Michael Pickens struggles during a midget car race at Baypark Speedway

Victory in 30 laps of the fierce international midget car competition was the reward for New Zealand star Michael Pickens’ team’s eventful 24 hours at Baypark Speedway on Wednesday night.

Pickens’ victory over the top two 2022 USA midget car drivers came after a rebuild in the early hours of his crash-damaged car.

Pickens fell out of a heat race at Western Springs on Tuesday night. While half of his team stayed on the track and he won the sprint show, the other half was stripping the crashed midget and straightening the chassis.

“The crew worked until 2:30 in the morning and came back at 8:30,” Pickens said.

Facing challenges from American stars Buddy Kofoid and Justin Grant along with former New Zealand champion Brad Mosen, Pickens lined up in fourth for the feature race and rocketed into the lead on the opening lap.

Reigning United States Auto Club champion Kofoid generated high line drive and took the lead on lap three to control the race until the first caution after 12 laps. That began a scrappy middle segment of six bookings in quick succession with Kofoid and Pickens restarting side by side.

Kofoid led every time, except at the final restart with 13 laps to go, when Pickens made the best getaway and Grant passed Kofoid. The two Americans briefly met bumper-to-bumper, which saw Pickens extend the lead on him, but Grant got back in touch in the closing laps.

“I had to figure out where to run the car and where not to,” Pickens said.

“The line that worked best was when I was trying to pass it [Kofoid] and that’s the line I kept running. I had to slide into turns three and four and navigate the ruts as best I could.”

Grant explained that the traffic that allowed him to catch Pickens also proved to be his undoing as they battled through the closing laps.

Kofoid said he didn’t feel much pressure while leading.

“The first green flag feature felt comfortable and not under any pressure in any way,” he said.

“Then we had yellow after yellow. I threw everything I had into all those reboots, but I had Michael by my side and I was bound to solve one of them.

“Then I had a close run with Michael and then Justin and I kind of bonded. I locked my bumper on his and hit the wall. I think he messed up the front and rear.”

Mosen, along with Baypark riders Hayden Guptill and Max Guilford rounded out the top six.

California’s Jonathan Allard made his first Baypark appearance of the summer and took victory in the sprint show after chasing Aucklander’s Ryan O’Connor.

The 20-lap pace was only interrupted by a caution on lap seven and Allard seized his opportunity shortly after the restart. Tauranga’s Rodney Wood came home third for his fourth consecutive home track podium finish of the summer ahead of Stephen Taylor (Wellington) and Cole Wood (Tauranga).

“Ryan had a great start and great speed, he made me work for it,” Allard said.

“The yellow that came out allowed me to catch him again and I made some adjustments to the wing and my footwork.

“I am very excited about the competition we have here and Rodney [Wood] and the guys have put a lot of effort on the race track, and it shows,” Allard said.

With the New Zealand Saloon Car Championship scheduled to take place at Baypark on 13 and 14 January, a 30 strong field representing seven North Island tracks saw Trent Amrein (Tauranga), Jarred Fletcher (Cambridge) and Shane Laking (Hawke’s Bay) each display a winning pace. .

The next event at Baypark Speedway is the annual Demolition “Der-Bay” on Saturday, January 7 in conjunction with the Harry Fredrickson Memorial Stock Car Gold Cup.