Header Image: Nelson Speedway
Twenty-four of the twenty-six finalists for the 2025/26 New Zealand Streetstock Championship at Nelson’s Milestone Homes Top of the South Speedway have now been locked in, and if Friday night was any indication, Saturday promises a blockbuster conclusion.
With the repechage still to be run, offering the final two transfer spots into the championship decider, hope remains alive for several drivers who narrowly missed automatic qualification.
One certainty, however, is that a new 1NZ will be crowned.
Reigning champion Jareb Verdoner endured a title defence to forget, struck down by a right-rear flat in Heat 1 before failing to finish Heat 2 and not taking the start in Heat 3, leaving him pointless and out of contention.
Verdoner wasn’t alone in tyre trouble.
Defending 2NZ Benji Smaill suffered a Heat 3 DNF in the MG Group, dropping from third to eighth in the standings. He was joined in disappointment by another pre-race favourite, 2023/24 champion Allan Finch, who also fell victim to an outside flat.
Unlike Verdoner, both Finch and Smaill will get a second chance via Saturday’s repechage.
Of the 2024/25 podium finishers, only veteran Steven Dryden secured direct passage to the finals. Dryden delivered a composed performance in the Ansco Group, finishing second overall with results of fifth, first and fourth.
Even that consistency wasn’t enough to top the group, Dryden finishing a single point behind Whanganui’s Simon Bland. Bland was one of just two North Island drivers to qualify directly for the final, the other being Auckland’s Corry Te Rito, who survived a dramatic Heat 3 to advance fourth from the Lift n Shift Group.
Rotorua’s Shane Bracken looked set to progress from the Estels Group, sitting equal second heading into Heat 3, before becoming the target of determined South Island opposition. Blenheim’s Daemyn Ireland delivered the decisive blow mid-race, ripping the bonnet from Bracken’s car and forcing his retirement to the infield.
The already-small North Island contingent was further reduced off-track, following ramp issues with a Bluebridge ferry that forced it to return to Wellington. Meeanee’s Al Howatson was among those affected, left stranded on board for more than 13 hours while the issue was resolved.
Christchurch’s Matt Petersen emerged as the standout performer in the Lift n Shift Group, topping qualifying ahead of clubmate Corey Schumacher, hometown driver Laurie Harrington, Te Rito, Perry Soper and Jacob Campbell.
The group opened the meeting spectacularly, with six DNFs in Heat 1, most, however, caused by flat tyres. Heat 2 was a fast-paced affair won by Petersen, before a thrilling and chaotic Heat 3 decided the final qualifiers.
Te Rito entered the race sitting precariously seventh, two points behind Dunedin’s Jacob Campbell and three adrift of Nelson’s Ryan Musgrove. Starting from the front row, the Aucklander bolted clear as drama erupted behind him.
The first red flag was triggered when Soper lost his left-rear tyre.
Remarkably, despite circulating without it, Soper, who began the race third in the standings, limped home tenth and did just enough to secure a finals berth.
Two further reds followed, the final one coming when Bill Lavender sent Tyson Thomas hard into the wall, the cars locked together and blocking the circuit.
On the final restart, Te Rito resumed control at the front but soon encountered Nelson’s Richard Bateman attempting to block.
Contact through Turn 4 spun Te Rito halfway around, yet he somehow gathered it up, retained the lead and powered on to take the chequered flag, and his place in the championship final.
His charge from seventh came at Musgrove’s expense, a 12th-place finish dropping the Nelson driver into the repechage.
The MG Group was also settled in dramatic fashion, with DNFs in the final heat cruelly denying both Smaill and Christchurch’s Allan Aitchison automatic qualification.
Cody McCarrison, the 2023/24 2NZ, was the class of the field, topping the group with 48 points ahead of Christchurch pair Norton Gowans and Cody Pedley, who tied with Dunedin’s Bailey Gillam on 45. Nelson’s Taylor Lynch claimed fifth, while Scott Palmer scraped into the final transfer spot despite a 15th-place finish in Heat 2.
Finch narrowly missed the cut by a single point, results of fourth and third in the final two heats proving just short following his Race 1 DNF.
In the Estels Group, 2022/23 champion Paul Leslie went about his work quietly and effectively, topping the standings on 49 points ahead of Christchurch’s Kahu Epiha and Dunedin’s Mitch Lavender. Cody Finch, Thomas Macleod and Jono Garthley also advanced, Garthley’s wins in Heats 1 and 3 enough to offset a Heat 2 DNF.
Bracken’s Heat 3 misfortune left him seventh overall, just two points short of progression. Christchurch’s Tom McSherry also endured a tough break, a disqualification from fourth in Heat 2 for contact after the chequered flag proving costly.
Bland and Dryden led the way in the Ansco Group, followed by Jordan Gillespie, Ben Jenkins, Buddy Finch and Shaun Andrew.
The tightly packed field ensured a flat-out final heat, but tensions spilled over late when Jayden Armishaw delivered the hit of the night on Andre Musgrove, rolling the 911N wagon two-and-a-half times in Turn 4.
Musgrove was uninjured.
Of the 24 qualifiers, eight are from Christchurch, six from Nelson, seven from Dunedin, and one from each of Auckland, Whanganui and Invercargill.
The 2025/26 New Zealand Streetstock Championship resumes on Saturday, with the high-stakes repechage kicking off proceedings from 5.00pm.
The event can be watched live on The Pits Media for $39.99.
2025/26 NZ Streetstock Championship Finalists
| Lift n Shift Group | MG Group |
| 433C Matt Petersen | 11N Cody McCarrison |
| 77C Corey Schumacher | 7C Norton Gowans |
| 14N Laurie Harrington | 26C Cody Pedley |
| 11A Corey Te Rito | 39D Bailey Gillam |
| 53N Perry Soper | 99N Taylor Lynch |
| 94D Jacob Campbell | 315D Scott Palmer |
| Estels Group | Ansco Group |
| 27C Paul Leslie | 31V Simon Bland |
| 777C Kahu Epiha | 3NZ Steve Dryden |
| 555D Mitch Lavender | 77N Jordan Gillispie |
| 18D Cody Finch | 345D Ben Jenkins |
| 7N Thomas Macleod | 121D Buddy Finch |
| 35C Jono Garthley | 46C Shaun Andrew |
Repechage Qualifiers- 2 to progress
| Lift n Shift Group | MG Group |
| 9N Ryan Musgrove | 118D Allan Finch |
| 181D Ashley Finch | 2NZ Benji Smaill |
| 15E Jared Blanchet | 36C Allan Aitchison |
| 18G Jared Ingoe | 88D Kaleb Marshall |
| 54C Kirk Aldridge | 721E Daniel Honey |
| 115N Richard Bateman | 8V Blair Ladd |
| Estels Group | Ansco Group |
| 858R Shane Bracken | 29C Mike Jones |
| 61C Tom McSherry | 828D Matt Stewart |
| 93N Jesse Rule | 99C Daniel Baldwin |
| 15N Matthew Watson | 39N Harry Moffatt |
| 11D Kerry Campbell | 911N Andre Musgrove |
| 29D Shya Mchardy | 92D Jayden Cron |