THE stock car meeting at The Racewall, Cowdenbeath, turned out to be an action packed affair with Lee Wilson rolling his car spectacularly on the main straight after a brush with the wall and then another car, writes our Racewall scribe Jim Turner.

Undaunted Wilson was back out for the final but struggled with a car that didn’t handle!

The ORCi Stock Rod drivers were in top form with 28 cars on the track including the World Champion Stephen McCready, from Northern Ireland, along with fellow countrymen Andrew Morrow and Shea Duff whilst Keith Channon, Levi Robinson and Callum Hosie had travelled from the South West.

Colin Wotherspoon, Kevin Hutchison and Alan Robertson were making their debuts in the 1300 saloons whilst Amanda Moyes was having a run in the hire car to swell their numbers to 16 and with still a few drivers either missing or not yet ready to race.

Colin Gregg and John Broatch were back up from the North of England with their BriSCA Formula II cars whilst the British Champion Chris Burgoyne was having his first outing since winning the title at Mildenhall.

There were three late call-offs in the Formula IIs but there were still 16 drivers at the track including local drivers Paul Reid (Cowdenbeath) and Ian Thompson (Kennoway).

The first heat was led off by Colin Forbes but he lost out to Colin Gregg, who had Emma Mellis looking for a way through. Garry Sime was running ahead of Steven Burgoyne but he latter tangled with Craig Wallace resulting in both retiring.

Sime then went through to win from Chris Burgoyne and Gregg with Thompson in fifth and Reid in ninth place. S. Burgoyne then went through to win heat two from Sime and John Hogg with neither of the Fife drivers placed.

The final turned out to be a hectic race and produced some fast and close dicing. Forbes led the cars away when the race started but it again developed into a dice between Mellis and Gregg.

S. Burgoyne was soon leading the chase after the cars ahead whilst further down the order Adam Blacklock and C. Burgoyne tangled with the latter having to retire. At the front S. Burgoyne went through to win his third Racewall final in succession and he led home Sime and Hogg.

Wallace went through to win the Grand National from Mellis and Euan Millar with S. Burgoyne ending up in sixth place despite having to start the race with a lap handicap.

There was a good turn out of 2 Litre National Saloons and they as usual were not afraid to make contact resulting in a few cars spinning. Local drivers on the grid included Raymond Dick (Glenrothes), Ross Watters (Leven) and Alex Cunningham (Leven).

The first heat was led off by Holly Glen and she led the race until the closing stages when Cunningham caught and passed her.

However, when Tam Rutherford Jnr made his bid for the win he only succeeded in tee boning Cunningham which let Watters through to win from Ian McLaughlin and Barry Glen.

Heat two followed a similar pattern although when Watters made his bid to gain a place he was caught up with Jason Secker and had to retire minus a front wheel. Cunningham was sent spinning and the collected by McLaughlin suspending the race. Aaryn Triggs led the cars away on the restart went through to win from B. Glen and Secker with Dick in eighth place.

The final proved to be high speed with quite a bit of contact and at the end Ian McLaughlin and Rutherford Jnr fell out and had a spate of pushing and shoving after the race was over. H. Glen led the field away when the final started from Rutherford Jnr and they stayed in that order until Watters took over at the front of the pack. He then went on to win from B. then H. Glen.

There was the biggest field of the season in the ORCi some 28 in total and apart from the visitors, Chris Wallace, Rob Conway, Ian Taylor and Dean McGill were having their first outings of the season.

The racing proved to be close and fast and often there were groups of six or more cars running nose to tail. Amongst those racing were James Matson (Glenrothes), Lee McGill (Glenrothes), Ross Finlay (Glenrothes), Dean McGill (East Wemyss), Chris Wallace (Buckhaven), Stuart Wedderburn (Leven) and Michael Bethune (Kirkcaldy).

The opening heat saw L. McGill go through to win although he had Bethune and McCready in close order as they crossed the finish line with Wedderburn in ninth place. In heat two Matson and Bethune got delayed whilst lapping back markers and as a result McCready nipped through to win from Matson and Bethune with Wedderburn in tenth spot.

When the final started Channon was the first to show from Paul Prentice but first heat winner McGill was sent into a spin and out of the race. Cameron Doak and Morrow tangled resulting in both retiring with Matson moving into second but a distance behind Channon but had Duff in close order.

Duff dived through into second place but had Matson sticking to his back bumper as they slowly caught the leader. Once they had Matson began to look for a way around Duff but all the while McCready, who had got ahead of Bethune, was closing the gap. On the last lap Matson made a determined bid to get ahead but Duff held on for an exciting win with McCready finishing in third spot with Bethune in seventh place. The winner received a tyre courtesy of Gilmore Engineering.

The 1300 Saloon drivers were in top form with 16 drivers in action. Jeff Cosans was having his first outing of the year but ran into troubles after heat one and had to retire. Local drivers in action were Lee Wilson (Comrie), Jeff Cosans (Dunfermline), Michael Byers (Methil), Amanda Moyes (Cowdenbeath), Dale Burt (Lochgelly), James Ellis (Cowdenbeath), Kevin Hutchison (Kirkcaldy), Colin Wotherspoon (Kelty), Alan Robertson (Glenrothes) and Arron Hastie (Ceres).

Robertson led the cars away when heat one started but in the end Ellis went on to win from Grant McGowan, Hastie, Wotherspoon and Wilson with Robertson in ninth place. Heat two saw Hutchison lead but after Wilson rolled spectacularly the race was suspended. Hastie spun on the restart with Ellis going through to win from McGowan and Wotherspoon and Burt with Hutchison in seventh place.

Wilson was back out for the final with Robertson leading the field away but had Michael Byers in close order and next time around the lead had changed hands. However, Robertson got himself back into the lead whilst farther back McGowan was making steady progress through the field. Ellis was sent wide as he moved into the top five and a few laps later he was challenging for the lead. Once he got clear McGowan went on to win from Ellis, Fraser Clark, Wotherspoon, Byers and Hastie with Robertson in eighth where he was just clear of Burt and Hutchison.

The Prostock drivers were nothing if not entertaining with numerous spins and shunts. Amongst those racing were Scott Gordon (Glenrothes), Graham Fleming (Kirkcaldy), Ian Christie (Kirkcaldy), Darren Rae (Lochgelly), Graham Watt (Inverkeithing) and Paul Barron (Cowdenbeath).

John Taylor went through to win the opening heat where he led home from Andrew Webster and Barron with Rae in fourth and Gordon seventh. In heat two Scott Wilson just fended off a late challenge from Barron to win with Gordon finishing in third place ahead of Rae and Christie and Watt.

At the start to the final Barron was sent spinning and then hit by Robert Hamilton who also retired whilst Rae had somehow managed to get caught up and limped around for the remainder of the race with punctures. Taylor was in the lead going on to win the final from Wilson, Gordon and Christie with watt in sixth place.

Next Saturday is going to be another busy night with another five formula programme. The Ministox take centre stage when they race in their Keir Millar Memorial Series whilst the National Hot rod drivers have a World Championship Qualifying round to contest. The Formula IIs and 2 Litre National saloons return and they are joined on the grid by the Micro F2s. The meeting is scheduled to start at 5.45pm.