MOTHER Nature finally smiled on HRP Lochgelly Raceway this past Saturday as drivers, teams and fans gathered in huge numbers for a very special event at Scotland’s premier stock car racing venue, writes our Raceway correspondent Les Waller.

Up for grabs in the Big Van Bangers was the inaugural Shaun Walsh Memorial Trophy as the Banger drivers marked the passing of one of their own in their own inimitable fashion!!! In total, five formulas were in action this past weekend and there was some great racing throughout the night.

The Junior Productions had the usual suspects in the pits ahead of the 5:30pm start time but Chelsey-Lee Kirton and Amber Tyrell did not take part in the racing portion of the night which left all the fun to the boys in the formula who were joined by Irish Champion and top Junior pilot Drew McKeown from Northern Ireland.

The first heat saw the likes of Lennon Grant, Kris Watson and Koddi Greenwood battling it out in the early stages before McKeown reeled in the leading pack to eventually take up the lead and hold on to first place until the chequered flag.

The second heat saw 2017 Ninja Kart graduate Lennon Grant take his car to victory lane as he managed to maintain a big enough gap from those behind him, led by McKeown and Greenwood, to take what may well be his first win in the formula – it won’t be his last!

The Feature Final saw McKeown back to winning ways as he put all of his experience to good use to take the win ahead of Scottish Champion Cameron Willacy and Grant.

The ProStocks’ first meeting of the season at HRP Lochgelly Raceway had been eagerly anticipated by many fans as numbers had seen a steady increase during late 2017 and fans were certainly not disappointed in terms of the action they saw! Some great racing and a smattering of controversy was the order of the day in the limited contact class.

Heat One saw debutant Neale Glancy make most of the running in the early stages before National points Champion Paul Barron arrived on the scene and sneaked past Glancy on the inside as the debutant went wide.

Jason McAlpine was next on the scene and his challenge for victory ended when he and Glancy ended up on the infield as Barron coasted to the win. Heat Two was where the action truly kicked off as Josh Heeps (in the borrowed Graham Watt car) took out Darren Rae in no uncertain terms only to find himself eliminated by Barron in what was, in the eyes of the officials, an illegal hit which saw Barron, and indeed Heeps, loaded for their actions.

Scott Gordon eventually came out on top after taking the runners-up spot in heat one. The Feature Final was another highly-entertaining race which had the crowd on the edge of their seats; but it was Graham Watt, in his yet to be painted new for 2018 car, who took the win ahead of Ian Christie and heat two winner Gordon.

The 2.0 Hot Rods also kicked off their season this past weekend at HRP Lochgelly Raceway and it was great to see some new drivers in the formula in the shape of former ProStocks racer Dougie Kidd, former F2 man Ryan Adamson and former UK Stock Rod racer Jim Pitcaithly – all will be excellent additions to the class and bring a wealth of experience to the formula.

It didn’t take long for the blue graders to hit the front in heat one with Gerry Hendry leading the charge from Kevin Stewart while the welcome return of Billy Bonnar was progressing well as he led the red top charge.

These three drivers finished in that order with European, British and National Champion William Hardie down in fourth and World, Points and Scottish Champion Gordon Alexander in seventh – it looks like the formula’s top two will have their work cut out this year which can only be good for the formula. Heat Two saw a debut win for a flying Dougie Kidd as he dominated the race to take the win from a distant Stewart and Alexander as the World Champion started to make his presence felt. The feature final burst into life almost immediately as Kevin Stewart was pushed wide by Jock Campbell this caused a bit of a shake up in the running order and, by the end of the race, Campbell had managed to hold on to cross the line first only for him to be docked for the contact on Stewart to third and therefore giving the win to Billy Bonnar ahead of Alexander and Campbell. Great stuff in the Hot Rods.

The 1300 Stock Cars finally made their first appearance of the 2018 Season and it was pleasing to see a number of debutants in the class including Aaron Alexander, Stuart Farrell and Regan Watson as well as some shiny new paintjobs and a brand-new car for points leader Andrew Mathieson. The first heat started off, as many expected, with the usual chaos the stock cars bring with the race being stopped for Dean McGill who made heavy contact with the Armco safety barrier. One of the top men in the formula came through from the rear of the field as Craig Haxton opened his account for 2018 with a fine win ahead of Scottish Champion Billy Wilson and Paul Ford. Heat Two was a little down on cars due to damage and mechanical gremlins with Mathieson sitting out the rest of the night with a blown engine.

This did not deter Haxton though as he looked to make up the gap between him and Mathieson at the top of the points with another excellent win ahead of a flying Aaron Alexander and Billy Wilson.

The feature final is always one of the highlights of any evening at HRP Lochgelly Raceway and this past Saturday was no different as the drivers used their bumpers to full effect as they battled for position. At the end of the 16-laps; Haxton was unable to reel in leader Aaron Alexander who took a cracking win on his debut in the formula with Haxton rounding off a good points-scoring effort with second place with Martin McCaffery making his first appearance on the podium in third to bring an end to some great 1300 Stock Car action.

Lochgelly’s Billy Wilson had a busy night as he was also one the sixteen van Banger drivers who had arrived at HRP Lochgelly Raceway to contest the Shaun Walsh Memorial Trophy in memory of a young man who passed away before his time recently. Shaun was an avid Banger racer and helped many of the drivers and will be fondly remembered by all in the Banger fraternity.

The first race was the Memorial race and the usual carnage did not take long to materialise as the drivers got well and truly stuck in. This caused issues for those trying to keep track of who was where and, after a video review, the win was given to World Van Banger Champion Neil Naismith who had been one of the driving forces behind the Memorial race as a good friend of Shaun’s and Naisy immediately handed the trophy to Shaun’s family – a classy move. Heat One saw most of the vans return to the track and it was Jack Cameron who came out on top this time. Around half of the sixteen vans were still running for the final heat which was won be Chris Thomson before a Demolition Derby began with Tam Melrose being declared the winner after a highly entertaining battle between himself and the likes of Fletcher and Lee Clarke. Great stuff – Shaun would have loved it.

A fantastic night of action at HRP Lochgelly Raceway this past weekend and it all happens again this Easter Saturday March 31st from 5:30pm. Another action-packed five-formula event is on the cards with the Superstox, 2.0 Hot Rods, CC Rods, Ministox and Ninja Karts all in action at Scotland’s premier short oval motorsports venue. It promises to be eggs-citing at HRP Lochgelly raceway Saturday March 31 from 5:30pm.