Words: Daryl Shuttleworth (1 Daryl)
Kiwi Sprintcar fans are in for a treat this season, with seven of the United States’ best heading to the South Island to take on New Zealand’s best in the American Invasion.
One such driver who is no stranger to these shores is Joel Myers Jnr, representing Ruapuna, the former 1NZ being at the front end of the Sprintcar field now for the last three seasons.
Myers Jnr was also a welcome addition to the BMac Sheetmetal Sprintcar Stag Cup, an event that hasn’t been contested for the last two seasons.
The Stag Cup is held at Aotea Electric Riverside Speedway, and the format varies each year. At its inception, it was a simple two heat, feature style event, whereas the last time it was run, it was a best pairs scenario.
This time around, it reverted to how it was raced for originally, featuring two ten-lap heats followed by a twenty-lap winner-takes-all feature.
For the local speedway fans, it was a chance to cheer on four young local drivers, something Riverside hasn’t been able to do for some time.
The McIntyre brothers Jacob and Joshua were entered along with Harrison Brown and Adam Evans.
Jacob McIntyre has been behind the wheel of a Sprintcar for a few years now and is a fan favorite at Riverside, while Joshua is fresh out of Youth Saloons and Youth Ministocks and he was keen to have a run on home soil.
Brown is another driver who started racing Youth Saloons at Riverside as a kid, before being a frontrunner in Six Shooters and now enjoying his first season behind the wheel of a Sprintcar. Evans has changed clubs, formally running out of Cromwell but now representing Riverside and recognised as a top young talent coming through the grade.
The four locals, along with Myers Jnr and a handful of Cromwell drivers, made for a classy field of cars.
Jacob McIntyre and Joshua McIntyre brought the crowd to their feet in Heat 1, the brothers racing off side-by-side for the first lap, only for Dean Miller of Central Motor Speedway to spin up in turn one, putting him out of the race. He wasn’t alone, this corner catching a few others out throughout the day, with some drivers stating the track was like ice.
At the restart, it was Jacob McIntyre who blasted off from the pack to what was almost the straight length lead; however, Myers Jnr was working his way through the field up to second. Jacob McIntyres’ strong start, however, made for a big lead.
With the American in hot pursuit, he needed to make quick, clean passes on the back markers, but was caught behind Shanarrah Stronach of Cromwell, which allowed Myers Jnr to really hone in.
McIntyre would just sneak home to grab a popular win ahead of Myers Jnr in second and Josh Buchanan of Cromwell in third.
Miller was again in the wars come the start of Heat 2, making contact with both the McIntyre brothers. Joshua was able to restart, but Jacob ripped a right rear tyre, putting him out of this race and burying him down the pack for the feature.
Myers Jnr made light work of the heat, driving away from the field to the margin of close to five seconds and cementing pole for the feature.
Evans was impressive in second, going toe-to-toe with Myers in the early stages of the race. Stronach was also a strong performer, taking a well-deserved third.
Come time for the 20-lap feature, the track had blackened, and all grip was well gone. This made for a tough time for the drivers, as Evans found out at Turn 1 on Lap 1 when he shot to the wall at speed, bending his chassis and putting him out of the event after showing good pace earlier in the day.
Off the restart, Myers Jnr got down to business and was the only driver brave enough to put his car right up against the wall and look for any kind of grip on offer, while the others hugged the poleline.
The American smashed the opposition by five seconds, kicking his New Zealand season off in style by claiming the Stag Cup. Buchanan came home in second but well ahead of Brown, who was thrilled with the third-place trophy, battling very hard to hold off Jacob McIntyre for the second half of the feature.
This event also doubled as the Cecile Kergozou Memorial for Streetstocks, one of the most sought-after Streetstock trophies in the South.
Joel Kergozou, the son of Cecile, and Ethan, the Grandson, were both entered. It would be fitting to see a Kergozou take the trophy home; nine other drivers would possibly all have other ideas.
Ethan Kergozous’ chances of winning the family trophy diminished in Heat 1, as he spun and was not able to restart early in the race.
Steve Dryden of Riverside was the man out in front when Zac Hughes of Riverside stopped on the main straight. At the restart, Dryden navigated his way through the lapped pack to claim heat spoils. Joel Kergozou claimed second, with Jayden Armishaw of Dunedin in third, despite the timing monitor stating clubmate Jake Barr had secured third.
There was an early stoppage in Race 2 as Riverside’s Blake Murdoch stopped in Turn 3. Murdoch would call it a day and wouldn’t return, handing driving duties on to Scott Lyons in Race 3. Barr also retired from the race at this point.
Joel Kergozou got to the front early and had plenty of support on track to ensure he would take the race win. Dryden drove well to get home in second, despite coming under multiple attacks from fellow drivers, in particular AJ Lapsley of Riverside, who got the crowd excited every time he took a swipe at the veteran. Graham Murdoch capped off a return to racing at Riverside with a third-place placing.
The final race came down to who out of Joel Kergozou or Steve Dryden would get across the line first. It took no time to see that Kergozou, once again, had plenty of friends, whereas Dryden came under attack multiple times.
Ethan Kergozou went after Dryden early, forcing the Heat 1 winner to the infield, but Dryden would manage to keep going. He would then make his run through the pack to start to chase down Joel Kergozou. Dryden was fourth and Kergozou second at this stage, with JD Delaney leading.
Kergozou was counting down the laps, and still had a margin over Dryden,, while up front Delaney looked assured of a race win, only to be spun in the very last corner, costing him victory but handing the win to Joel Kergozou, who would win his Mother Cecile’s trophy, a fitting result to what has been a fruitful come back to the sport from the former New Zealand Streetstock Champion.
Armishaw grabbed second place in Race 3, with Dryden third.
Overall, Kergozou secured the win, with Dryden second and Armishaw in third.
Other race winners from the weekends racing saw Jeff Richardson of Riverside take one win in Saloons, with two wins going to Jason Gold of Cromwell.
Duane Cracknell of Riverside took the Race 1 win in Six Shooters, while clubmates Mason Whelan and Danny Livingstone took out Race 2 and Race 3, respectively.
Adam Naber claimed two race wins in Stockcars, with Gary Mowat winning one.
The final grade racing was Youth Saloons, the first race being called as the driving wasn’t great by anyone’s standard, and multiple incidents unfolded. Riverside’s Hunter Kergozou was leading when the race was called. Race 2 was far cleaner and taken out by Riverside driver Dylan Rawcliffe, while clubmate Lachie Robertson snared the final victory.