The idea of the Scottish Legends, who will be part of the 50th anniversary of stock car racing arriving in Cowdenbeath, came about after ex-saloon driver Ian Robertson attended the funeral of Malky Chesher where he met up with quite a few acquaintances from the days when he raced.

Unfortunately Kenny Ireland suffered a heart attack at the funeral and had to be rushed to hospital.

After a few telephone calls Willie Anderson, Duncan Shand, Alison Devlin and Ian Robertson decided that they would try to make arrangements where stock cars drivers could meet up, swap stories, remember some of their track experiences and reminisce about the racing rather than just to meet up at funerals.

The task was an enormous one but the concept snowballed and soon there were websites set up and a database of well over 100 drivers, reporters, officials etc. formed. The first Legends day was held at Lochgelly Raceway last year and was well attended and proved to be popular not only with the drivers but the spectators as well. This year Scottish Legends 2 looks as if it could well exceed all expectations especially as it coincides with the 50th Anniversary of the first stock car meeting at Cowdenbeath on Saturday 15th August.

At this time there is a list of over 160 interested drivers and officials and the numbers are increasing daily.

All three of those who formed the Legends committee have raced stock cars at one time or another and Willie Anderson recalled, “I was still at school when I first started racing.

“I didn’t have a driving licence and really learned to drive on a stock car track, something that applies to quite a few stock car drivers.

“My father bought me an Anglia which had belonged to Don Keddie and we took a trip from Kinross to Townhill to pick it up. It cost us the princely sum of £35, which was quite a lot in 1974. The car lasted one race! Billy Gray climbed up the side of me and I ended up rolling the car and just destroyed it”.

He added, “My second car was a Cortina and I raced that for a while before Duncan Shand and I shared the car. I never scored many points but I loved my white roof. The camaraderie was great and if your car was damaged there were always plenty of people to help you get it sorted”.

“One day when I was working on my car in the pits I saw my Maths teacher walk by. I didn’t let on but he kept looking at me. At school on the Monday he quizzed me and I admitted that it was my car. We didn’t spend much time on maths that day!!

“I retired from racing in 1981 and didn’t go back to spectate until 2000, but since then I have been a regular visitor to the tracks and get a lot of pleasure out of the legends set up.” Duncan Shand on the other hand started out in bangers in 1977. “I only raced for two years. My first year was in the bangers and my first car was the Anglia that I had used on the road.

“I was leading my first race when a spun car hit me head-on and wrecked my motor. I remember it getting loaded onto the Cordy’s truck. I got £3.00 for it! That season I raced whatever I could get. Sometimes we were taking the glass out of the car at the track. My second year I shared a saloon with Willie but I had qualified to be an area air traffic controller at Prestwick so that was my stock car career over”.

Ian Roberston started his career at Newtongrange in the minis in 1981 where he joined his elder brother Duncan, sharing a car at the start. It was no surprise that the boys started racing after all their father, “Diesel Jock” Robertson, raced saloons at Cowdenbeath.

Jock’s wife Sadie used to bring Duncan and Ian to Cowdenbeath when they were kids and instead of using paper hankies she brought a toilet roll with her always to coincide with Jock’s roof colour!

Ian moved to saloons when he retired from the minis and went on to win the Scottish Championship in the saloons, using a Toyota 1000 and then the Scottish banger Championship. It was some feat to be a double Scottish Champion – even although it was for only one week! Ian’s claim to fame came in the bangers where he came up against the Stinkbridge team which included Rob and Wilf Speak.

One night, after his banger had been wrecked by Speak, he jumped onto the tractor and chased the Speak banger down the back straight before deciding that discretion was the best form of valour and left the oval.

Ian then raced at the Crimond Raceway in the North of Scotland and then at Lochgelly before retiring to allow his offspring Mhairi and Jack to start their racing careers.