Baypark Speedway hosts its headline event for the 2025-26 season this weekend with two nights of racing to decide the 83rd running of the New Zealand Midget Car Championship.
And in an exciting late development, the field has been boosted with 10-time national champion Michael Pickens now planning to rush home from the Chili Bowl indoor event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to compete at Baypark.
A troubled Chili Bowl qualifying day has left Pickens with very slim hopes of advancing through the format. Pickens had filed an entry for the NZ title to cover the possibility of a weather delay, and he has now switched his focus to the travel arrangements to make it back in time for the Baypark event.
With 10 national titles since 2003, Pickens ranks as the most successful driver in Kiwi Midget Car racing. The class has the longest history of the four-wheel speedway categories, with the first New Zealand title raced in the summer of 1939-40
The performance and technology have evolved massively over the past 9 decades, but the principles of a lightweight, single-seater open-wheel car with a front-engine for oval-track racing remain at the core of Midget Car competition.
The modern generation of Midget Cars has evolved into precision racing machines, typically with highly tuned four-cylinder engines developing up to 400hp in a car weighing no less than 487kg (including the driver).
It will be the third time Baypark Speedway has hosted the New Zealand title, although the previous two events were held at the original venue, which closed in 1995.
Two other past champions feature on the entry list. Auckland’s Brad Mosen is seeking his third 1NZ crown – his most recent achieved in 2024 – while Baypark’s Hayden Williams won in 2021.
Among the most experienced drivers chasing success is Baypark’s Brock Maskovich, who has two runner-up finishes at the national title in the past decade.
The exciting competitive theme in Midget Car racing in the last three seasons has been the emergence of a `Young Guns’ contingent of talented teenage and early-20s racers.
This grouping comprises Baypark’s Luke McClymont and Travis Buckley, Kihikihi’s Mitch Fabish and Auckland racers Alec Insley and Ben Morrison. And the latest Young Guns addition is Kihikihi racer Regan Tyler, who finished second in the NZ TQ Midget Car title last season.
McClymont and Fabish have already achieved notable successes with North Island Championship and NZ Grand Prix victories, respectively.
The South Island has a strong quartet of contenders. Christchurch racer Jeremy Webb is a six-time national champ in the motorcycle-powered TQ Midgets as well as a three-time South Island Midget Car champ.
Fellow Christchurch racer Ben Morgan has already showcased his speed on North Island tracks in the last two seasons, while Jay Chadwick (Christchurch) and Nathan Wilkie (Nelson) both have top equipment and strong results in the south.
Others ranked among the leading contenders are Baypark’s Corbin Anderson and hard charger Aaron Hodgson, along with Aucklander Ryan Baker, who is a former runner-up.
The quality of the field assures a wide-open title fight, and there is one certainty – it will be an entirely new podium celebrating on Saturday night as last season’s national title at Western Springs was swept by US and Australian visitors, and this year’s event is an entirely domestic contest.
Two nights of preliminary racing and a last-chance B-Main will determine the 22 qualifiers for the 25-lap championship race on Saturday night.
There will be Super Saloon and Six Shooter support races on Friday night, with Sprint Cars, Six Shooters, and Youth Mini Stocks on the Saturday programme.
The 2026 Midget Car title is part of a sequence of premier NZ Championship events hosted by Baypark Speedway. Last summer, it was the NZ Super Saloon Car Championship, and the next NZ Sprint Car Championship is scheduled for the 2026-27 season.
Racing starts at 6.30pm both days.
Header Image: Jessica Barnes/Blissful Photography
