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Important update on 1476AMHow Christchurch missed opportunity to add wow factor to inaugural Supercars event
Savannah Lendich Jonkers • April 9th, 2026 1:16 pm
Sprintcar | Photo: Supplied
With Ruapuna now a pit stop on the Supercars circuit, you’d think it would be a no-brainer for the dirt track over the fence to host a speedway meet alongside it.
When you have thousands of motorsport fans in the same place, why not make the most out of it, draw the best economic return and likely the largest ever crowd to a fantastic club run speedway?
Generally those who love machines with wheels and engines follow many - if not all - forms of motorsport.
For three nights in Adelaide in December, spectators including myself were able to enjoy some of the world's best speedway drivers competing for the $AU126,000 ($NZ152,200) total prize pool.
With just a general admission ticket, fans had access to extensive entertainment inside the event precinct including NAPA Speedway, the Supercross Grand Final, an AC/DC concert and, of course, all of the Supercars action.
I was blown away by the events’ magnitude and how all involved turned a city central cricket ground into a pop-up speedway track almost overnight.
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Brodie Kostecki was in his bright red Dick Johnson Racing attire on the speedway infield, spinning spanners on a sprintcar after he finished Supercars practice.
I also stumbled across Matt Payne, Macaulay Jones and a large number of Supercar crew members at the speedway events.
It was great for fans to have an up-close experience with these drivers, away from the stressful demands of champion contention.
Kostecki has raced sprintcars numerous times in Perth, as has Cam Waters, who I watched compete at the Australian Sprintcar Title in 2024 in Warrnambool. Kiwis Andre Heimgartner and Ryan Wood have also raced speedway cars in recent years.
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The rescheduling means fans will also miss out o a chance to see some elite off-shore talent in action. Australian sprintcar champion Jock Goodyer will be at Ruapuna this week, as will last year's New Zealand sprintcar champion Max Guilford after returning to home soil after a full season throughout Australia, racing against some of the world's best.
Americans Jonathan Allard and Joel Myers Jr. are also among the sprintcar entrants. The class is accompanied by a stacked field of midget and three quarter midget cars, many of which are travelling from the upper North Island.
Sydney Speedway has previously collaborated with Supercars events so with a speedway track already in Ruapuna’s motorsport vicinity and stones strow away, why wouldn’t we utilise it?
Ruapuna Speedway originally began to plan an event, however the idea didn’t meet the expectations of the Christchurch City Council and their traffic management restrictions.
The speedway racing originally scheduled for next week will now take place over this weekend, clashing with the Taupo Supercars round.
With so much evidence of just how well these collaborations can work, it’s a genuine shame Christchurch has missed the trick for motorsport lovers.
Tune into Sport Nation for live commentary of the Supercars Championship in Taupo (April 11-12) and Christchurch (April 18-19).
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