Images: Graham Hughes (Sportsweb Photography)
The 2025-26 speedway season may be winding down but the action is expected to be red hot at Auckland’s Waikaraka Park across ANZAC weekend, when seven of the country’s best teams racing drivers battle for this season’s Superstock Teams Nationals.
Usually held annually as the final major teams racing event of the season, the championship was scratched from the calendar last year when Auckland Council committed to funding the upgrade of Waikaraka Park, following the controversial closure of Western Springs Speedway.
Whilst the facility upgrades have mostly been seen favourably, a poor racing surface heavily detracted from the Modified Grand Prix in late February. The subsequent debacle that saw Speedway New Zealand assess that the remedied Waikaraka Park surface was still not at the required standards to hold a race meeting, coupled with a series of meetings impacted or cancelled for poor weather, has seen the track severely underutilised over the second half of the season.
Fortunately, the weather looks clear for this weekend’s two-night event, with the surface now back to an acceptable condition.
Having won the event three times during the 1990’s, the Auckland Allstars finally broke their championship hoodoo when the event was last held at the end of the 2023-24 season.
The Aucklanders comfortably beat the Rotorua Rebels and Baypark Busters in their two qualifying races before a further victory against the Rebels in the semifinal. They lifted the trophy in style after a clean sweep in the final against the Wanganui Warriors, who had beaten the favoured Gisborne Giants in the other semifinal.
Randal Tarrant, Cody McKee, Gary Lonergan, and Jamie Fergusson were all part of the victorious lineup two years ago, with Tyler Ingram and Codi Chatfield added to a strong Auckland lineup this season for the hosts.
The biggest talking points in the leadup to the event have revolved around the Manawatu Mustangs. Canterbury Glen Eagle superstars Jayden Ward and Scott Tennant have both switched allegiance for the weekend and have added considerable depth to the Mustangs lineup.
Palmerston North-raised Ward had previously represented the Mustangs nearly a decade ago and was part of the Mustangs team that finished third at the 2016-17 Teams Nationals.
In a Globetrotters-themed Hawkes Bay Hawkeyes, which also included Asher Rees, Ward also finished third at the event during the 2018-19 season.
Tennant also has a peculiar backstory at the event, when he was a late addition to the second placed Stratford Scrappers team as a reserve during the 2020-21 season, and he represented the Allstars when he was contracted to Auckland in the 2013-14 season, finishing third.
Brendon Tye captains the Mustangs lineup that also contains Justin Roberts, Tyler Walker, and Whanganui’s Matt Buckley.
The Baypark Busters have announced a similarly imposing team, including a final appearance for teams racing stalwart Kerry Remnant. Having debuted in 1997, Remnant was part of back-to-back Teams Nationals victories for the Busters during the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons.
Former New Zealand Superstock champion Todd Hemingway and hard hitting Elias Dykstra are standouts for the Busters, with youngster Flynn Ashton given another opportunity after a hugely impressive performance in his debut meeting at the Superstock Teams Challenge in Whanganui last month.
Luke Alderdice and Dan Pollock also feature in the Buster lineup looking to win their first Teams Nationals title in more than two decades.
The Rotorua Rebels have an even longer barren steak at the event, having won the last of their two Teams Nationals titles in the 2001-02 season. Their lineup for this weekend’s event includes a mix of Superstock Teams Championship winners and genuine teams racing newcomers.
Winners of the 2020-21 Superstock Teams Championship, AJ Axtens, Alan McRobbie, Brent Stewart, and Dale Stewart, have all been named in the Rebels team to compete in Auckland. In particular, the return of McRobbie, considered one the best teams racers in the country, is a major coup for the Rebels.
On the other end of the scale, Jessie Wilson-Henderson lines up for the first time in a Superstock teams racing event and is set to become the first female driver to represent the Rebels. She effectively replaces her entertaining brother, Dion, from the Rotorua team at this season’s Superstock Teams Championship.
The most successful team in the event’s history, the nine-time Teams Nationals winning Palmerston North Panthers, possesses a typically strong lineup. Captain William Humphries, the current Superstock 3NZ, won the Teams Nationals twice in the 2015-16 and 2020-21 seasons. He has a particularly strong connection with Waikaraka Park as it was the location of his New Zealand Superstock Championship victory in 2017-18.
Experienced five-time Teams Nationals winner, Scott Joblin, has constantly enjoyed racing in Auckland and returns to the Panthers after missing the Superstock Teams Challenge in Whanganui.
The Panthers team also includes Rebecca Barr, Scott Williams, Kyle Rowe, and Trent James, who form a youthful but dynamic group of drivers who are likely to feature strongly throughout the weekend.
Runners-up at this season’s Superstock Teams Championship, the Stratford Scrappers, will also fancy their chances this weekend. The Scrappers won the inaugural Teams Nationals in the 1987-88 season, and again in 2000-01, but have not lifted the trophy since.
Their advancement in the championship is likely to be determined by the form of the impressive James brothers, Tyler and Brodie. Blayke Adamson, former 2NZ Superstock Blair Uhlenberg, and William Hughes complete their lineup.
Finally, the most successful Superstock team of the 2025-26 season, the Gisborne Giants, presents a major threat to the rest of the field. It took more than a decade for the Giants to finally win the Superstock Teams Championship upon their return as a competitive team, but they have endured less difficulty in Auckland.
The Giants won the Teams Nationals three consecutive times between the 2016-17 and 2018-19 seasons and have three other second place finishes over the last decade.
An unstoppable force this season, the Giants were unbeaten during their paths to victories at the Superstock Teams Championship, the early season Superstock Teams Extravaganza, and the Superstock Teams Challenge in Whanganui last month.
Part of all of three previous victories for the Giants in Auckland, Ethan Rees will again be a major factor, and the current Superstock 2NZ is in superb form this season in both teams and individual racing.
Meanwhile, Asher Rees won the Teams Nationals in the 2022-23 season with the now defunct Kihikihi Kings Superstock team and will be searching for his first Teams Nationals victory back with the Giants.
Alongside the Rees brothers, Josh Prentice, Brad McGee, Tim Ross, and Regan Penn form part of an imposing unchanged Giants lineup.
Alongside the Superstock action, fans will be treated to the Auckland Super Saloon Championship and the Auckland Modified Championship, as well as the Streetstock 290s Championship, which is set to feature current Streetstock 2NZ, Matt Petersen, and this season’s Midget 3NZ, Ben Morrison.
The two nights of intense late season action promises fans a hugely entertaining weekend.