Twelve hours of track action praised by drivers and officials as Rockingham racing goes into the evening
Rockingham’s evening Pickup Truck races last weekend were hailed a success by drivers and officials, with organisers looking at arranging other similar events.
The 20-minute Pickups contest was the finale to a one-day British Automobile Racing Club meeting at Rockingham, that featured over 12 hours of track action. A tea break was held around 1730hrs and after that the Junior Saloon Car Championship, Classic Touring Car Racing Club and Pickups all had evening races with the meeting concluding at 2130hrs.
Another BARC meeting featuring Pickups on August 4 will also include evening races and if that is also successful then the club will consider more similar events in the future.
While the format was well-received, there was disappointment at the lack of a crowd.
“It was great but I can’t understand why people don’t come,” said veteran Pickup racer and former Thundersaloons champion Pete Stevens. “We get a crowd at Buxton for short ovals in December, but here we have all the facilities and good racing too, but hardly anybody here.”
Long-time Pickup racer Mark Willis added: “It was a brilliant night, getting back to the good old days. A great atmosphere and this evening format really works. If people can just support us, the whole Pickup thing could be great again.”
It was the first time the Pickups had run on the Rockingham oval this year and Pickup supremo Sonny Howard already has plans for the future.
“We are having a standalone Oval Championship again with five races helping to form the grid for the Grand Final on September 23,” he said. “We would like to run races at night with the whole track floodlit and create a real atmosphere.”
BARC’S Ian Watson echoed Howard’s views on the success. “It gave us a taste of what Pickups used to be like and could be again,” he said.
Oval rookie George Turiccki and defending champion Scott Bourne were both race winners, and so Bourne was given the privilege of performing donuts in front of the main stand to bring the evening to a close.