THE stock car drivers revelled on a dry and fast track at the Cowdenbeath Racewall on Saturday night although by the close of the meeting it was getting decidedly chilly, writes our Racewall scribe Jim Turner.

There was plenty of action in the Rookie banger destruction derby when two cars exited the race in flames.

The first fire was a relatively small one but when Mark Dalgarno was in a head on shunt in his car his car erupted in flames and he quickly scrambled out of his car. The fire was quickly extinguished.

In the formula IIs when Gordon Moodie rode over the back wheel of Chris Burgoyne’s car both locked up and headed towards the wall where they came to rest.

In the formula IIs Adam Blacklock appeared in the Cranson car and for a few of the drivers it was to be their last race in their present grade with the changes due to take place on the first of the month. Local drivers were Kieran Howie (Dunfermline), Paul and Craig Reid (Cowdenbeath) and Gordon Moodie (Windygates).

When the opening heat got underway it was Craig Reid who was the initial leader but he soon lost out to Euan Millar. Burgoyne and Moodie swapped places a couple of times before Burgoyne caught and passed Millar.

Once ahead he went through to win from Moodie and Millar with P. Reid in seventh and just ahead of C. Reid whilst Howie ended up in ninth after a spin. Robbie Dawson was an early casualty when heat two when he bounced over the wheel of Stevie Forster whilst Chris Davidson led the cars away.

However, Millar was soon through into the lead from Howie but they were being caught by Burgoyne who had Moodie in close order. It wasn’t until the closing stages of the race that Burgoyne moved ahead to win from Moodie who relegated Millar to third a lap prior to the finish of the race with Howie finishing in fifth and P. Reid in tenth place.

The final had an explosive start to it with Moodie seemingly riding over the back wheel of Burgoyne’s car resulting in the latter spinning with both cars heading to the wall and suspending the race.

On the restart Davidson led with Millar in second but under pressure from Howie. Davidson was caught and relegated down the order but Millar was slowly edging away from Howie whilst Blacklock appeared in third. Liam Rennie was running ahead of Craig Wallace and they soon caught up with Howie and Blacklock.

Millar was now clear but Wallace was making up places and appeared in second on the penultimate lap. By then it was too late and Millar went on to pick up his first Racewall final win from Wallace and Howie with P. Reid in eighth place.

Burgoyne then won the Grand National from Moodie and Rennie with Howie in eighth ahead of P. Reid and Millar.

The saloon numbers were slightly lower than expected but they still served up some close and fast racing with local drivers Kyle Irvine (Glenrothes), Raymond Dick (Glenrothes), James Strath (Cellardykes) and Ross Watters (Leven) in action.

Dick led the cars away when heat one started but when he ended up perched upon the marker tyre the race was suspended. This left James Letford in the lead but he lost out to Watters.

There was a race suspension after Marc Honeyman and Barry Glen clashed but on the restart Watters opened up a gap before winning from Ian McLaughlin, Paul Honeyman, Strath and Irvine. In heat two Dick was the initial leader and whilst Kevin then James Letford led for a few laps in the end it was Strath who went on to win from Watters and J. Letford with Dick back in tenth place.

Dick led the cars away when the final started with the Letford’s in second and third. Strath was next along with J. Letford going into the lead. During the closing stages McLaughlin caught up with the leading cars sending Strath into a spin. McLaughlin then closed in on J. Letford and taking the lead. However, J. Letford managed to keep up with McLaughlin and harried him all the way to the finish line with little to separate the cars as they crossed the finish line with Watters in third, Irvine fifth, Strath ninth after being spun and Dick in tenth spot.

There was a good turn out of minis with Steven Burgoyne undefeated at the Racewall in three meetings. Local driver on the grid was Gary Paterson (Saline).

The first race was the “Dash for the tyre” with Tamzin Gordon the first to show but there was shunt on the pit bend which handed the lead to Mika Millar. Millar eased away from the field whilst behind Burgoyne, Sean Naismith and Teri Linden were scraping but still making headway through the field. Somehow Burgoyne managed to make a break from this group and began to reel in Millar. However, the laps dwindled and it was Millar who was the winner from Burgoyne and Luke McCallum with Paterson in eighth place.

Burgoyne came out on top in heat two where he crossed the finish line clear of Naismith and Linden with Paterson in sixth place but long time leader Millar’s car appeared to suffer a misfire when clear of the pack.

Naismith then won the third heat although he only took the lead on the run up to the finish line when he sent the Burgoyne car offline and just managed to get there before Burgoyne corrected the car with Linden again third whilst Paterson was again sixth.

In the microf2s there was another big turn out of drivers with Kerr Paterson (Saline) making his debut but was involved in a shunt in heat two and retired from the meeting. Other locals on the grid were Leon Muir (Thornton) and Rebecca Reid (Cowdenbeath).

The opening heat was suspended after a couple of cars spun but whilst Jamie Dawson was first home he was penalised for an indiscretion handing the win to Kara Russell from Muir and Dawson with Reid fifth. Lewis Clark Burgoyne then won heat two from Dawson and Ross McLaughlin with Muir in fifth and Reid in ninth place. The third heat was suspended early on after a couple of cars spun and before long quite a few others had joined in. On the restart Todd Anderson led but he was to be caught during the closing stages by Clark Burgoyne who then went on to his second win of the night. Anderson held on to second place with McLaughlin third and Muir in seventh place.

There was another good turn out of Rookie Bangers and they certainly entertained the fans.

Heat one saw Finlay Davidson go through to win from Mark Dalgarno and Stevie Allan. Dalgarno then went through to win heat two from Paul Murray and John Riddell.

Murray was the first to show when the final started but next time around Davidson was ahead but had Sean McConnachie closing and when the leader spun McConnachie led. Dalgarno then caught and spun the leader before going through to win from McConnachie and Allan.

There were a few hard shunts during the Destruction derby with Dalgarno sending a few cars out of the race. However, when John Riddell hit his car head on, fire erupted from under the bonnet and he made a speedy exit from the car. The fire was quickly extinguished with John Riddell being declared as the winner.

This weekend is the first of the speedweekend meetings and it is a championship one not to miss. The formula II Scottish Championship is being run on Saturday night with the meeting starting at 5pm. On Sunday the ORCi stock rods have their European Championship up for grabs.

* At the Barford track in the North east of England Jim Pitcaithly won the ORCi stock rod championship whilst Steven Burgoyne won the ministox version.