Feature race victories held some extra personal significance for the big winners at the 2025-26 Baypark Speedway season opener on Saturday night.
Former NZ Sprint Car champion Daniel Thomas (Hamilton) made an impressive winning return to Baypark, bouncing back from a heavy crash at the final meeting of last season.
But it was a decisive move on lap seven to grab the race lead away from California’s Jonathan Allard that Thomas was most satisfied with.
“He [Allard] is the benchmark, and he’s had my number here for so long,” says Thomas.
“It meant the world to me to be able to pass him like that.”
Allard’s chase ended when he was unable to avoid a tangle among the lapped traffic, and Thomas was unchallenged in the second half of the 20-lapper.
Drivers from the HLR squad completed the opening night podium – Hayden Williams making a strong run to second ahead of Ryan O’Connor.
While Tauranga’s Chris Cowling has won six national titles across two classes, opening night delivered a career first with a clean sweep of three wins from three starts.
“In all the years I have raced, I’ve never won all three races on one night before. I’ve been so close, but something always happened, and it’s been on my mind for a while,” Cowling says.
The perfect night was a reward for a late push by Cowling Motorsport to complete a new CB2 chassis.
“The engine only went in on Friday, and it was a huge day in the workshop. We were still getting some signwriting on the car at 1.30am [Saturday].”
There was impressive speed from 17-year-old George Crawford (Paengaroa), who is stepping up to Super Saloons from the Youth Mini Stock class. Crawford qualified third on heat race points and raced to second in the feature ahead of Auckland’s Craig Cardwell.
The pace of the young stars in the Midget Car ranks set the stage for the 2026 New Zealand Championship, which looms at Baypark in January.
Te Awamutu’s Mitch Fabish claimed his first Baypark feature race win, leading home Tauranga’s Luke McClymont and Ben Morrison (Auckland). Making some passes in the early laps put Fabish into a battle with top qualifier Alec Insley (Auckland).
“I went from fourth to second pretty quickly, and that got me up there. Racing for the lead with Insley, I showed him the bottom (lane) and then I had to work out another way to get around him,” says Fabish.
Tauranga’s national Super Stock champ, Todd Hemingway, powered the new MD Motorsport machine to two race wins and second place against a quality field.
It earned him the overall win with 77 points, five clear of Elias Dykstra, who posted three third places (72 points). A fastest lap tie-breaker saw Scott Tennant secure third place over Ross Ashby after they tied on 71 points.
The next meeting at Baypark Speedway on November 8 features the annual fireworks spectacular and keeps the Midget Cars in the spotlight with the Bill Buckley Classic.
Header Image: Jessica Barnes | Blissful Photography
