"That’s the good thing about being in the lead — you don’t get caught up in the carnage."
Dickson won the final of the 48th New Zealand Super Saloons Championships on Saturday out of a pack of 22.
Cromwell’s Central Motor Speedway boomed with 5000 people for the event, its largest crowd in more than 30 years of operation.
Dickson has raced in speedway for three years and his current car took him about four to five months to build.
Another Cromwell man, Shane McIntyre, has won the competition twice and placed third at the weekend, only being overtaken for second place in the final lap by Christchurch’s Richie Taylor.‘‘I’ve been driving them for about 30 years. They’ve changed a lot since then. Every year there’s new technology,’’ McIntyre said.
Through his business, Hypermac Racing, McIntyre built many of the vehicles on the track.
In about a week, he and partner Ariana Daniel will move to Blenheim to be more central for their North Island customers.
Ms Daniel, who was an organiser of the event, said the atmosphere was ‘‘just awesome’’.
It began on Friday with a pack of 44 before it was whittled down to 22 for the main event.
The final race was brutal, with only 10 finishing.‘‘We had a lot of crashes, and one guy with a broken arm, but they’re all fine,’’ she said.‘‘The cars are built super strong.’’There were no issues with the crowd, who all got ‘‘really into it’’, she said.
