Couper (19) and his father Shaun both race in the six shooters class and last weekend were part of the field at the Central Motor Speedway club championships, in Cromwell.
Brayden, who is in his third season of racing six shooters — which have 3.6-litre V6 Commodore engines — finished third overall in the six shooters on Saturday, and is aiming for a top three finish based on points for the entire season, which finishes in April.
Almost halfway through an engineering fabrication sheet metal apprenticeship, he has been racing at the Cromwell speedway since he was 12, starting out in youth ministocks. He helped build his own ministock and has spent years doing up — "panel, paint, motor, gearbox, exhaust . . ." — another car at home, a Holden HG Kingswood. Brayden said it sometimes got "pretty competitive" with his father on the racetrack, but Brayden was usually the one who "wants to win", and his father was "more in it for fun".
"I usually get out in front of him."
Shaun said his son had a "little bit more experience" than he did.
"I just want to have fun."
One of the speedway organisers, Jo Gaudion, said the championships had gone well this year, including the inaugural South Island Production Championships. The production championship was won by Dylan Mountney, of Invercargill.
