Thrilling night as 'best racing in 20 years' takes place at Lochgelly

That’s genuinely how brilliant it was. The Saturday night in particular, was pound for pound, one of the best events ever, if not the best, at Lochgelly Raceway. A large crowd descended upon the raceway to witness three major championships that were on offer on Saturday night – the Lee Smart Racing 1300 Stock Car World Championship, the Superstox British Championship and the Oval Track Legends European Championship.

The evening commenced with a last chance qualifying race for the 1300 Stock Cars – with the top 4 drivers making it through to the main race itself. As the green flag dropped on the 1300 Stock Cars last chance race, Craig Haxton found himself spun around early one and dropped back the order, with Mike Courts having the race of his life, as he opened up a gap to the rest of the drivers behind.

The white top drivers were certainly on pace as they galloped away from those starting further back – with Courts, Darren Suddaby, Callum McIvor and Dale Robertson out in front, with Blair Robertson just behind. As the laps wore on, Courts extended his lead and never looked like being caught. Further back, Haxton was fighting his way back through the field, and putting the bumper in at every opportunity as he looked to get a yellow flag caution to aid his recovery through the pack.

It wasn’t to be for Haxton though, as he drove superbly to come back to 5th position – just narrowly missing out on the qualifying places! Courts, Suddaby, McIvor and Dale Robertson would be the four drivers that qualified into the Lee Smart Racing World Championship. The 2021 World Championship was up next for the 1300 Stock Cars, with a huge 40 car field of cars. A Kingdom Kilts sponsored fancy dress parade lap would see the drivers and cars enter the raceway in all sorts of different outfits – certainly entertaining and set a great mood around the stadium. As the cars gridded up, the front 4 cars of Jonathan Brown, Lee Pearce, Jacob Bromley and Kyle Hegg would lead the way around the raceway. As the lights went green, the bumpers went in from the outset.

The lead changed hands lap after lap, with Kyle Hegg, Fraser Clark, Andrew Mathieson, Lee Pearce, Jonathan Brown, Robbie Wright and Euan Mathieson all leading the pack at some point during the race. Sean Naismith was always up there battling it out as well, with some mega hits going in into turn 3 and 4. The cars would all run wide and into the barrier, with cars coming underneath claiming 3 or 4 places in one corner at times, with cars exiting the corner 3 and 4 abreast. The atmosphere was electric. The cheers, sighs, and screaming from the crowd was deafening.

This was a fantastic world championship race. Euan Mathieson found himself in front, though, that didn’t last too long, as the hits would keep coming, and eventually, found himself spun around coming onto the home straight, dropping him down the order and ultimately into retirement. Brother Andrew though, was right up there as well as he closed in on those exchanging blows in front, and found himself in a position to put the bumper in himself at one point, and exited the corner in the lead of the race. Lee Pearce would quickly overcome him again though, before Pearce was caught up with a back marker, and dropped down the pack somewhat – though still in the group of cars battling for 2nd place – behind Andrew Mathieson who found himself almost a corner clear of the rest of the pack. With laps running down, a yellow flag was called for, with one driver needing some medical attention.

This closed the pack up, and Mathieson would have Pearce back on his bumper. As the race re-commenced, Mathieson got away well, as did Pearce behind him. Both drivers opened up a small gap to the challengers behind, as they all themselves continued to trade blows – Hegg, Clark, Naismith, Barclay, Brown, Ed Selby and Jacob Bromley were all in a proper dog fight. Pearce overcome Mathieson with an acute hit, which was enough for Pearce to come

through, whilst Mathieson ran wide and hit oil, was unable to gain enough momentum to come back at Pearce the next corner. Pearce would go onto retain an excellent World Championship, Mathison finishing 2nd, and Bromley in 3rd! Three further 40 car heats were scheduled for the remainder of the evening for the 1300 Stock Cars, Lee Pearce would go on and win one of them, whilst Craig Haxton would also take a heat win.

The final heat of the Saturday evening was postponed to the Sunday afternoon due to us reaching our time limit. The race would see Mike Courts take yet another race win, which elevates him upto yellow grade, with Haxton finishing in 2nd position. The Sunday afternoon event would see the Scottish Challenge Trophy on offer with around 40 cars again taking to the track for what was another entertaining race!

A closed grid of cars would see the white graded drivers start at the front of the field, with the star drivers having to fight their way through from the back. Again, as the green flag dropped, the action commenced. The bumpers flew in again, with some early race progress being made by some of the star graded drivers – none moreso than Euan Mathieson, who quickly found himself away from the big hitters, and chasing down those in front.

Mathieson would go onto take the win, with Clark in 2nd, and Englishman, Jacob Roff finishing in 3rd. Jacob Roff had a bit of a disaster on Saturday in terms of results, but made amends on the Sunday as he improved throughout the afternoon. A 3-2-1 in terms of results would have seen Roff go home happy! The first ‘heat’ of Sunday afternoon would again goto Craig Haxton – who looks to have found pace in the car he only purchased a few weeks ago. Mathieson would add another heat win to his day, as he took a win in the final race of the day for the formula.

The Superstox were in action across both days, and battled it out for their British Championship on the Saturday evening. A random grid draw seen some of the favourites start quite near the back of the grid, with others starting further forward. As the green flags went on, turn 1 seen a train of cars going hard into the corner, with several hitting the barrier. Further back the grid, one driver found himself stranded across the track going into turn 1, and with no sign of movement of the car within the next lap, a race stoppage was required meaning a complete restart was called for. As the cars lined up again, a few casualties were now on the infield, though most were able to resume.

Nick Roots found himself infront of Kyle Beattie and Dean Johnston, with Johnston then overcoming Beattie to move into 2nd place. Big hits continued to go in throughout the field, as the action continued to delight the fans. Johnston would try and close the gap to Roots in front, but anytime he seemed to close up, he didn’t seem to have as much joy with the traffic as Roots, and Roots would again open up the gap, too much so for Johnston to be able to make any attempt at contact. Roots would go onto take the win and claim the 2021 Superstox British Championship!! Dean Johnston 2nd, and Kyle Beattie finishing in 3rd position.

Adam Low was in good form throughout the weekend, scoring some excellent places, while putting in some hard hits with his front bumper, including one on the outgoing British Champion Lee Davison. Nick Roots would take another heat win in the 2nd race of the day, with National Champion Chris Bradbury battling through to 2nd place, with Northern Irish driver Jamie McCann rounding out the top 3. The final race of the Saturday for the open wheel class would be another excellent race, with Declan Salmon taking a deserving victory from Adam Low, with World Champion Michael Green completing the top three.

The Sunday again seen a closed grid of cars line up for the Scottish Challenge trophy, this time in graded order. Around 30 cars took to the track for the race, with World Champion Michael Green being the driver to come out on top!! Aaron Riddell drove an excellent race, in what is his first big race since returning to racing a couple of months ago, powering his car home into 2nd place, with Nick Roots again taking another podium position.

Two further races would take place for the Superstox, one of which seen a big rollover for Dan Roots as he ventured into the infield area before flipping after hitting the kerbs. Aaron Riddell took a race win in the first of the 2 heats, whilst Englishman Brett Wesbroom also took a race win.

18 Oval Track Legends made their annual trip north as they raced for the 2021 European and Scottish Championships. The non-contact class provided some of the best racing we have seen from the formula in Scotland, with excitement already ahead of their 2022 visit! Dan Holden would attempt to defend his European title he won 2 years ago now, though it wasn’t to be, as Sy Harraway would be the dominant driver this time around – taking a win in the European Championship race, finishing ahead of Sean Smith and Dan Holden. Holden and Harraway had some excellent battles throughout the weekend, as both drivers raced wheel to wheel with each other on several occasions.

Sunday afternoon would see Charley Ford win the prestigious Scottish Championship, with Holden and John O’Connor completing the top three. Ford held on excellently in this race, with Holden and the chasing pack hot on his heels come the end of the race.

The Junior Productions were in action on Saturday, with wins going the way of Chloe Baird, Koddi Wright and Lennon Grant. The Sunday afternoon seen the Ninja Karts and Stock Rods replace the Junior Productions as support formula. The Ninja Karts seen Caelan Grant take the win in the whites and yellows race, whilst Eevie Ford and Hamish Plenderleith would share the wins amongst them in the three main heats.

The Stock Rods seen Ian Donaldson take a double heat win, before Chris Lattka won the meeting final. We are back this Friday at Lochgelly Raceway for another three formula feast of action. Join us at 7pm for the first race.