CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

By Pete McNae

The last time Dale Robertson raced at the Top of the South Speedway, he created quite an impression ... on the turn 2 concrete and the siderails of Jack Miers' 88P superstock.

Miers – from the family behind PTS Transport, the backers of this weekend's PTS Superstock Stampede at the Milestone Homes Top of the South Speedway -- might have played a part in Robertson missing qualification for the final 26 at the New Zealand Superstock Championships here in the summer of 2012-13. Miers spun the 89W car in an earlier heat, meaning it was going to be consolation racing only for the Wellington driver.

“That meeting didn't really go to plan,” Robertson said, “and I think I felt Jacko had turned me around for no particular purpose. I was brassed off with myself and I needed someone to blame. In superstocks, you usually get the chance to right any wrongs pretty quickly and Jack just happened to be the car in front of me in the next race up.”

What transpired was a full-noise dive bomb that saw both cars airborne, sparks and parts flying and one of the great photographs from that meeting.

“When you make your mind up to go, you need to be pretty committed,” says the 42-year-old business owner of Wellington Toyota Dismantlers.

That commitment has worked out well for Robertson across a 26-year speedway career. Check this out ... 1NZ, 2NZ and 3NZ in stockcars, along with 2GP and a couple of North Island titles and a remarkable eight national teams racing championships with the Wellington Young Guns, including five straight and seven in eight seasons. Add in 1GP, 2GP and 3GP plus first and third in the North Island in superstocks and Robertson clearly knows his way around a racetrack.

This weekend, he makes his first trip back to Nelson in nine long summers in the ever-immaculate Lintern-Nissan. Wait, what? A Toyota wrecker using a Nissan race motor?

“The Toyotas have as much power but you have to push them,” he said. “With the Nissan, there's a lot bigger power band and torque curve. I'd seen some in-car video from the Nissans, the Rees boys and Jason Long and the like, and I thought 'these guys are onto something'. It looked like they had more up their sleeves.

“Hartley has built us a good motor and this is our second Lintern chassis, Rob [Lintern] can be a bit picky with who he builds for but he turns out a beautiful car, so we are happy with the package we have out there.”

Robertson doesn't have to go far to have his racing critiqued. His partner is Belinda Robertson, daughter of Graeme Gaskin and sister of Paul and Richard, all champion speedway competitors in their own right. Daughters Ashlee and Ella are top racers, Ashlee in a stockcar while 15-year-old Ella will also be in Nelson this weekend to contest the Cando Fishing Ministock Mania. Ashlee's fiancé, Josh Patterson, runs a superstock sponsored by Friday Homes, Ashlee's employer and a big supporter of superstock racing in the capital.

“You do start to wonder if we have much else going on,” Robertson laughs. “It can lead to some pretty good chat, Christmas is coming up so I had better get my smart remarks ready.”

Taking away some of the Miers' family and Nelson Speedway Association's prize money this weekend would be a handy ice-breaker for the Christmas conversations, though. Robertson is surprised it has taken nine years to get back to the top of the south.

Part of that is down to Nelson's drop-off in superstock numbers meaning there weren't many reasons to cross the strait to race, another part is the fact Robertson still tries to run a stockcar and a super meaning there is always a race date somewhere near for one of the cars and a third part was bad timing and bad luck.

“Nelson had the GP three years back and we were in the South Island for the NZs (Woodford Glen 2018-19) but work was busy and we just had to load up and head straight back.”

The Stampede is part of the Nelson Speedway Association's effort to rebuild the superstock class locally. A lot of talent stepped away from the class across a couple of seasons, through retirement, injury and loss of interest and the cupboard became fairly bare. The numbers are trending back up, partly due to the commitment to this event. Robertson knows what the Nelson club is going through.

Wellington was a superstock stronghold but suffered a similar drift away. The efforts of Tony McLanachan and Nathan Heyburn to revitalise teams racing through the Wildcats created a bit of a bounce that Robertson and others are working hard to sustain.

“We've had guys come into the class and not stay and, even this season, we have had a stand-down while we get the numbers,” he said. “There are cars around but we need to get them all in the same place at the same time. It's been slow on the uptake so far this season.

“But it has been great to have the likes of Keegan and Ethan [Levien, who have both entered the Stampede] come over from that stockcar background .... those boys bring an energy and excitement that rubs off on us and they love to team race, which is fine with me.”

Robertson has dealt with a couple of concerning injuries in recent seasons, due in part to that “pretty committed” approach he spoke of earlier. There was one bad knock-out but a teams racing shunt contributed to blurred vision that was worrying. He had suffered nerve damage behind one eye but Robertson has been given the big green light from a neurological specialist more used to dealing with injured rugby players and boxers.

That's a great outcome for a competitor whose passion for speedway hasn't dimmed through 26 seasons. And it's the spike in superstock competition that has kept the fuse alight.

“I love the stockcar but driver ability can get you through even when you don't have everything else spot on,” Robertson says, “but you can't get away with that in superstocks now.

“The drivers are so good and the cars are so close and the interest and the competitiveness is so high that you need to have everything going your way to do well, all the preparation, all the right gear and a good helping of luck.”

Preparation will never be an issue with the 89W team. McLanachan's wise words that “races are lost and won in the shed” have stayed with Robertson and he and core crew member Martin Crooks put in the time to have the car on point while sole sponsor Larsen's Panel and Paint has kitted out every single Robertson race car over 26 years.

“I haven't really chased sponsors over the years, I like the fact I don't have to please anybody,” he says. Except for the fans in the stands at Nelson this weekend, maybe.

• This weekend's race programme for the PTS Superstock Stampede also features a huge field in the Cando Fishing Ministock Mania, the Richmond Exhaust and Radiator Specialists streetstock triples, the mighty historic stockcars, backed by Donaldson Civil, plus Saturday's open club champs for stockcars and open racing for the TQ midgets and sidechairs with the production saloons running Friday only. As the Nelson Speedway Association is now running under the national traffic light system, vaccine passes are required for all competitors, officials, volunteers, track staff and spectators. Please be patient with gate staff – they are only following rules.

• For those unable to attend in person, the meeting will be livestreamed by the team from The Pits Media. Visit their website at https://www.thepits.racing.org.nz

Track photos: Coopers Shotz and Danny Wood Photography

Article added: Wednesday 08 December 2021