A fired-up Aaron Hodgson sliced past the top qualifiers in a fast-paced 25-lap final to win the 2026 New Zealand Midget Car Championship at Baypark Speedway on Saturday night.
Hodgson raced the final with some extra motivation from frustration with a relegation decision handed down by race officials during the early heats on Saturday night. It cost two points (and a spot on the first two rows of the grid) and made sure he had a point to prove.
The championship final was a dirt track thriller with battles raging throughout the top-10 and just one caution flag interruption to the title fight.
Ten-time former champion and second-highest qualifier Michael Pickens led the first seven laps while his brother-in-law, Brock Maskovich, was an early mover from grid four and grabbed second place away from top qualifier Alec Insley on lap four.
Hodgson was on the move from the third row of the grid, building speed as the high line opened up, and he passed Pickens for the lead on lap seven and continued using the high line to edge away.
Following Hodgson through was Brad Mosen, who started fourth and initially lost a spot before moving up.
The only caution in the 25-lapper gave Mosen a chance, and he briefly got in front immediately after the restart, before Hodgson counterattacked and started to edge away again.
“On the restart, I knew Brad would fire it in there. I was expecting it, but I also know that Brad always races you cleanly,” says Hodgson.
In the seven-lap sprint to the chequered flag, Hodgson edged out to a 1.3-second winning margin.
Hodgson paid tribute to the team led by former NZ champ Shayne Alach for the preparation and chassis set-up of the Spike-Stanton combination on just its second outing this season.
“They had the car tuned up so it could pretty much drive itself,” says Hodgson.
It was a special win for Alach, who owns the winning car. His father, Ray, won the NZ Midget Car title in 1980, and Shayne won it in 2009.
“Our family has fielded a race car for 66 straight years, and it’s our third New Zealand title. I guess once every 22 years isn’t too bad,” Alach says.
Mosen’s second placing is his sixth runner-up effort in addition to two national title wins.
There was an impressive fightback drive from young Auckland racer Ben Morrison to score a podium finish. A run of qualifying misfortune ended with a win in his fifth heat, and Morrison carried that momentum in the championship race, racing forward from grid 11 to third to complete the podium.
Maskovich was always in contention near the front, running as high as second and eventually finishing fourth.
Auckland teenager Alec Insley had been the star of qualifying with four heat race wins and a second placing.
He ran in second spot in the early laps but then lost ground in a lead pack battle before passing Pickens to secure a fifth-place finish.
“I didn’t expect the track to move to the top as early as it did, and I stayed on the bottom for about four laps too long, and that’s all it took,” Insley says.
Pickens finished sixth while Tauranga’s Luke McClymont, Christchurch racer Ben Morgan, Te Awamutu’s Mitch Fabish, and Aucklander Corbin Anderson completed the top-10.
Tokoroa’s Keaton Dahm claimed his first Baypark Sprint Car feature win of the season, leading from start to finish ahead of Jonathan Allard and Ryan O’Connor in the 15-lapper.
The winner of the five-race Predator Series for the Six Shooter class was Rotorua’s Boyd Westbury with a clear 12-point margin from Auckland racer Laurie Petersen and Rotorua’s Billy Griffiths two points further back.
The next event at Baypark Speedway is the Battle of the Bay on Saturday, February 14, featuring the Harry Fredrickson Stock Car Gold Cup and the second annual Aotearoa F2 Midget Car title.
Header Image: Stuart Whitaker/The Write Angle
