Baypark Speedway concludes its 2023/24 season this weekend, seeing the return of the fast-paced Sprint Cars, the heavy metal Super Stocks and several other classes to provide the highlights.
The two categories haven’t raced at Baypark Speedway since early March and mid-February, respectively, and Saturday night’s Bay Smackdown Season Finale has attracted strong fields for both.
A grid of 21 Sprint Cars will battle for the final feature race honours of the season. Rodney Wood (Tauranga), Dean Brindle (Hamilton), and James Dahm (Tokoroa) are looking for further 2023-24 season main event success, while Keaton Dahm (Tokoroa) and Cole Wood (Tauranga) are among the drivers looking to add their names to the roster of feature race winners this campaign.
The full-contact Super Stocks will compete over a three-race format with visiting drivers from Rotorua, Huntly, Kihikihi and Stratford challenging the strong line-up of Baypark regulars in a field that has attracted 22 entries.
The field includes Baypark racer Elias Dykstra, who will make his first home track appearance since winning the North Island Championship at Rotorua in March.
For a couple of Baypark’s promising young talents, the season finale will be a case of home track farewell outings in the Youth Mini Stocks. The class caters for drivers under 17, and two local drivers who will `age out’ before next season are Robert Sidwell and Taylor Patton.
Racing in the F2 Midgets has been high quality on five previous appearances on the Baypark oval this summer with fierce competition between James Earl and Corbin Anderson. The scoreline sees Earl with three early season feature race wins to his credit, chased by Anderson, who has now won back-to-back in the second half of the season.
To complete the programme, the 6 Shooters will hold an open-wheel competition, with racing set to start at 6.30pm.
