A TRADITONALLY cold and wet November evening greeted drivers, teams and fans as they gathered in massive numbers for the final stock car and banger event at HRP Lochgelly Raceway of 2014, writes Les Waller.

A mammoth 16 race programme and a spectacular fireworks display were the order of the day with a selection of formulas that offered something for all ages.

The first race of the day was actually run as pre-meeting entertainment but was arguably the most important race of the day as, for the second successive season, Hardie Race Promotions held a ladies race in 1300 Stock Cars.

Each of the 25 ladies who took part had raised funds for FORDS Care which is a charity that helps to support drivers and officials who are occasionally injured while bringing spectators the great entertainment that stock cars provide across the UK every year.

A random grid draw saw Amanda Mitchell take pole position and, in an action-packed race with several stoppages, Mitchell held her nerve and her lead to take the win from Laura Baird and Ashleigh Reid.

The top three received fantastic trophies from Dechmont Forklift Trucks, while every lady who took part received a commemorative, courtesy of Ringtone Racepaints.

FORDS Care have let us know that, with money still pouring in, last year’s total of £2400 has been well and truly smashed which is a fantastic effort by all involved. Credit to Lindsay Barrack who has worked tirelessly to get this race off the ground and organising the event and thank you to all of the ladies (pictured) who took part and the drivers who loaned out their cars for the event.

The CC Rods were on track for the final time this year and a good grid of around a dozen cars had gathered to do battle for the inaugural Bill & Ciaran Hawkes Memorial Trophy, in memory of a father and son who were big race fans and involved in the formula, who were tragically lost in a car accident.

The drivers were clearly determined to put on a good show in memory of Bill and Ciaran and the cars were lined up in a random order for the first of two reverse grid heats. It was the returning Stewart Aitken who took a fine win with Scottish Champion Ian Taylor in second and 2014 Track Champion Johnny Bell in third.

The second heat saw Taylor take the win from Bell and Aitken and it would be these three that lined up in the first three spots for the all-important feature final.

Scottish Champion Taylor underlined his recent dominance with victory in the Bill & Ciaran Hawkes Memorial Trophy with Stewart Aitken coming home in second and Johnny Bell in third. The CC Rods have put on some good racing in 2014 and, with several new cars and drivers promised, the future looks bright for HRP’s own domestic class.

The National Hot Rods were enjoying a rare evening outing at HRP Lochgelly Raceway and it was good to see a few visitors from the English Series including, ironically enough, Scotsmen Robert McDonald and Tam Rutherford, while Mikey Godfrey also kept his promise as he made the long trip north from Oxfordshire in a fantastic travelling effort.

Having sold both his recent cars; Ian Donaldson arrived with his latest purchase and looked pretty quick from the green flag but had to give best to Chas Bain who took a fine win on a soaking wet track.

Donaldson went one better as he took the win in heat two from David Philp Jr. The final was again run in wet conditions and it was punctuated by an incident involving Rutherford and Lochore’s Billy Bonnar, which culminated with Bonnar’s car being pushed into the wall and Bonnar remonstrating with Rutherford in no uncertain terms – not the sort of behaviour expected from two highly experienced drivers.

David Philp Jr took the win from McDonald and Bain. The 2015 National Hot Rod European Championship will once again be held at HRP Lochgelly Raceway and it already looks like another classic in the offing.

The ProStocks were back in action and this time it was for the Christopher Burke Memorial Trophy – in memory of young man who was taken at the tender of age of three back in 2003. Christopher had visited a number of tracks in his short life and knew several of the ProStocks drivers and it is only appropriate that it is the ProStocks who race in his memory. Andrew Webster made his 2014 debut in the formula and certainly appeared to get used to his Vauxhall Astra very quickly as he romped home to victory in heat one – leaving the likes of Keith Annandale, Scott Ramsay and Tam Melrose to fight it out for the minor places. Webster did it again in heat two with Melrose, Ramsay and Annandale filling the other places in the top four. The Christopher Burke Memorial Final saw Scott Ramsay come home in first place in a bruising race with Webster and Lochgelly’s Annandale in third to finish off the 2014 ProStocks season.

Something a bit different for HRP Lochgelly Raceway saw the Big Van Bangers roll into town. Around eight vans arrived on the day but that was more than enough to cause some chaos as the drivers got stuck in from the off in front of a huge crowd. A complete track blockage involving Lumphinnans’ own Lee Clarke as well as Michelle Murdock, Stephen Van Putten and James Dillon saw several of the runners and riders eliminated from the contest but some of the hits were sensational. In the end, only one van was left running and it was Zak Murdock who took victory. With several vans already destined for the scrapheap; the decision was taken to run a Destruction Derby rather than another race to give the fans what they want – more crashing! Zak Murdock’s van proved to be the toughest out there as he once again survived to take the win.

The regular 1300 Stock Car drivers were also on hand for their final event of the year in Scotland and with over 25 cars on a wet track; action was guaranteed.

With drivers racing under new gradings for the first time; it was Leven’s Craig Haxton who took full advantage of his regarding to red to storm to victory in the first heat with the two protagonists in the track championship Jim Pitciathly and Lee Buchan (both from Glenrothes) coming home second and third – this meant there were 19 points between the two which meant all Buchan had to do was score a ninth place or better in the remaining two races to secure the Ringtone Racepaints Track Championship.

In fact, Pitcaithly’s absence from heat two meant that Buchan was confirmed as the track champion despite failing to finish the race which was again won by Craig Haxton. Buchan underlined his fantastic year in the meeting final where he stormed to victory with Kevin Letford and Paul Beaton in the other podium spots. The 1300 Stock cars have been fantastic all year at HRP Lochgelly Raceway and 2015 promises to be even better!!!

The fireworks were not limited to the track, however, as HRP brought in Fireworx Scotland to put on a fantastic display under the Fife night sky as an incredible season of action was brought to a close. Hardie Race Promotions have asked us to thank all of their dedicated staff who give up their free time to help run their events – it is true to say that without this fantastic group of people, racing could not take place. HRP would also like to thank all of the drivers, teams and fans who have attended events throughout the year – your support is greatly appreciated.

Hardie Race Promotions recently announced that they will be moving their regular racing slot from Sunday afternoons to Saturday evenings for 2015 and promise a cracking fixture list for the coming year with no increases in admission prices. It promises to be an interesting year ahead at Fife’s most-modern stock car facility.