California teenager Joel Myers Jr wasted no time finding the quickest way around New Zealand’s fastest dirt oval on Saturday night.

The reigning New Zealand champ who races for the Te Anau-based Daniel Anderson Racing team was the top qualifier for the Boss Powdercoating North Island Sprint Car Championship at Baypark Speedway, before racing to a flag-to-flag victory in the 25-lap final.

While the 18-year-old has achieved a string of wins across three seasons of racing in New Zealand, he hadn’t raced at the Mount Maunganui venue before.

“It feels really good to win at a track I haven’t raced on before, and also to win a title I haven’t won before,” Myers said.

In the 25-lap final Myers broke free from the rest of the field running a high line, a move which helped him in the early phase of negotiating the lapped traffic.

“This track is a bit more like the ones I race on at home. It’s higher speed and the air has more effect on the cars,” Myers said.

“The high line was really good in the first half of the race, but then it started getting quite dirty and a kerb started to build up.”

Along with his win Myers also clocked Baypark’s fastest lap of the season, a 13.258secs effort while winning his second heat race.

“We didn’t touch the car all night. We ran the same set-up we run everywhere, and Max (Daniel Anderson Racing team-mate Max Guilford) helped us with the right gear to run here.”

Myers had no issues defending the lead on two late race restarts to clinch the title ahead of former New Zealand champions Michael Pickens (Auckland) and Jamie Larsen (Kapiti).

Michael Pickens on his way to a runner-up finish in the North Island Sprint Car Championship at Baypark Speedway on Saturday night, March 8, 2025. Photo: Stuart Whitaker/The Write Angle.

A late race mover was California’s Jonathan Allard who leapt from sixth to fourth in the final two restarts while Hamilton’s Daniel Thomas passed Guilford on the final lap to take fifth spot.

The Midget Car feature race produced a first time winner with smooth-driving Aucklander Corbin Anderson making a move to the front on the opening lap and racing clear in an uninterrupted 20-lapper to lead home Trent Way (Auckland) and Mitch Fabish (Te Awamutu).

A tight battle over three races to decide the BOP Super Stock title saw Tauranga racer Ryan Hunt prevail with a 71 point total to edge out Luke Alderdice by two points. A fastest lap tie-breaker settled the third placing with Ross Ashby pipping Justin Herbert for the final podium spot.

The next meeting at Baypark Speedway is the Bay Mayhem and BOP Champs event on Saturday March 29.