Entry lists have filled up rapidly to produce capacity grids for the summer’s penultimate event at Baypark Speedway this Saturday.
The Bay Mayhem night is headlined by the annual Super Stock Rumble and the Harry Fredrickson Memorial Stock Car Gold Cup along with 2025 Bay of Plenty titles for Sprint Cars, F2 Midgets and Youth Mini Stocks also part of a packed programme.
A full grid of 31cars for the Super Stock Rumble is headed by Baypark’s recently crowned national champion Todd Hemingway, with visiting drivers from the Huntly, Rotorua, Stratford, Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne tracks.
Among the highly rated visiting drivers are Taranaki’s Blair Uhlenberg and Hawke’s Bay racer Quin Ryan while the full 2024-25 Baypark Busters squad will be in action.
The contact racing action is doubled up for the Bay Mayhem night with a 34-strong field Stock Car assembled for the Harry Fredrickson Memorial Gold Cup, Baypark’s major annual event for the class.
Kihikihi, Rotorua, Auckland, and Gisborne drivers are travelling to challenge the Baypark locals.
The quality of Sprint Car competition remains high, and this weekend’s BOP Championship field is headlined by California teenager Joel Myers Jnr making his second Baypark appearance.
The 18-year-old, who won the North Island title on his Baypark debut earlier this month and raced to victory in the Western Springs Last Lap finale last weekend, lines up in a 22-strong field. The competition for Myers includes former New Zealand champions Daniel Thomas, Jonathan Allard, Dean Brindle, Rodney Wood and Jamie Larsen.
The F2 Midgets have delivered some of the most competitive racing of the summer, and the open-wheel category returns with an 18-car grid to contest its BOP title.
And it’s the same story for the BOP Youth Mini Stock title, with the young home track racers facing visitors from the Huntly, Rotorua, Palm Nth, Auckland and Kihikihi tracks in a 26-car contest.
The meeting begins with a Parade of Champions at 6pm to celebrate Baypark drivers’ success at major national events over the summer, and racing starts at 6.30pm.
Header Image: Jessica Barnes/Blissful Photography
Words: Colin Smith
