THE first half of the 2016 stock car season concluded at HRP Lochgelly Raceway with two fantastic events this past Friday and Sunday, writes our Raceway scribe Les Waller.

Friday saw early weekend visitors treated to a 12 race domestic event with plenty of entertainment on offer for all of the family.

The Ninja Karts were first on track for their whites and yellows race and it was Lanarkshire’s Logan Tweedie who claimed his first win ahead of Saline’s Jay Paterson and Evie Black from Midlothian. Peterhead’s Josh Bruce took a well-deserved victory in the first heat of the evening ahead of Polmont’s Lennon Grant and the on-form Paterson. Paterson underlined his recent form with an amazing win in heat two by just three one thousandths of a second from British Champion Charlie Hardie and West Lothian’s Robbie Armit. Bruce claimed a race-winning double as he took victory in the last race of the evening ahead of the high-flying Hardie and Armit.

The Ministox have been in excellent form at HRP Lochgelly Raceway in 2016 and this continued this past Friday. There was the welcome sight of Tom Gresinger, from the Midlands, on the grid with seconds to spare as traffic had delayed his arrival and he took a good fourth place but it was Dumfriesshire’s Euan Millar who took the win ahead of arch-rival Steven Burgoyne and a fast moving Sean Naismith.

Gresinger put all the traffic issues behind him and the rest of the field as he claimed his maiden win in heat two. The feature final was another fast-paced race with Burgoyne eventually coming out on top ahead of Naismith and Gresinger to round off a great evening for the Junior drivers.

The CC Rods were back in action with another excellent field of cars and it was Methil’s Ian Walle who added to his race wins for 2016 with victory in heat one ahead of Craig Watson and David McFarlane. Lanarkshire’s Ian Donaldson Jnr took the win in heat two as he beat Paul Muir and Walle to the line but Donaldson had to settle for fourth in the feature final as fellow Lanarkshire pilot Kevin Connor claimed another win for the year ahead of Walle and Jamie Brown.

The final formula on show were the 1300 Stock Cars for the first of two meetings in three days. The drivers got well and truly stuck in from the first green flag with National Points Champion Zak Gilmour dispatching Kevin Morrison in no uncertain terms in the first heat which was won by Kyle Hegg in the borrow HRD car of Lee Buchan. Somehow, Morrison and his team managed to get the car back to some sort of running order for heat two but, despite several; attempts, he was unable to exact revenge on Gilmour while nobody had an answer for Hegg who took a heat-winning double.

The feature final saw the big hits continue with Gilmour eliminating Jason Secker with a big hit in turns three and four and all this happened as Kyle Hegg continued on his merry way to claim a faultless hat-trick with Dean McGill and Marc Hughes rounding out the top three.

Sunday saw a beautiful sunny afternoon greet a huge crowd of spectators for one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the year as the mighty BriSCA F1 Stock Cars returned to HRP Lochgelly Raceway after a 2-year absence. These incredible machines have huge V8 engines and make for a spectacular sight around the tight confines of HRP’s circuit.

The Stoxkarts got the event underway under sunny skies with three back to back heats which were won by Timothy Faultless and Russell Sumner (x2). The feature final was run as part of the main meeting and gave the large crowd on hand a great spectacle despite the now torrential rain with the race being won by Kelvin Limb ahead of Ryan Jones and Thomas Gray.

The 1300 Stock Cars were back on hand this past Sunday and a good grid of cars arrived to do battle with Stirling’s Jason Secker taking another win in a fine 2016 season so far. The second heat was punctuated by some incredible action which some may argue went over the top at time. Craig Haxton was the main victim as a huge hit from Kevin Morrison saw Haxton needing medical attention while David Auld and Peter Low also went in for some big lunges as the race ended up with only seven finishers - Morrison was loaded for the day as a result of his actions with HRP due to discuss the incident this week. The feature final saw another win for Secker ahead of fast-moving Fife duo Kevin Baird and Paul Beaton.

The National Ministox were back in Scotland with the BriSCA F1 Stock Cars and were thoroughly entertaining throughout the weekend. Tyrone Evans claimed the first win at HRP Lochgelly Raceway on Sunday with Ben Chalkley and Liam Gilbank claiming the other heats. The Northern Championship was the final race for the youngsters and saw controversy at the end of the race as three of the top five cars were disqualified for rule infringements relating to ride height. This left National and Points Champion Courtney Witts as the Northern Champion with Chloe Serpell and Gillen Bullock filling the other podium spots.

Many were at HRP Lochgelly Raceway for one reason – the return of the BriSCA Formula One Stock Cars – these V8 monsters were able to complete their heats in the sunshine displaying amazing driving skills as well as clinical bumper-work. Yorkshire’s Paul Harrison, a former World Champion, took the first win with a controlled drive from the star grade to best Norfolk’s Matt Newson and Lancashire’s Stuart Smith at the line. The second heat saw Carluke’s Stuart Shevill jr make a good start but mechanical gremlins saw him pull off to the infield which gave Michael Steward a lead which he held on to all the way to the chequered flag to take the win ahead of Ben Riley and British Champion Frankie Wainman Jr. Heat three saw an excellent drive from Will Hunter as he headed the star grade drivers home in the closing stages after Shevill was caught in the latter stages of the race. Hunter took the win ahead of Wainman and Shevill who held on for an excellent third place. The feature final was a frantic race ran in monsoon conditions with the bumpers flying in all directions. Eventually European Champion Tom Harris made it to the head of the field and held on to the lead all the way to the chequered flag. Unfortunately, Harris failed post-race scrutineering which handed victory to mick Sworder ahead of Bradley Harrison who beat his dad Paul to the line in a fantastic race from the F1s. Their final race was the traditional Grand National racer which saw Sworder start from a lap handicap. Despite this he managed to battle his way to tenth by the end of the race which was won by Luke Davidson in his stunning machine to conclude a fantastix day and incredible weekend of stock car racing.

HRP Lochgelly Raceway now closes its doors for the summer break with the next slice of stock car action coming to the well-appointed venue on July 16th with the Superstox, 1300 Stock Cars, Ministox, Ninja Karts plus the National Hot Rods in their first world championship qualifier of the 2016/2017 campaign.