It’s hard to believe we’re already here at the Grand Finale and the Brent Lowe Stockcar Memorial. Brent Lowe was a passionate, enthusiastic Stockcar driver who tragically passed away on 24 December 2015 at the age of 25. His memory will always be respected and honoured by the speedway community. Once again, the weather gods played very nicely - we have been so lucky this season.
First up on the program were the Stockcars, with a field of over 30 cars. Three fast, action-packed races meant all season grudges were set to be sorted out tonight. The opening heat saw 48p Josh Mulcahy hold the lead from 267p Karlin Painter-Dudley and 91p Wade McNabb. 96g Brad McGee battled his way to the front to take the flag in heat two from Mulcahy, who seemed to be having a fabulous night, with 66p Shelby Whittaker rounding out the top three.
And on to the big one, the 15-lap Prescott Maintenance Brent Lowe Stockcar Memorial. It was pedal to the metal, with 30 drivers all chasing the title. Out of the pack and into the lead came 135p Jaden Hall to take the flag, followed by 87p Jacob Ackerman with 23p Riki-Lee Kauri finishing third. Congratulations to all competitors for putting on a great show in the Prescott Maintenance Brent Lowe Memorial.
Sidecars were up next, with the perfect number of 10 bikes for two heats, five in each group. It wasn't a great start to the night for 32p Sam Carter & Martijn Domper, who spun out in race one - fortunately, both were okay. It was a great restart out of the gate for 17p Tony “Horse” Hislop & Aidan Foothead, who had a fabulous race, followed by 57p James Gerrard & Ash Thorby and 73p Barry Smith & Blair Meyer. In the second group, the ever-smooth 21p Glen Murray & Josh Henderson took a commanding lead over 89p Wayne & Max Lett and 7p Matt Stewart & Nick Dunne.
After pulling to the infield in race one, the second round saw 8p Rob Miller & Jaxon Hannan show they haven’t forgotten how to race like Kiwis after their time in Australia - great to see. Congratulations to you both for representing New Zealand; you should be very proud. Second place went to the always crowd-favourite 5p Kieran “Wingnut” Payne & Sam McNaught, with third going to 73p Barry Smith & Blair Meyer. 21p Murray & Henderson were very fast out of the gate once again in the second group, followed by 89p Lett & Lett and 7p Stewart & Dunne.
A second win for the night went to 17p Hislop & Foothead in the third round, with a commanding lead over 73p Smith & Meyer and 63p Nick Davies & Te Aratia Elliott. 7p Stewart & Dunne took the flag over 89p Lett & Lett and 21p Murray & Henderson in the second group.
Youth Ministocks featured around 30 cars, with four races and end-of-season points up for grabs - the competition was taken very seriously. 211b Kaiden Beal raced extremely well in the first race, holding off 47p Olly Hopkirk and 47r Dylan Heard. 23p Kobe Dorn took the flag in race two over Heard and 97p Preston Potts. Race three saw 77p Will Carroll-Holland battle it out for first ahead of 294p Charlie Newman and Heard. Newman capped off a great night by winning race four, followed by 18p Aidan Waihi and 77p Carroll-Holland. That’s it for the Youth Ministocks - all cars now cleaned and tucked away until next season. Good luck to those who have aged out; we look forward to seeing you in another class next year.
Adult Ministocks saw 66p Colton Bagrie take the opening win over 33p Jono Mouldey and 26b Abigail Cullum. Mouldey decided second place wasn’t good enough and charged through to take the flag from 35p Luke Harris and 69p Stephen Mann in race two. No mucking around in the feature race, with 35p Luke Harris taking the win, followed by 69v Angus Mulholland in second and Cullum in third - a great way to end the season for the Adult Ministock class.
To round out the night, the Superstocks took to the track, with the rollover trophy still up for grabs. Would it happen tonight? All season-long grudges were set to be settled - and we weren’t disappointed.
4p Chad Ace, the ever-clever engine builder, took the opening win with a beautifully running car, followed by 41p Scott Williams and 85p Justin Roberts. 661p Bryn Liddell certainly made an impact, feeding Scott Williams up the wall to roll not once but twice in the next heat - it must have felt like being inside a washing machine! Does that mean two points for the rollover shield or just one? We’ll find out at prizegiving. After all that excitement 971c Jayden Ward in his hotrod was unstoppable, taking the win in style from 96g Brad McGee and Ace. McGee wasn’t settling for second in heat three, blasting through to take the chequered flag, followed by 557c Darrell Wallace and Ward.
Finally, the 'Dash for Cash' - were we going to see more carnage or a race for the money? It was carnage. 85p Roberts went on the attack, taking out race leader 4p Chad Ace and leaving the door wide open for 971c Jayden Ward to take the win, followed by 3nzp William Humphries and 661p Bryn Liddell.
Well, it’s hard to believe the season has come to an end. We look forward to prizegiving on May 2 to see the final points winners and the well-deserved trophy recipients.
Thank you to Amanda and Puk for inviting me to write this review each week and for creating Word on the Street. It has meant a lot to be able to give back to the speedway community for all you did for Pete - Go Slideways!
It has been a joy to come back each week, watch the racing, and feel part of the speedway family again. To everyone who helped put this amazing, unique show on the road - thank you. Please remember to be kind, and we’ll see you next season.
Word on the Street
By Nicola
Full results - https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/3455844
