- Friday 19 March 2010
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Celebrating street-stock success
BRETT Barron is grinning from ear-to-ear, having taken the title of 2010 Taranaki Streetstock Champion.
It all happened for Brett and his loyal family, sponsors and supporters, when he took the title at the Stratford Speedway on January 2.
“The competition saw us racing in three races all on the one night, “ said Brett.
“I placed third in two of the races, and won the other. This gave me the highest points on the night. I got 58 points, two points ahead of second place – it was pretty close.”
Around 20 competed in the class competition, including his long-time racing associate, and occasional arch-nemesis on the track, John Young.
“John won last year and I got second. This year, he got second, so it was extra special to finally win over him.”
For Brett, the victory is also sweet given the amount of work and dedication he and his supporters have had to put into his racing since he made a return to it in 2007.
“I was heavily involved in racing from age 18 to about 23, but I stopped when my daughters were young.”
Fortunately, for the local competition, it was these same daughters, Kris (now 19) and Lana (17) who got Brett back into streetstocks when Brett, and wife Lynette decided to foster the girls’ interest in 2007.
“I brought a ministock for Kris and we worked on it together as a fun thing.
Having competed in a variety of local and national championships, Brett has certainly had time to develop his formula for success. For both Brett and Lynette, the feeling is that success in these kinds of competitions comes not so much from luck, exceptional driving skill or even a car’s specifications, but a good old-fashioned and sustained programme of maintenance.
“Streetstocks are just regular cars that have been stripped back and modified with added safety features. They’re not precision engineered for racing, so you have to look after them.”
Work like regular fittings of new parts, tyre balancing and suspension repairs are all absolute prerequisites as far as the couple are concerned – the ultimate goal being to have the car totally reliable and ready for action before each competition.
“In a race, a number of factors come into play. Even if you know the track well, if it’s wetter than normal, things will change; even regular competitor’s antics can change from night-to-night.
“The more you race against someone, the more accurately you can predict their manoeuvres, but above all else, you need to know that your car will do what you need it to.”
While Brett is away either maintaining the vehicle or racing somewhere, Lynette holds down the farm duties. However, more often than not she is there again helping out with petrol, paint and tyre duties, and for her support, Brett is extremely grateful.
He’s also hugely thankful to his many supporters and sponsors, including Aussie Spares in Dinsdale, Hawera Automotive, Peter and Paul of Mountain Motors and Arthur & Lowe in New Plymouth.
And while Brett’s enjoying being a winner at the moment, half a season of racing action still lies before him – including upcoming regional streetstock championships in Wellington, and national competitions further down the track.
Despite being busy, he still loves it and encourages anybody who’s ever thought about racing to sign up and join in.
“I’m on the committee for the Taranaki Stock Car Club; it’s always great to see and learn from other people, so new folk competing at Taranaki race meetings really helps the sport grow,” said Brett.
Come along to the next race meeting at the Stratford Speedway to check out the kind of fun you could have.
