Ray Stewart 70th Birthday 70 Lapper + Sprint Car 40 Lapper

70th Birthday Present a 70 Lap Super Saloon Race at Heavy Trax Hire Central Motor Speedway.

Fast zeroing in on the age where many of his contemporaries have retired to spend their days in recliner chairs, Ray Stewart is still hands firmly on the wheel of his heavy equipment hire business and strapped into the racing seat of his 800 horsepower super saloon regularly scorching the clay at Heavy Trax Hire Central Motor Speedway on the outskirts of Cromwell.

This Saturday (Jan 11) Ray’s milestone birthday is being celebrated with the Ray Stewart 70th Birthday Super Saloon 70 Lapper. Adding to the action will be a sprint car 40 lapper. Ray’s actual 70th birthday is on February 22 when he will be at Woodford Glen competing in the New Zealand Super Saloon Championships.

Ray’s involvement with super saloons was very much a catalyst for the growth of this class in the South Island. Concerned super saloons were thriving in the North Island but on the wane in the South, Ray was convinced an annual South Island series would rekindle interest and improve skills through bringing super saloon drivers together to compete in fields of 18 and more. How right he was.

With the support of Elf Lubricants, the 2014/15 speedway season welcomed the launch of the seven series Elf Super Cup. After a number of seasons, the series became the Vertex Super Cup and then last season, the Mag & Turbo Super Cup. Round four of the six round 2019/20 Mag & Turbo Super Cup will be at Heavy Trax Hire Central Motor Speedway on Friday, Feb 7 followed by the 2020 South Island Super Saloon Championship the next day.

But first, the dirt slinging, sideways, door-to-door action that is super saloon (aka Monsters of Speedway) racing is this Saturday (Jan 11) at Central Motor Speedway that for the past five seasons has had Ray’s business, Heavy Trax Hire, as the season sponsor. For details of how the 70 laps will be raced you will have to be there. And don’t forget there will also be the 40 lap adrenaline-pumping sprint car 40 lapper sponsored by Civil Construction. Lots of other fast and furious classes will be racing, too.

Photo credit: Faded Photography, Invercargill