the Sprint Car web site is a little overdue for an update. Add to that the final touches that are needed to the Cleanways web site. Add to that that horrible thing called work, plus training for a fight.. well its safe to say that I have a fair bit on my plate. The upside is that it hasn't stopped me from attending any speedway meets. So head over to the Latest Stories section and enjoy the latest update from The Pits.

Submitted Stories has been added to on this update. This is what Kayla Whaley had to say about her recent win in the Otago Ministock Champs. Congrats to you Kayla on a job well done... read here

What happened to the Kergozou update? After reading it for a second time, I had put down the bottom that this was only part 1 of a 2 part update. The update that was uploaded was written 2 years ago, and didn't really reflect what the situation's now. Plain and simple... it painted a couple of Boultons as a couple of bad asses. The second part pretty much cancelled this out, but I should of really posted both at the same time. As I have spent the last 2 years trying to turn this site into a reputable site, this story added a little doubt to that. So, I am finishing off the second part as we speak and will post both parts at once. My apologise to Matt and Ricky if they felt a little hard done by.

Furthermore, I have all but completed the Cliff Henderson tank story, and will be catching up with Cliff over the next day or 2 to get some finishing touches. Check back for this one.

24/3/10 Back from the Glen after a good weekend away with great memories of some awesome racing. This update will touch on the Battle of the Stocks, which is normally out of the radar of this site. But because I was there, well, why not? Also in this update, I have finally got around to finishing the NZ Super Saloon Grand Prix update. Read this by clicking here.

The Sprint Car site is slowly coming together, and are about to make a couple of changes to it. The first of the driver profiles goes up today which features Chris Burns and the 61i Winton Flooring Xtra car. I have just teed up to do an interview with Jamie Duff and Chris Hope over the next week. Check this out a little later.

So sit back and enjoy the latest update from The Pits.

21/3/10 What a weekend, what a thrill. Off to Woodford Glen for the 17th annual Battle of the Stocks with a special meaning to it this year. The legend known as Stan (the man) Hickey, was to make his lat appearance at the Battle, and more than likely, the last time we will ever see him on a competitive level in the South Island. Woodford Glen gave Hickey a fantastic send off. If you want to read what I had to say about the Battle of the Stocks, then click here..

The New Zealand Super Saloon Grand Prix rolled in to Island Park Speedway last weekend, with some of the top guns in Super Saloon racing travelling to be apart of the event. Here's what I had to say about the racing on the Friday night....click here

20/3/10 The weather gods have spoken at Riverside Speedway with the meeting postponed till Sunday. It seems so wrong that I am sitting in Christchurch waiting for the battle to begin. The Battle of the Stocks is all its cracked up to be, and people that haven't attended it need to pull their fingers out and get here. What an amazing event. A full write up about the event, including video, will be placed up here on my return.

I am trying so hard to get the Kergozou story up and also to get the write up for the Super Saloon Grand Prix held in Dunedin last weekend. I was hoping to have a write up about the Super Saloon teams on the second night, but due to illness, I returned back to Invercargill at some horrible hour of the morning. A throat infection is not the nicest thing to have when your an announcer. Thankfully, everything is back up to speed again, with advice from the Dr to have another week off.

16/3/10 Here it goes, the latest update from The Pits web site.

A huge focus has been put on to the new Sprint Car web site which will be launched properly this week. Its pleasing to note that there has been some interest further up the Island, and therefore, the site will now cover the whole of the South Island. Because of this, the site will also have its own domain name. Check out the new site by clicking here

We welcome another couple of sponsors to The Pits, with Lawson Forestry Contracting along with Baby on the Move now joining the ranks. This is all the sponsors that will ever be on this site and I would like to take the time out to thank each and every one of them for helping with the running costs associated with the site. Sadly, we have had to turn away sponsors because of a move to insure it doesn't get over crowded with them. The upside is that it puts more pressure on me to make sure that the sponsor is getting their value out of having their name up on this site. I have now dropped all other web sites to focus on just The Pits and the Triple S racing sites.

 Off to Island Park Speedway I headed for the New Zealand Super Saloon Grand Prix. There is some interesting comments to have a look at in regards to this event, see what I had to say about that.

23/10 Ok so its been a week or 2 since we have had an update on the site, but I promise you, the update is of a good size. Loads of work is happening around the site as I put a rather large effort into the newly created Triple S site. This site will be just as informative as The Pits, servicing through to the Sprint Cars out of Christchurch. There has been some great feedback already, and are looking forward to filling it with a load of content. Big thanks once again from the guys at Winton Flooring Xtra for their help in setting this up.

Now just quickly, this is not an ad, but more of a thank you for someone that did a huge favour for me over the weekend whilst I attended Island Park Speedways meeting. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Leanne Simon from Rumours of Eternity for helping out a very close and personal friend of mine. Now I'm not into voodoo hoodoo stuff, but whatever Leanne did for this young lady worked wonders. Here is a little of what Leanne does: Spiritual Guidance, house blessings, herbal remedies, clairvoyant / tarot readings also phone readings, email reading and in person.

Tank madness is about to hit The Pits as we are going to go in-depth with the man responsible for a couple of tanks that will feature at Riverside Speedway next year. Next week is tank week. Find out why!!! Check out the news that has come through on the other side of this page.

Over the last couple of months, my faith with the Street Stock grade has been tested. The once mighty Street Stock grade is not what it used to be, and I sometimes struggle to find any motivation to get excited about them. It is common knowledge how disappointed I was with the grade with the lack of turn out for the NZ Sprint Car Title. Who did the grade really punish. The club or the drivers that did show up? Its a joke, plain and simple. I remember when racing used to be about racing, not this politically motivated shit that's has dribbled out of peoples mouths over the last couple of seasons. Its only a few, but they have a very big voice in a very quiet grade. Once again I will get the "If you don't like it then get a car and take us on" comment when people read this, but its simple.... I'm the announcer you dumb ass... Look up and the chances are you might just figure that out. Instead of sitting in a wee room rocking backwards and forwards wandering what club, track or person you can fk off next, how about get in your car and give us critics something to write about.

But for now, we are back on to The Pits update which this week features the Streeties that raced at Riverside Speedway in the weekend. And I must admit they put on a bloody good show as well. The carnage at the end of the meeting was amazing, and there will be many an hour going in to getting them right. Here's what I had to say about the meeting... read more

16/02/10 Just an update to tease with the proposed Triple S web site. What is Triple S ... click here to find out.

13/02/10 Just a quick update to rework the Sprint Car Title update, as I had forgotten to do 5th place. My apologise to Jamie McDonald for completely missing him out.

I would also like to welcome a new sponsor on board in the form of the Winton Flooring Xtra team. Big ups to Chris Burns who will also be the main sponsor for the Winton Flooring Triple S S web page. Southern Sprint car Scene is coming. Check back for the latest edition to The Pits web site. And also, cheers to Kerri from Winton Flooring for getting the stuff through for this site.

9/2/10 A good update comes to The Pits this time round, as the information pours through at the peek of the season. on the opposite page, you can see the info sent through about the NZ Side Chair Championships, which sadly I will be unable to attend as I head off to Dunedin to take in the Demolition Man Street Stocks. Its true, my heart belongs to the cars not the bikes. Talking of cars, this update will have the review of the NZ Sprint Car Title held in Cromwell over the weekend. If you interested, see what I had to say about this event by clicking here....

Don't forget to check out the latest news on the other side of this page...

62/10 After having a couple of issues with the lappy that holds this web site, I have finally got the problem sorted and are now able to update. Riverside Speedway did run at the weekend, and it appears that there is very little to say about this meeting, other than to highlight the fact that, once again, there was a clash with another track in this part of the country. This is the last 3 meetings that I have been to where there has been nothing really worth writing about. If anything, the only thing worth mentioning was the Productions in race 1, and the Streeties put on a half ok show.

26/1/10 Onwards and upwards for The Pits... There is to be another couple of things added to the web site over the next month...Already, the new Sprint Car page is well under way, and will be added in time for the NZ Sprint Car Title. Also, there is a new feature/profile page that was on The Pits some time ago that was popular but very hard to find the time to sit down and hunt the info. This will start with a full profile on the Winton Flooring Xtra sponsored car and driver of 61i Chris Burns. Burns has been nice enough to sit down and have a lengthy chat about his old days of racing, right through to the current time.... Also, a couple of years ago we had a full story that was written in regards to Joel Kergozou the ex 1nz and 3nz Street Stock driver. Having gone over this story I have decided that what is in that story is well worth being published. Its common knowledge that I have nothing to do with this character, and felt it appropriate to highlight some gathered information that will raise an eye brow or 2. If I could think back to that time, Kergozou never really had a chance to get his side of the story out, so this article was written as a neutral thing, and might just highlight a few things. There is some follow up work to do now, but hope to have that story out within the week.

Don't forget to check out the news as we build up to the NZ Sprint Car Title....

Check out the new Hall of Fame further down the page. This has been set up to recognise the drivers that have excelled in their chosen grade. If you think that someone should be on that list, send me an email with and why.....

But for now, sit back and enjoy the update from Island Parks meeting held in the weekend by clicking here...

24/1/09 Just a very quick update to inform one and all of the fantastic effort of Geoff Loan. But cruise back tomorrow for a very interesting update about the racing in Dunedin on Saturday. What got The Pits writer and Island Park Speedway commentator all wound up.. Check back for the details....

19/1/10 There has been load of debate and questions as to the reason why there was no update from the Cromwell Xmas meet. The hardest thing about being a writer of a web site that has the reputation to tell it how it is really has to be looked at sometimes. The old saying goes.. if you have nothing nice to say, then say nothing at all. Sadly this is the case with the Xmas meet. If I had to say anything about the meet, it was simply the fact that it lacked atmosphere. On a personal level, I cannot relate to a particular person in the club that is giving it a reputation it could do without. This has to be the best facility track in the south but has more drama's than Shorty Street. The racing on the first night was just plain and simply boring as fk. The second night produced far better racing, more so because they raced all the Sprint Cars as one grade. I am not sure as to the reasons why they didn't do the War of the Wings the same way as they did last year. Non War of the Wings at the back.. And War of the Wings guys off the front. On an up note though.. I would love to extend a huge thanks to the ladies that are the lap scorers in Cromwell. They are by far the best in the business that help me out as an announcer, and just make my job so much nicer. You ladies ROCK!!! Sadly, these ladies (and sometimes guys) are the most under valued and yet the most important people at the track.

What's these photos about.. Story coming soon

Don't forget to check out the latest news on the other side of this page before heading to the latest update........

This update is to cover the first meeting of the new year for Riverside Speedway. See what we had to say by clicking here

All Photos by Shelley Corbett Photos

Note: All information contained in the pages of this web site are the opinion of one person and one person only. The Pits is not connected to any other promotion in the southern part of New Zealand, and all care is taken to insure that the information contained in the web site are true and correct based on information gathered. Your discretion is appreciated. If you believe that there has been a mistake made, then please email the web master by clicking here, with why this is the case.

Web Site bought to you by Steve's Autos. For quality 2nd hand used cars, visit Steve Dryden at 157 Clyde Street Invercargill

305 Great North Road, Winton

ph/fax: 03 236 7066

Chris Burns

Coming Soon: Ads for:

Baby on the Move

Lawson Forestry Contracting

1NZ/7i Geoff Loan Streetstocks -Winning NZ Streetstock Title

3NZ/25i Mike Verdona Super Saloons - 3rd overall at NZ Title

13i Paul Renton Saloons - fantastic run at NZ Saloons and also DHL Saloon Series

73d Nathan Taylor Stock Cars - 3rd at South Island Title

88t Jason Scott Sprint Cars - Commitment to racing at Cromwell, Ruapuna and Western Springs, Qualifying for the NZ Sprint Car Title

34d Craig Shaw - Top South Island Car at the DHL Saloon Series

Steve Dryden Streetstocks - 4th NZ Streetstock Title

43t Tony (Buck) Buchanan Sprint Cars. Qualifying for the NZ Sprint Car Title Cromwell 2010

492i Campbell McManaway Superstock - 4th NZ Superstock Title & 2nd at the Battle of the Stocks

28i Trevor Nelson Streetstocks - 4th = NZ Streetstock GP - Blenheim

27i Peter Knight Streetstocks 4th = NZ Streetstock GP - Blenheim

Quick Links

Taken by Shelley Corbett

Next Meeting:

Riverside Speedway

Working Bee

This Saturday 4th September

Please find the time to attend.

Sunday 5th Sept

Stock Car Grade Meeting

3pm Riverside Speedway

ON SALE NOW

Got any news you want to see on here? send an email to thepits@xtra.co.nz

30/08/10 In this news update.. we where do you start.

Work as started on the new upgrade to Riverside Speedway's wall. There has been some talk that the start of the season might start a we bit later for the club due to the way the funding came through. The team from Riverside could not start work until the knew they had secured the funds for the project, which were only confirmed in the week just gone. As soon as the news was through, work started straight away. The ILT Foundation were the first to step up and give $150,000 with the Community Trust of Southland coughing up a healthy wee top up. The club itself has raised a huge amount over the last couple of seasons, making it easier for work to start on the $296,000 project. We will be seeking updates from the club with progress, and are hoping to get out there at some stage and film progress. At this stage, they are looking at a later November start to their race calendar.

Streeties have had a new old member return to racing, with Kenny Balloch (ex 21i) returning to the drivers seat for another stint. Balloch gout out of racing a couple of seasons back to watch from the sidelines, but has said that he can no longer just watch. Balloch picked up a car from Blenheim and rebuilt the whole machine.

Cliff Henderson has emailed through and has said that there is a Grade meeting for Stock Cars at the Riverside track this Sunday at 3pm. He asks for all people interested to attend.

Dunedin has been awfully quiet, with no real news coming through from the track. No news has got to be good news. As much the same in Cromwell.

The rest of the news we have will come via the video update tomorrow. Check back for this...

9/08/10 click here for latest video update

9/08/10 Check this out

21/7/10 Not to much happening around the place a the moment as many people are now just awaiting the arrival of the speedway season. Fresh off the email though we had this from Shaun Harris:

hey Jase
 
Just letting u know we are having a grade meeting on the 29th July at extreme karts just a catch and race
so anyone is more than welcome to come along for a chat
 
cheers Shaun
 

Cheers Shaun for that.

 We were also a little slow on delivering the info for the Stock Car and the Streetstock meetings that have been held over the last couple of weeks. We will be travelling to Cliff Henderson's next week at this stage for his interview, where we hope to shed a little more light on what's happening with the grade.

There has been a huge movement within the Dunedin club as there is basically a whole new committee and top table ready to take on the mammoth task of rebuilding the club. Best of luck to the guys from Dunedin in their efforts.

More news to be done on the video upload later with a little look into the v6 wingless Sprint Cars.

29/6/10

Double Click to make bigger

6/7/10 Just hot off the email: A special note from Cliff Henderson. More info is on the next video update, but wanted to get it up quickly:

19/6/10 Hot off the email. The following was sent through from Ruapuna:

Happy birthday to the 55i Stock Car driver, Andrew Wattie Watson, who turns the big 40 this weekend.

Island Park Prize giving now moved to June 12th due to sever weather conditions that hindered people from attending from other tracks.

13/4/10 Making news in this update:

What's happing in the Grant Lightfoot 17t Sprint Car camp? the Pits knows, but we are sworn to secrecy... All will be revealed at Riverside Speedway this weekend.

Mike Verdona in the 25i car looks lime he wants to move on to another car, with the 3nz car now up for sale. This car is a very well proven car, and could be yours for the right place. Check out MacGors for the ad

Ray Stewart's web site has been updated with the latest news out of his camp. Its common knowledge that Ray has bought the ex 2NZ car of Shayne McIntyre, so check out and find out why he has done this by visiting his web site. www.raystewart.racing.org.nz

Riverside Speedway is rumoured to have a very good meeting instore for people wishing to head out there for racing on Saturday. A reasonable field of Stock Cars, which should feature 2 tanks on the track, is rumoured to be heading down. An as yet number of Sprint Cars will be on show along with Streeties and the norm. Racing starts at 2pm, with a fireworks display to follow.

Hot off the email:

Now, I must apologise to the Modified Sprint Grade as I have never really had anything to do with this grade before, so therefore, some inaccuracies may pop up. It is good to know that I have been getting a little correction email sent through every once and awhile, but have been sent an email with more info on the grade. Already we have seen 3 cars arrive to Invercargill with Danny Lang, Shaun Harris and now Craig Phillips ready to pedal the wee cars around the track. There is loads more interest, with some other drivers looking at heading into this grade... stay tuned for more on this... Here's what the email had to say:

Thanks very much for that email. Please click on the link to visit this site

6/3/10 Making news in this update:

Craig Phillips has raised an eyebrow or 2 after rumours of him buying a Mini Sprint had surfaced over Easter weekend. This rumour has been confirmed, and was supposed to make an appearance in it at the Cromwell meeting, but could not get it to fire up. Phillips is selling the current Stock Car, but he is not planning on getting out of the grade. Keep an eye out for more updates to this.

Island Park Speedway are running a Stock Car Bash 4 Cash at the weekend, and are calling on all Stock Car drivers to make the last meeting of the season a good one for them. Come on guys, that's go out with a bang.

Rumour at Riverside Speedway is that the meeting scheduled for the 17 of this month, will have a fireworks display added. A good field of Sprint Cars is rumoured to be attending as well, with 95c Ray Baughn and the 19c car of Jamie Duff a possible start. More info on this will come through.

33p Steve Dryden has had to finish racing prematurely this season, after the knock in the motor proving to be a little more serious than he wanted it to be. Dryden has said that the engine builder cannot get the car done in time for the final meeting, so will have to sit it out.

A good performance by the Invercargill cars that headed away to the NZ Streetstock GP over the weekend. The event was won by the 31c car of Simon Bland with 2 Invercargill cars being in the top 6. 27i Peter Knight had his best result for the season, as did 28i who both scored 4th equal. Big ups to those 2.

The rumour has been confirmed, and Ray Stewart has bought the current 2NZ car of Shayne McIntyre's. Ray took the car for a run at the Easter meet during the weekend with Shayne on hand to sort out some set up tips for him. There is no word on what's happening with the Nissan at this stage. watch the video of his run here

30/3/10 Making the news in this update:

Easter weekend looks set to go for Cromwell for the South Island Sprint Car Title. 16 cars are expected for the event, with the clear cut favourite having to be the 19c car of Jamie Duff. Duff was on fire at the meeting held at Island Park Speedway, when visiting ex 1NZ driver, Dean Brindle, could do nothing but watch as the talented youngster drove off into the distance. Duff was never really challenged in the Otago Sprint Car Title with Brindle doing enough to collect 2nd overall. Brindle was not in his own car, but was loaned the Edge Parts and Performance car for the meeting. Invercargill driver, Chris Hope 15i, managed to find his mojo to grab 3rd.

It appears that Ray Stewart has had enough of the 34t Nissan and has recently purchased the 2nz car of Shayne McIntyre. We hope to know more about this over Easter weekend, when its RUMOURED, that McIntyre will come down and be apart of the Cromwell meet.

Good luck to the guys that are heading away to Blenheim this weekend for the NZ Street Stock GP being held on the Monday of Easter weekend. A good contingent is expected to head up from the lower part of the South Island, with many stopping over to race at Nelson for their 2 day meet over the weekend as well. 1NZ Geoff Loan has decided that he just wants to race the GP.

Steve Dryden had a so so run at the North Island Title last weekend. Dryden was the only South Island car to head to Palmerston North for the title, and is the reason why he has been sporting a P on the side of his car for the season. SNZ rules state that he must be contracted to a NI club if he wishes to run a NI title. The downside to this is that he was unable to do the SI title. Dryden qualified well, with the unusual move of running only 1 qualifying heat, then a reportage and then a 3 race final. Dryden was 2nd on points going into the last heat, but the car developed a knock in the engine after the 2nd race. Dryden decided to risk all, and went out in the 3rd only to be taken out by Cody Gooch.

Off the email from Cliff Henderson was this wee note:

24/3/10 Making news in this update:

Ex Production, Street Stock racer, Dan Black, will be the next person out ion a Stock Car after purchasing the ex Rhys Shirley car. Black is hoping to debut the ford powered car at Island Park Speedway for the last scheduled meeting on the 10th of April. A little more on this story will come through a bit later.

Oreti Park Speedway will have a 2nd go at trying to run their 10th anniversary meeting this weekend after weather forced them to postpone the meeting a couple of weeks back. Oreti Park has been around for many years but a group of dedicated bike racers got together 10 years ago to bring back the track after years of neglect. Oreti Park is now regarded as one of the best tracks in the country. Make sure you whip over to the track and celebrate a true success story.

The Elf Super Saloon Series that was run down this part of the country before Christmas will head to the Nelson and Blenheim tracks this weekend. Mike Verdona in the 3nz/25i car is well on the pace, but will have to do a load of work to overtake the very quick 58c car of Ritchie Taylor. Ray Stewart will once again try and sort his own going issues out with the 34t car before returning to Cromwell for the Easter Champs. Best of luck goes out to the southern contingent heading up that way.

Cromwell will be hosting the South Island Sprint Car Title over the weekend of Easter, with a field of around 14 being a pretty accurate number. The grade has lost a couple of cars over the course of the season with a return expected by a few of those. 43i Nigel Molloy should have his issues sorted out for the meeting as will the 37i car of Barry Innes. Don't be to surprised if you see Alan Wakeling down for the meeting, with this being the only title he has never one. More info to come on this meeting.

33p/33i Steve Dryden heads to the North Island later this week to compete in the North Island Street Stock Title. Dryden had registered to a North island track to make him eligible for the title, and will be one of only a few drivers to attempt. Dryden will be very hard pushed to have any success in the event, being the only South Island driver there, but we wish him all the best in his quest.

Campbell McManaway had a fantastic run in the weekend with a 2nd placing with partner, 58p Peter Bengston. McManaway was fast over the 2 nights and was the individual points leader right up to the last race when a good battle with him and Ngatai. Look for this battle to resume next season.

16/3/10 Making news in this update:

The annual Battle of the Stocks kicks off in Christchurch's Woodford Glen Speedway this weekend with some top line national drivers set to make an appearance at the event. 515r Stan Hickey will be attending the meeting which could be the last time we see the veteran racer in this part of the country as his pending retirement draws nearer. The Pits will be attending this meeting with a full write up to follow.

Many people have asked, and yes we do have the Joel Kergozou article written, but are yet to contact Joel for a follow up story. There had to be a huge amount of information collected for the story and put together in a very politically correct way. This will make for some very interesting reading, and is sure to raise a few eyebrows.

Talking of updates, Cliff Henderson's tank story will be appearing on The Pits just after the weekend. I am using the trip to Christchurch as an opportunity to finish this off and will have it finished. Thanks to all for your patience.

Matt Stewart makes this update as there is rumour that the young Street Stock driver will be heading into Stock Cars for next season. Stewart, who has been sidelined after a nasty crash that had his Streety hit the wall while rolling, causing considerable damage to the roof and cage, is currently looking for a machine that will do the job. The grade is expected to double in the off season with Kelvin Lawson looking to add his pit crew into the stock car mix as well. Look for a return to Stock Cars by Phil Connor. Also rumoured to return to the track is Cliff Henderson. Henderson will be piloting a Chevy powered tank. And yet another unconfirmed rumour is that we might see Campbell McManaway racing in a Stock Car out of Riverside. After a lull this season, it looks like the grade may bounce back stronger than ever.

Streety news has the Cleanways boys very busy getting the cars ready for this weekend at Riverside Speedway. Considerable work has gone into readying the 68i car of Brian McEwan who had a nasty accident with the wall at the last meeting at Riverside Speedway. Also to benefit out of a bit of work to his car is wee wee (Adrian Lapsley) who has had a new motor in his car to make the 14i car a little more reliable.

2/3/10 Just a few bits of news to come through for the update this week.

A huge shout must go out to the 492i car of Campbell McMananway who travelled to Kihikihi and went on to not only qualify, but to also get 4th overall. What a fantastic effort by the Superstock driver. It was also good to hear that the Title will remain in the South Island with Brendan Higgins from nelson taking the 1NZ off a great ambassador in 19c Malcolm Ngatai

Cliff Henderson has sent through a great update about the tanks he is building and also a very good story about him. The Pits plans on running this over the next day or 2.

Speaking of Stock Cars, there has been a new site launched this week by Cromwell track photographer, Sharl Frires. The site appears to be quite informative with information about what is coming up with the big hitters along with profiles and meeting write ups. Visit the site at www.southernshock.co.nz for a quick nosey.

There has been a load of interest after I mentioned that I would run the story about Joel Kergozou that was written some 2 and a half years ago. I have been in contact with Kergozou and are hoping to sit down with him to do a follow up on what has happened over the last couple of years. He has agreed to do this. Check back for this very interesting and informative insight to what really happened.

A quick note to inform people that the meeting to be held on the 6th of March 2010 at Riverside Speedway has now been cancelled. With the South Island Street Stocks being held in Woodford Glen on the same day, Riverside was going to be lacking in numbers with the committee making the right move to not clash with it. The next meeting for Riverside will run on the 20th of March and will feature the end of season demolition derby and will also feature the Southland Stock Car Champs as well as Southland Champs for Productions. The final meeting for Riverside will be held on the 17th of April featuring the Southland Sprint Car Champs.

Speaking of meeting cancellations. Central Motor Speedway in Cromwell have cancelled their next meeting as well, which will now make their next one that South Island Sprint Car Title. Numbers for the title have been rumoured to be around the 14-18 mark, with a interest coming as far away as Alan Wakeling. Wakeling is rumoured to be keen to come down and contest the event because it is the only title that he has never had. Watch this space.

The Pits will be the source for more information for the pending NZ Super Saloon Grand Prix and NZ Super Saloon Teams Nationals. Shane Maaka is the man in charge of making the event happen, and The Pits will be bringing developments to you closer to the meeting. Already there is a $1000 treasure hunt scheduled for the crowd, Along with a $2000 winner take all demo derby. What a event this is turning out to be. As of this update, Maaka had confirmed some 24 entries for the title. Folks... Where will you be!!!

Off the email this week, I must make a wee correction to an earlier update in regards to Modified Sprints and Mini Sprints. Darryl Harris from Harris Race Team sent through an email which I will post. Here's what he had to say:

Hi
I was just reading through your site and in particular about Shaun Harris with his new car.
 
His car is in fact a modified sprint not a mini sprint. The difference is it is powered by a motorbike engine and is chain drive, Not a car engine and diff.
The car engine ones (mini sprints) are in fact a different class to the modified sprints. Modified sprints run up to 1200cc motorbike engines that produce 150 to 160 horse power and weigh 350 kg. They are the 2nd fastest class in speedway with the sprint cars being the fastest.
  Hope this doesn't confuse things for you but thought I would enlighten you with what the differences are.
 
Cheers
Darryl Harris
 

And finally, a big shout out goes to the Southern contingent that are heading away this weekend for the South Island Street Stock Title at Christchurch's Woodford Glen Speedway. That's hope that one of the local lads can secure the other main title in this island adding to Geoff Loans 1NZ from a month ago.

9/2/10 This news update is dominated by the crash that hurt up and coming Sprint Car driver out of Riverside Speedway, 61i Chris Burns in the Winton Flooring Xtra sponsored machine. Burns was involved in a heavy crash that had him sustain what was believed to be some serious back damage after the tumble at Ruapuna Speedway in Christchurch. Burns had gone to Ruapuna to compete in the Gold Cup as a build up to the NZ Sprint Car Title to be held the following weekend at Central Motor Speedway. Sadly, Burns crash will have him sit out the rest of the season because of the crash. the upside is that the injury has proved to be less serious than first thought. Burns was expected to stay in Christchurch's main hospital for quite sometime, but was released in time to see the final nights racing in Cromwell for the NZ Sprint Car Title. At the time of the incident, The Pits was debuting a new feature section for drivers, to which Burns was the very first person. After talking about the incident with Burns, it has been decided to still run this feature. On behalf of everyone at Riverside Speedway, The Pits and all other Sprinter drivers, we wish you a very speedy recovery, and look forward to seeing you peddling that 61i Winton Flooring Xtra around again in no time.

Here is that crash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_DClhxpP90

The Central Southland Frieght Sprint Car of 47t, Corey Price, was another person to have a serious crash after a heat run at the NZ Sprint Car Title held in Cromwell on the 5th and 6th of Feb. Pricey was flying in the new car that the only debut just a few weeks before the title, but had a minor brush with the 15i car of Chris Hope. The end result was a head on crash with the wall heading into the tight turn 1 and 2. Check out the video footage to see what you think happened. Sadly the car is a write off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YNfYZ21R_A

26/1/01 Following up form the 1NZ that Geoff Loan claimed, there has been confirmation from Geoff that this weekend was a double whammy for him. Not only did he grab the 1NZ, he also managed to put a few dollars on himself to win the Title, netting just shy of 10k in the process. How's that for a story and a half.

82i Troy Dryden became the hero of this meeting, insuring that the 7i car of Geoff Loan returned with the 1NZ. Dryden went on a mission to stop the 33c car of Don Garthley who was the much favoured car to take out the title. Dryden paid due to that theory and took to 33c. Once again, this kid can drive himself, but when it comes to being there for his club mates, you can be damn sure you know where his loyalties lye. Not something we can say about other drivers huh? On behalf of the southern readers and supporters of this site, we congratulate you on a job well done. Onya Troy!!

Peter Knight had yet another horror run, when the car only had first gear in the first race. Knight had broken the linkage and had to limp the car around the track. Knight eventually done enough to finish around the 10th mark over all. Once again, another driver that has the goods, but just cant make it stick on the important ones. Will this be the last time we see Pete in a Streetie now that the Stock Car is on the go? That's wait and see.

Cromwell Speedways web site seems to be very laxed on updates heading into a major NZ Title, so The Pits has been sent a link to info that could help you out with information required. The link is http://wow.gandtphotos.com/NZ%20title.html

If you require a list of the entrants to the Sprint Car Title, you can find it by visiting http://www.sprintcarworld.co.nz

4 more added today that aren't in the list. They are:

15i Chris Hope

43i Nigel Molloy

3nz Greg Pickerill

24w Martin Halcrow

Best of luck goes out to the Southern contingent.

24/1/10 Holy shit!!!! The news just keeps getting better for the southern part of New Zealand. Just a couple of weeks after the fantastic effort by Mike Verdona in the Super Saloons, we can now say that we have a New Zealand Champ in amongst us. The new New Zealand Streetstock Champion is none other than our very own 7i of Geoff Loan. Un Fkn Real.. The Pits and its readers wish to congratulate Geoff on such a fantastic effort. This would be the first front wheel drive Jap car that has ever taken out the title, and only the second driver in history to take a NZ Title out of the North Island. Also, Steve Dryden just missed out again after finishing 4th once again. Dryden had said that the car was set up wrong in the first race which effectively cost him the title. He was unable to be caught in the final race of the night. We congratulate Steve for such an awesome effort.. But 4th again... when will it be his turn.