Rees Race Cars

Limited Edition - available at Teams Champs...

WELCOME TO THE REES RACE CARS WEBSITE

Rees Race Cars build the most affordable and reliable Stockcars and Superstocks in the country. We build to our customer's requirements, which have previously included:

Complete turn key Stockcars that are ready to race
Stockcars built using client-supplied steel
Tacked up chassis ready to be finished off by the customer

We supply & fit the excellent range of Racetech seats. We can also custom-make bellhousings and will undertake any form of speedway engineering or repairs.

Give me a call on 06 329 9720 or email contact@reesracecars.co.nz and we can discuss your requirements.

Latest News: 4 x 1NZ!!!!

Well here we are a few days after the NZ Stockcar Champs, with the trophy back in my shed for another stint. To be honest, it still hasn't really sunk in as this was one title I didn't expect to be winning. Rotorua is such a great track, but if someone wants to really get you, then they usually do because there is nowhere to hide.

Boxing night before the NZ Champs had ended badly, with the Superstock engine sounding terminal after the second heat at Palmerston North. So that was on my mind as we trucked up to Rotorua, and when we got there plenty of others were having issues with their engines too. Thankfully the Tank breezed through scrutineering, and the first qualifying heat. When I punctured in heat two though I thought it was all over, with only the top 4 making it through to the finals.

Still had to go for it though as we were sitting in eighth place, and thanks to some help from the likes of Jay Knight who did some great blockwork in heat three, we managed to qualify third overall. Taylor Lampp was pretty close to making the cut too, which was a good effort.

Next morning we had some engine testing, and once that was passed it was back to the track to prepare for the finals. With quite a few Palmy cars in the finals, I figured it would be a fun night. We'd either be up there ourselves, or be able to have a great time helping others.

In heat one of the finals I managed to spot a few gaps early, but I wasn't too excited with fourth place because Jordan Dare and Mitchell Hill were clearly faster than me. The competition is getting tougher all the time, and these young guys weigh quite a bit less, which is a big advantage. Asher's car/driver combo is nearly 100kg less than mine, with two lots of ballast on his chassis to make the minimum weight.

Anyway, things were moving quite nicely in heat two, as I was leading the field as the laps wore down. However, as I mentioned in some of the post-meeting interviews, I made the biggest mistake of the night in this race, by trusting Paul Gaskin. We'd had a chat beforehand, and I was under the impression we'd be leaving each other alone, but partway through the corner I realised that was a major error!

So once again it was time to struggle across the line for points, and see how things would pan out. Obviously I've been asked plenty of times since about what I thought about the hit, so to summarise again in brief:

1) I couldn't tell from where I was sitting, but
2) I don't believe Paul is a cheat, and
3) Payback's a bitch!

Back in the pits and it was obvious the Sound Autos Tank had sustained some quite heavy damage (diff, fuel tank etc), but the crew got working on it while we looked at the points and tried to work out what would happen in heat three. From a position of strength in heat one where six of the top seven were Palmy cars, there were now really only Jordy, Shane Simpson and myself in the top six, so I really had to just put my head down and go for it again.

Heat three was a really busy race to be involved in. There were a few out to get me, a behind Rodney Smyth made his intentions clear off the startline. So the next time I saw him he got a good punt, although as he went into the wall he took out Stewart Rackham (29p) too. Sorry about that Stu!

It wasn't until I saw Jordy in the wall with a couple of laps to go that I thought I might have a chance, and although I would have been happy to follow him home, it was great to take the win again. Jordan's got a heap of racing ahead of him, so his time will come.

There are as always a heap of people to thank. On the track, the Palmy guys worked well in both qualifying and the finals, which made it so much easier. Wardy, Mitchell, BJ, Chev, Stu, Shane and Craig all played their part, and hopefully our Superstock drivers have taken note! I was stoked for Regan O'Brien to finally get a number on his car too, while Bernie Fox took heaps of punishment, so did extremely well to finish runner up.

Off the track, Sonja and the Rotorua club put on a near faultless meeting, which meant the driver's could go about their business without distraction. The crew did bloody well to get the car roadworthy, so we could enjoy the after-party into the wee hours of the morning. But by midday we were back home, and straight into pulling apart the Superstock engine. We needed to know what was wrong with it, as I was desperate to defend my NI title at Wellington on Jan 2 and 3.

Plan A at that stage was to put in some big hours finishing off the Superstock Tank, but as it turned out the engine wasn't as damaged as first thought, so it's already back in the spaceframe and ready to go. We've now been able to have a more leisurely week, prepping the Stockcar for the Teams Champs this weekend, and getting ready for the trip to Wellington before that.