A Tauranga builder has taken on some of the best sprint car race drivers in the world to win the New Zealand Sprint Car Championships.
Rodney Wood won the competition, which is the biggest sprint car racing competition of the year, in Cromwell over the weekend.

Rodney Wood raced this car to victory at the New Zealand Sprint Car Championships.

Top sprint car racing drivers from the US were participating in the event and were the overwhelming favourites to win the race.
“It was a very sweet victory because they were professional drivers from the US and they drive full-time for a living and go to 80 to 100 race meetings a year. They got beaten by myself and I’m just a local builder who races once a week during summer.”
Drivers in the competition accrued points in five heats and the top drivers moved on to a final feature race.
Rodney entered the feature race in first equal position with professional US driver Jonathan Allard.
Jonathan and the other professional US driver tailed Rodney in his first place position, which he maintained for the entirety of the 25 lap race.
“He (Jonathan Allard) only got close to me on one occasion. He has the talent and is one of the best, but I just got the car set up perfectly for the last race.”
“Getting your car set up properly is a crucial part of the package.”
Rodney only started sprint car racing four years ago and this is his first national title win.
He came second in the North Island Sprint Car Championships two years ago and came 7th at last year’s national championships.