A last-race dash was enough for Jess Cromb to be crowned Otago youth ministocks champion at Beachlands Speedway on Saturday night.
Cromb was left with plenty of work to do going into the final heat of three, chasing Samuel Kelly, who won the first two heats.
However, a black flag for Kelly in the final heat opened the door for Cromb and she saw off the challenge of Josh Sutherland to claim the last heat and the overall title.
The other feature category of the night was the streetstock ''Bash at the Beach'', which went the way of Brett Bower, who recorded finishes in all three podium positions over the three heats.
Consistency was the key for Mark Newall, who won one heat of the saloons and finished second in the other two heats to take the overall victory ahead of Aaron Andrews.
Beachlands Speedway secretary Paula Duncan said ''a couple of rain-out days'' had meant the track had not hosted as many meetings as it would have liked so far this season, but the first two months of 2015 were looking promising.
Beachlands returns with the Saloon Slam headlining the January 10 meeting and another night of racing on January 18 before the South Island super saloon championships and the New Zealand Streetstock GP come to Beachlands on February 20-21.
''That's going to be a very large meeting,'' Duncan said.
The speedway had attracted a ''few new drivers'' this season, which started in October and finishes in April.
