Xpress Printing House
Battle of the Stocks
16th & 17th March 2007

And the winners are ...
1st ... 31p Andy McCabe & 12c Nick Selfe 281 points
2nd ... 7r Dayne Wright & 19c Malcolm Ngatai 279 points
3rd ... 6p Wayne Hemi & 29c Murray Greig 277 points

Highest individual points winner is 6p Wayne Hemi 156 points

Saturday ... Three more heats to decide this years champions and things were starting to heat up. Overnight points leaders McCabe and Selfe continued reliably throughout the heats without causing mayhem or attracting too much attention to themselves. Of note is the only top three placing for the pair over the two nights was McCabe's 3rd in the friday shoot-out. It just shows consistancy is whats required at this level and the pair emerged worthy winners with McCabe stating he was very pleased to have had a win at this level. I've no doubt he will return next year to attempt defending the title. Also of note Selfe was driving a car only recently purchased from a fellow cantabrian and I'm sure the smile will remain for several days.

Another pair to impress were Wright & Ngatai who raced up the points ladder from seventh overnight to finish 2nd overall. Hemi with the "Red Waka" carrying the Palmy team colours (ready for action the following week in Auckland) & Greig filled the final place on the podium and Hemi was especially pleased after winning the individual points trophy too. To have the six cars seperated by only 4 points after so many heats indicates the high level of competition present.

The stirrers award (if there was one) would have to go to the "Supertanker" 53p Kevin Roberts. It apperaed that if a faster car was anywhere near him on the track, he went for it like a magnet. He was taking pot shots at anyone and everyone which nearly resulted in another roll-over for 99c Emerson Leech. One person who did go "wheels-up" was 58p Peter Bengston. Although it didn't slow him down much as he carried on to complete the heat.

The highlight of the support racing was Super Saloon driver Richie Taylor piloting the 17c Lovelady Mustang. It didn't take long before he not only got to grips with the car but had a race win plus a 2nd in the feature.

Friday ... Top Superstock drivers from throughout NZ converged on Woodford Glen tonight for the annual Battle of the Stocks. This has become a huge attraction / drawcard and this weekends event is proving to be no exception. The first shoot-out contained only one car from Palmerston North that being 58p Peter Bengston who finished 2nd behind 29c Murray Greig. This all changed once the heats began and Palmy cars started dominating with 6p Wayne Hemi stamping his mark on the event winning this heat convincingly with 16c Mark Osborne chasing. The big names came through in heat two 1nz Simon Joblin, 2nz Peter Rees and 3nz Shane Penn lead home from Battle of the Stocks stalwart 515r Stan Hickey. Heat three was a saviour for the south island when 14n Dale Ewers took the win but directly behind were Joblin, Hemi, Penn and Rees. In the final shoot-out Joblin again came through ahead of Penn and yet another Palmy driver this time 31p Andy McCabe. The overnight leaders are the driver pairing of McCabe and team mate 12c Nick Selfe.

Some of the highlights in the support races were 891 Josh Boulton showing what we can expect in the future from his new car when he took off into the distance making it look like his car was on rails. 7d Paul Simon stood out among the large Streetstock field winning the first race. Stockcars were dominated by 44c Peter Ross with two wins and a second. The A Grade Saloons were graced with the appearance of CTV celebrity Jo Giles driving Nees Racing's Honda for the evening. She was buzzing by the end of the night and no doubt will let everyone know how she went during her next time "on air".

RETURN TO THE HOME PAGE