A DRY afternoon greeted drivers, teams and fans as they gathered in large numbers for the final stock car meeting of the first half of the 2017 season at HRP Lochgelly Raceway on Saturday and it was crunch time with two Scottish Championships up for grabs, writes our Raceway reporter Les Waller.

These featured the Unlimited National Bangers and Reliant Robins having their title races while the Superstox, 1300 Stock Cars and Ninja Karts were also in action.

The Ninja Karts got proceedings underway with their pre-meeting whites and yellows race and it was a dominant win in the end for Toby Tyson who took victory ahead of Theo Barker and Kaydan Day.

The first heat saw the reds and blues join some of the white and yellow graded drivers and it was Kaitlyn Smart who made a great deal of the running before the fast moving start drivers carved their way to the front of the pack, as the chequered flag fell, it was National Points and Scottish Champion Charlie Hardie, who claimed the win ahead of European, British and East Anglian Champion Robbie Armit and Scott Allardyce in one of Scott’s final meetings before graduating to the Ministox later in the summer.

The second heat saw Whites and Yellows Race winner Tyson streak away from his advantageous starting position and it looked for much of the race as if he would hold on for the win but Hardie had other ideas as he charged to the front once again to take his second win of the night from Bailey Millar and Rachel Kidd with Tyson holding on for fourth.

The last heat for the Ninja Karts saw Hardie claim his third win on the night with another fantastic drive as he held off the challenge of Lennon Grant who finished second with Tyson securing another excellent result with third.

Six of the top HRP Ninjas will now head to Ipswich to challenge in the Stars of the Future Races as part of Ipswich Spedeweekend and hopefully one of the young Scots will bring the title home in time for their return to action at HRP Lochgelly Raceway on July 15.

The Reliant Robins made their annual appearance for their Scottish Championship and, despite a low turnout of cars as these types of vehicles become increasingly rare and expensive, the drivers did their best to entertain the large crowd.

Scott Russell managed to take the big win despite a huge rollover which saw most of his Del Boy Trotter replica’s bodywork lying on the HRP tarmac. Dale Russell took the win in the next race before another race with a few rollovers was taken by Scott Russell. Just reward for the efforts of these two drivers who had travelled hundreds of miles to race.

The Superstox were in action for the final time before some Scottish drivers contest the National Championship at Ipswich this weekend. Chris Hay, in the borrowed Barry Stephen machine, and Chris Cuthbert made most of the running in the early stages of this race from their white grade starting positions. Former Scottish Champion Colin Frame had made an excellent start and managed to overhaul the early leaders to secure another win in 2017 with David Frame and Chris Miller claiming the remaining podium positions in a race punctuated by a big impact for Ally Noble while Tony Lattka and Stuart Gilchrist also failed to go the distance.

Heat Two saw Cuthbert and Hay make most of the early running once again while the blues and reds battled among themselves. Current National Points Champion Stuart Gilchrist broke free from the pack to chase down the leaders and, after failing to finish heat one, take the flag for his first win of the night with Colin Frame and Lewis Willacy finishing second and third.

The feature final was another lively race with the bumpers flying in but it was Gilchrist who eventually managed to overhaul a fast-moving Willacy to take his second win of the night with Colin Frame completing an excellent set of results in second while Willacy held on for a fine third.

The Unlimited National Bangers made a return to HRP Lochgelly Raceway after being absent for a couple of years and it was a big event with their Scottish Championship up for grabs which would also see the winner seeded straight into the World Championship later in the year. Two of England’s top stars had made the trip north and it was Kyle Overy who made short work of those in front of him to lead the race from Lee Usher as these two big names screamed around HRP Lochgelly Raceway with Usher eating into Overy’s lead lap by lap.

The pivotal moment of the race came in the closing stages when it looked like Overy and Usher got caught up together and slid into the turn three Armco which allowed Scotland’s own Steve Allan through to take a huge win and the title of 2017 Scottish Champion! Overy picked up a win in heat one while Allan doubled up with victory in heat two before rounding off a great night of results with a win in the Demolition Derby.

The 1300 Stock Cars were the final formula on show and they have a busy second half of the season with their Scottish and World Championships being held at HRP Lochgelly Raceway. However, interest has been maintained in the early stages of the season with the £1000 MR Coachworks and Ringtone Racepaints Series which was to conclude last week in thrilling style. The drivers were lined up in points order for their final race with Euan and Andrew Mathieson forming the front row with Craig Haxton starting third all in with a mathematical chance of claiming the Series and the big money that would go with it while the winner of the race itself would claim a cool £150!!! The expected chaos ensued with some big hits going in which eliminated Euan Mathieson with front end damage while Haxton also ended up on the infield this left Andrew Mathieson to claim the win and the big money as he crossed the line ahead of Billy Wilson and Lee McGill who enjoyed a race-long battle. Andrew Mathieson also took home the money as the Series winner while Euan Mathieson took second and Craig Haxton third.

The other two heats belonged to Lee McGill as he took victory in both races after chasing down a flying Craig Jones in both instances. There was an extra race scheduled which was a dash for cash race and, after a chaotic start, it was McGill who came through once more to round off a great night in his new HRD car. Some of the 1300 Stock Car drivers will now head south to battle for the Supreme Championship.

A cracking way too bring the curtain down on the first half of the season at HRP Lochgelly Raceway. Racing resumes on Saturday July 15th with the Superstox contesting the Thomas Michie Memorial Trophy while the National Hot Rods begin their world championship campaign for 2018. The Ministox, ProStocks and Ninja Karts make up the remainder of what should be a fantastic five formula event on July 15 at HRP Lochgelly Raceway.