IT was a chilly evening at the Cowdenbeath Racewall, last Saturday, and whilst there were a couple of showers the drivers mainly had a dry track to race on, writes Jim Turner.

There was an influx of competitors from south of the border whilst Marc Honeyman made his debut.

However, Aaryn Triggs grabbed the headlines when he rolled his saloon and white grader Barry Glen won two saloon races!

There were four different winners in the formula IIs with John Broatch making another welcome visit but spare a thought for Chris Chance who brought his stock rod up from Newcastle only to crash out in practice and he never had a chance to race.

Jim Cowie had to retire his hot rod in the final when the dipstick blew out and not only was his engine covered in oil so too was the track!

Amongst the formula IIs in action were local drivers Paul Reid (Cowdenbeath) and Gordon Moodie (Windygates)..

Moodie went through the field to win the opening heat leading home Robbie Dawson and Chris Burgoyne with Reid finishing in tenth place. In heat two blue grader John Hogg scored a close win over the fast closing Moodie with Broatch in third place.

Willie Draeger was the early leader when the final started, from Holly Glen, but they were soon caught by Hogg and Broatch. Moodie got to the head of the red graders and then slowly reeled in the leaders but had Burgoyne in close order. Towards the end of the race Moodie took the lead but Burgoyne was catching and on the last bend sent Moodie wide before going on to win. Moodie recovered to collect second with Dawson coming into third spot.

Dawson then went on to win the Grand National from Moodie with Hogg third whilst Burgoyne finished in sixth place.

Moodie had enjoyed a lead of 60 points already in his quest for his tenth National Points title and with another 37 points haul he is certainly giving his challengers plenty to think about.

With no saloon racing south of the border Daniel Parker, Deane Mayes, Ryan Santry, Steve Webster and Georgie Boult made the long trek up from England whilst Ryan Wright appeared from Northern Ireland. The local drivers were Kyle Irvine (Glenrothes), Barry Russell (Cowdenbeath) and Ross Watters (Leven).

Glen led the opening heat from start to finish leading home Irvine and Watters with Russell in tenth place but Adam Low retired his car with a small fire in the carb! Stuart Shevill Jnr then caught Glen towards the end of the second heat before going on to win from Glen and Graeme Shevill with Russell in ninth place.

Glen went straight into the lead when the final started although the race was suspended after Triggs rolled his car allowing the pack to close onto the tail of the leader. Glen made a good restart to the race and whilst the drivers behind fought over second and managed to pull away. In the end Glen scored his second win of the night leading home Graeme Shevill and Webster with Irvine in fifth, Russell eighth, but Watters retired.

There was another good turn out of stock rods but their drivers struggled a bit at the start of heat two when a shower made the track greasy! Local drivers were James Matson (Glenrothes), David Dignan (Leven), Sandy Allen (Methil), Brian Tindell (Kelty), Ryan Johnston (Cowdenbeath), John Green (Cowdenbeath) and Michael Bethune (Kirkcaldy).

Heat one ended with John Green going through to win from John McAllister and Brett Sneddon with Bethune sixth, Allen eighth and Matson ninth. McAllister then held off Bethune to win heat two with Craig Tosh in third spot with Allen ninth and Tindell in tenth place. Tindell led the cars away when the final started but lost out to Green. However, he was caught by the pack and relegated down the order as Derek Conner went through to win from Chris Lattka, Sneddon, Green and Bethune with Matson eighth, and finishing ahead of Allen and Johnston.

The hot rods were contesting the first of their World Championship qualifying rounds at the Racewall with the local driver in action being Billy Bonnar (Ballingry).

Bonnar went through to win the opening heat from Ian McGuigan and Chas Bain. McGuigan then scored a comfortable win in heat two as he led home Bonnar with Ian Donaldson in third place. Jim Cowie had to retire from the final with Bain leading from John Sibbald but they were being closed down by Bonnar and Donaldson. Sibbald took the lead, Bain was clipped and spun only for Bonnar to move into second and then closed to Sibbald. Towards the end Bonnar took the lead before winning from Sibbald and McGuigan.

The microFIIs were in action and there was plenty of interest in this new formula II. Amongst the winners were Lauren Ford, Ethan Mitchell and Haley Linden.

This Saturday the formula IIs and saloons are again the top billers and they are joined in the action by the lightning rods and the ministox drivers. The meeting starts at 6.00pm as usual.