224C Stockcar-Braden Lawton

3/04/2026 Woodfordglen Stockcar Shoot out

Last time we were here it didn’t go so well so we were super keen to get back on the horse!

Race one we were literally straight into it . We pulled pole and that’s where we somehow managed to stay and Sasha got to wave her first checkered flag for me. Super happy to get back on the horse!

Race two we started 12th and managed to come home in 4th

Race three we started 20th and got up to 6th

This got us into the shoot out with Hbomba and Tom McSherry

We managed to qualify as the top group with our combined points which meant we were last group to run off for first place.

Unfortunately due to a few factors the team we had a run off with only had one car still going . With this being said, I decided to let everyone go and see what happens, Shinnae aka Mrs Robb got spun coming out of turn two so I decided I’d jump on the pole line and see how the body took a couple tubings… managed to hold Mrs Robb up for Harley to get one lap up . To say I loved it was an understatement. Absolutely loved being back in the car and having a play and knowing the body was up to it .

Was cool to share the podium with a bunch of awesome lads and lasses and was also awesome to share the podium with a mate I went to school with and have our kids hold trophy’s up next to one another 💪🏻 .

5/04/2026 Nelson Speedway Easter

Not much to write about this one with the car being under power most the meeting ! Massive thanks to Jack and Troy carrying me for a podium finish 😂 hopefully get this sorted during the week to then head to Greymouth for king of the coast this weekend!

Big thanks to my wife for supporting and of course Sasha for her words of wisdom . Cheers to Reg, Bear and Blair for helping out 👌🏻

Thanks to my sponsors and those who support us

Oakleys Plumbing Supplies
Ace Performance
Award Movers
Nelson Fire Protection
Nexen Tyre NZ
Prolink Performance
Goodyear Autocare Nelson
Robb Race Cars & Repairs RRR
24/7 Plumbing & Drainage Ltd
Rowe Revivals

First of all I want to start off with congratulating the Cando Fishing Crushers for a mammoth effort in Rotorua coming home with the w and bringing it home! Absolutely fizzing for the team and couldn’t be more happy for them !

This weekend we attended the Friday of Nelson Speedway Association Inc. summer slam meeting where after three months off due to my mishap at Woodfordglen I was finally belting back up to spin some laps and make sure I was 100% . For all three I just went off the back of the pack and found my feet. By the third heat I was feeling pretty good and felt like I was spinning some decent laps. Big thanks to everyone for their support there is so many to thank but one is definitely my two girls Sasha and Shelby.

Thanks for everyone that helped over the night Reegan, Bear, Jarrod and all those around us .

Big thanks to my sponsors

Oakleys Plumbing Supplies
Nelson Fire Protection
Robb Race Cars & Repairs RRR
Prolink Performance
24/7 Plumbing & Drainage Ltd
Goodyear Autocare Nelson
Award Movers
Nexen Tyre NZ
Ace Performance

Unsure of our next outing but definitely looking forward to it !

Joys of Motorsport some might say, Friday we started on a high and on Saturday we definitely found the lows.

So many people to thank so might be a long one.

First of all my wife Shelby, having to fly down to Christchurch first thing Sunday and then sit with me through one of the hardest weeks we have had yet really means the world . With a total of Five broken ribs, T4 to T8 fractured vertebrae, crack on my C7 vertebrae, bruised lungs, cracked hip socket and slight blood on the brain and a major concussion, I’m definitely glad to be up and about and now finally at home . Feel super lucky and like I’ve used up one of my nine lives 😆.

Massive thank you to Steven Lennon and the Woodford Glen Speedway Association Inc. track staff for their exceptional response when the accident happened, it’s awesome to know when your up s**t creek and you need help these guys are going to be there super fast and do everything they can to help you. Amazing response and can’t thank them enough .

Christchurch hospital, the team of doctors that I had, the ICU nurses and the Ward 10 lady’s. I felt like I was in the best place I could be having you guys watch over me while I recovered. The flying doctor for their exceptional service.

Thanks to the multiple people that sent their best wishes and others who took time out of their day to call or message to check in on me I appreciate every single of one of you.

Dylan and Shinnae for popping up most days either to bring up food or just check in on me and Shelby . Really treasure having you guys as a part of our speedway family .

Harley for his first place Canterbury sash, Sasha loved it and has already found a spot in her room for it 😅

Currie and Aleisha my thanks can’t go far enough, for waiting next to my bed while I was getting scans even if it was 2am, to asking the nurses to shave my face while I was high as a kite 😆

Reegan and Karla for the same and figuring out which bone my M28 was 😆
Lacy for driving our Ute back to Nelson and watching Sasha making sure she somewhat stayed in routine .

And lastly all my sponsors and supporters, might be a wee while in between meetings but definitely determined to get back out there once the body is 110% .

Cheers Braden 🏁

Hi everyone, Bradens wife here with a little update.
Firstly a massive thank you goes out to everyone who helped out with Braden on Saturday evening at Woodford Glen with getting Braden what he needed before going into the ambulance, people who got the car into the trailer, getting his ute and trailer to a safe location and to everyone who helped after he was taken to the hospital, I was back home in Nelson with our daughter at the time and was unable to get down to Chch until midday Sunday so thank you to those who kept me updated and stayed with him until I was able to make it down, thank you to everyone who has reached out to check in on him, offered support to us, offered their homes and run around vehicles to us (mainly me), come in and visited him, offered help to get us back to Nelson and have even offered help with our daughter back at home. Its been extremely heartwarming and we’re so grateful for everyone who has been in touch so thank you all.

Braden fractured his T4 to T8 vertebrae in his back, broke 4 ribs, has a fracture in his hip socket and has bruised lungs. Considering, he is still cracking jokes and being a smart ass until he gets the giggle pains in his ribs or starts to nod off again🤭 He’s pretty chipper and is enjoying seeing people, will be quite the recovery journey but we’re taking it a day at a time at the moment.

Massive thanks to Dyl & Shinnae, best 5 laps of Bradens life until he got cocky with turn 3😆 Hope the car isn’t too damaged, the biggest of Bradens current worry🤦🏽‍♀️😆

Teams racing
What a rush, had an absolute ball and now understand when guys say they would rather teams race every weekend instead of individual !

First time ever lining up in Crushers kit, probably had too high of expectations of myself but I learnt heaps. We only got the one run and well the photo pretty much explains the result of the night plus a taste of what it’s like got me hooked much to the wife’s disgust. 🤣

Have to say a big thanks to the Cando Fishing Crushers team and all the boys, Liam, Kahu, Samuel, Housty, Huggies, Caleb and Troy . Wicked bunch of lads.

Thanks to all the lads that helped leading up to teams we literally pulled it completely to bits to check everything. Was a massive week leading up to it .

Shelby
Reegan
Cookie
Blair
Jordy
Thomas
Bear
Craig F
Currie
Pat
Jarred
Hayden
Brad

Big thanks to all the lads that come and helped crew on the night aswell . Car wouldn’t have been back out there without you all .

Lastly thanks to my own personal sponsors, even though you weren’t featured on the car you are still super appreciated as without you I wouldn’t be out there doing what I’m doing .

24/7 plumbing and drainage
Goodyear Nelson
Oakleys plumbing supplies
Rowe Revivals
Robbs Racecars
Nelson fire protection
Award Movers
Rodz ridez and restorationz
Bl graphics
Ace performance
Prolink performance
Nexen tyres

Fireworks Night Woodfordglen

Although fireworks were a no go for this meeting there was still plenty of good racing!

First race we completely missed set up being race one and not allowing for a very wet track we were well off the pace, we started mid pack and come home around 9th

Second race we started around the same position coming home in 4th finally getting the set up somewhat right .

Feature race we started off mid pack again due to our average result in the first one, we had a awesome battle with Dave Houston Racing for most of the race until we managed to get a gap coming home in 5th again leaving us 5th overall for the meeting.

Pretty stoked with our last two results at Woodford Glen Speedway Association Inc.

Massive thanks to the lads parked next to us giving us a hand to get us back out there after a slight issue with the diff .

Thanks to Reg for coming down and crewing and my partner coming down for this meeting .

Once again thanks to my sponsors and the people who supporort us

Goodyear Autocare Nelson
24/7 Plumbing & Drainage Ltd
Prolink Performance
Robb Race Cars & Repairs RRR
Ace Performance
Rowe Revivals
Oakleys Plumbing Supplies
Nelson Fire Protection
Nexen Tyre NZ
Award Movers
BL Graphics
Rodz Ridez & Restorationz

Was awesome to be back out there and not feel like a back marker for once. First of all I have to say a massive thanks to Dyl, Robb Race Cars & Repairs RRR, this guy and the people around him are bloody legends, The countless phone calls and questions I had for Dyl at stupid oclock and he is always happy to answer .

With a new season and a big one at that we decided to do a new look aswell, and man B Lennon has done a epic job! From BL Graphics

19th October-Opening meeting Woodford Glen Speedway

First race we started off grid 4, going into turn three we got a big punt from behind pushing us wide, then going into turn one and two we got clipped and turned around, unable to grab a gear straight away we sat there until the red come on due to another car in the wall, luckily the new rule gave us a chance to grab a gear and get our elbows up working our way up to 12th

Second race we started 15th

I knew we needed to get towards the front to get in the final heat, off the start we pushed like hell managing to pop out near the front going into turn three, we managed to sit in behind the fast guys and follow them making some wicked lap times coming home in 4th! This meant we made it into heat three!

Heat three
We knew we had to push hard again starting in mid pack as the field of cars is unreal this year, we managed to push down to the pole line off the start and have a pretty smooth race coming home in 5th! Meaning we got 5th overall out of 50 something cars. Super stoked with our results for our first meeting back!

Once again another thanks to Dyl for hooking us up with a pretty sharp donk from Ace Performance .

Massive thanks to my wife for her support from home whilst looking after our sick child and also a huge thanks to my brother for coming down and crewing and everything else he does to help, was a massive day/night .

The list of people I could thank individually is massive, you all know who you are 👌

As always, there’s more room for sponsors if there is anyone else who would be keen to throw a sticker on the car and contribute big or small everything helps. With a massive season ahead there will be plenty of advertising !

But of course
Oakleys Plumbing Supplies
24/7 Plumbing & Drainage Ltd
Goodyear Autocare Nelson
Prolink Performance
Nexen Tire
Robb Race Cars & Repairs RRR
Rodz Ridez & Restorationz
BL Graphics
Ace Performance
Award Movers
Rowe Revivals
Nelson Fire Protection

When your missus races the car for one meeting 😅🤦‍♂️

Queen Of The Clay 🏁👑
After getting rained out last year and not having a go in the stockcar since March 2024, I wasn’t really fussed on entering this years Queen of the Clay, after humming and haaing I thought bu**er it let’s give it a go. One practice in a friends paddock the weekend before and I was feeling pretty good about going out there. The day came and I was more nervous about doing this meeting than I was on my wedding day😅 Pulled grid 9 for race one, thankfully Moo Melissa pulled pole 😜, and I felt alright about a mid pack start.

Race one - Braden -“If something doesn’t feel right come to the pit gate.” What didn’t I do? Go to the pit gate when I couldn’t find any gears as soon as I got out onto the track 😆 Started the race after finding gears finally, tried to go to third during the race and the gear selector came out… thankfully where I ended up on the infield was in view of Braden and the boys so I waved it out the window at them like “uhh ok what do I do now” and hand movements of shoving it back in is what I got as a response. After a couple of attempts I somehow managed to get it back into the gearbox enough to get into a gear and finish the race! Came in to the pits afterwards stuck in second gear, thanks to Jack and the boys for sorting the gearbox out to get me back out for the night.

Race 2 - Started 15th on the grid, race went pretty smoothly slowly getting faster and picking up some confidence. Finished the race and had no damage, feeling good.

Race 3 - Started 2nd on the grid, mint, wasn’t sure how prepared I was to be off the front, I knew I was slower off the line and in general with this only being my third meeting so I didn’t want to get too much of a push and end up being a hazard. Managed to finish 9th out of 18, for me I was pretty stoked with that and got my lap times down from 22.5 seconds in race 1 to 18.5 seconds in race 3 so feeling good and confident after a clean third race.

Race 4 - Sh*ts and giggles race, first in best dressed for grids. Started off 5th, not right at the front but not right in the middle either. Felt confident starting the fourth race, first corner comes and I see Kylie has gone up on to her side on the straight, I forgot for a moment where I was and what I was doing cause my first thought was ‘Holy s**t how did she end up here?’ Quick jump back to reality and I thought ‘hmm if she comes back down and doesn’t flip on her lid I don’t think I want to be under her’ tried to get past her but just caught her on the front left corner as she came down and then with a couple of girls behind me they gave me the rear end hit and we were stopped and spun. It happened so fast I actually wasn’t sure what had happened at first, infield team came over to check I was alright and told me I was done as the front end was taken out. Bu**er, not even one lap in 😆 Got towed in after the race and a swarm of males followed to see the damage on the car, a few shocked faces and holy s**ts told me I had done a good job on it 😅 Maybe if Bear Craig hadn’t said ‘can you do something cool to make it worth watching’ before the race I would have put my foot down a bit more to make sure I didn’t get hit 😜😆

All in all I had heaps of fun! Good group of girls to race with, all friendly and bloody good drivers! Was awesome to be out with them being so new to racing. Big thanks to everyone who came out to crew for me, help with watching Sasha and to watch and support me having a go, means the world to have those people around. Can’t forget to thank all the lads who came round to help with repair duty on the car tonight, would have been a very long week in the shed otherwise (not for me but for Braden and Bear😜). Biggest thanks to Braden for letting me ruin your newly injected car on its first full meeting 😆😘

A very broken car, one broken thumb and a mild concussion later and I’d do it all over again 😁

Massive thanks to the sponsors of the night, Nelson Speedway for organising the meeting and to Repco for Sponsoring the Queen of the Clay, and to our sponsors;
24/7 Plumbing & Drainage Ltd
Oakleys Plumbing Supplies
Nelson Fire Protection
Nexen Tyre
Goodyear Autocare Nelson
Krammer Mechanical

📸 - BM Photography & JLS Photography