IT was a beautiful afternoon that greeted drivers, teams and fans as they gathered in the pits this past Saturday at HRP Lochgelly Raceway as Scotland’s premier stock car venue hosted the latest slice of stock car action presented by Hardie Race Promotions, writes our Raceway scribe Les Waller.

Five formulas were, again, the order of the day with HRP continuing to offer the best value for money motorsports ticket in Fife with fifteen races scheduled on a busy evening of action.

The Junior productions were first on track for their second meeting in seven days and although Chelsey-Lee Kirton, Amber Tyrell and Lia Heeps did not appear, Northern Irish visitors Samuel Percy and Aaron Ward supplemented the grid with their very welcome visit from across the Irish Sea.

The first race began in earnest at 5:30pm and Ward shot straight into the lead as the lone white top starter (Jack Berresford choosing to start his second meeting at the rear of the grid).

Ward continued to circulate at a good pace; but his lead was slowly, but surely, reducing in size as compatriot Percy began to reel him in. Eventually Percy caught and passed Ward and managed to survive a last-ditch attempt from Ward on turn three to take the win in a Northern Irish one two from Ward and Scottish Champion Cameron Willacy.

The second heat began in a similar manner to the first; but this time Ward was determined to go one better and he duly did just that as he took a fine win ahead of Percy and Kris Watson. The feature final for the Juniors was another excellent race with the Northern Irish duo both looking for their second win and Ward set off at the green flag with purpose while Percy did the same from further down the grid. These two held firm in first and second all the way to the flag with Willacy coming home in third to round off some good Junior Production racing with the promise of even better to come.

The 2.0 Hot Rods were back after quite a few weeks away and it was great to see Ryan Mackie’s car neatly sign-written while Jim Pitcaithly had clearly been very busy as his car arrived looking much straighter than the last time it was at the track when it was involved in a skirmish with the wall. With Colin Seath and Ryan Adamson absent, it was Pitcaithly and Mackie who led the grid from the yellow grid as heat one began. Pitcaithly led for quite a few laps but was caught and passed by Jock Campbell shortly before halfway with Campbells boot-lid flapping in the wind! World Champion Gordon Alexander was on a tear through the pack and managed to catch Campbell to take the lead with just one lap to go to take the win. Mackie and Pitcaithly led heat two away but Mackie rather forcibly moved past Pitcaithly to take the lead and hold on until the chequered flag only to be docked for contact by the steward which elevated Alexander to his second win of the day with Lochore's Billy Bonnar coming home in second and Mackie having to settle for third.

The Hot Rods had been competitive all day and the feature final was no different; Pitcaithly led briefly before Mackie took over only for a flying Jock Campbell to surge to the front after about 7 laps or so to take a lead that he was not to relinquish as he held off Bonnar and Alexander to take an excellent win. Alexander won’t be too disappointed with his night’s work though as William Hardie’s absence meant that Alexander reduced Hardie’s lead in the National Points from 45 points to just 17 with three meetings remaining in the battle for the silver roof!

The ProStocks were a late addition to the programme after the previous week’s cancellation of the Bangers but they arrived in good numbers to underline the current strength of the formula.

Heat One saw white top George Barr leading the opening laps in only his second meeting before last week’s final winner Grady Ross took over at the sharp end. It looked to be a done deal for Ross as he continued to lead as the laps wound down; but nobody told Paul Barron that and the National Points Champion managed to push Ross wide on the last lap to take another win.

Ross made no mistake in heat two as he surged to his second win in as many weeks with Barron having to settle for second this time around. Between them Ross and Barron had won the last five races at HRP Lochgelly Raceway and would have started the feature final as favourites in many people’s eyes. Barr led for over half the race distance and was driving exceptionally well but National Points leader Ian Christie took over the lead just after halfway as himself, Barr, Barron and Graham Watt fought over the lead in a thrilling battle. Christie held on to take a much-needed win in his quest for the silver roof ahead of Barron and Watt with the hugely unfortunate George Barr spinning out only a matter of feet from the start/finish line and failing to even post a place.

The CC Rods were back out in force this past Saturday at HRP Lochgelly Raceway and, as always, put on a show of great racing, great action and a smattering of controversy!

Heat One was halted as soon as it began with a few drivers deciding to start the race long before the starter waved the green flag. After gridding the cars up once more, the green flag did drop this time round and around twenty CC Rods commenced battle for supremacy! Some of the blue grade were a bit quick off the mark and they were subsequently “black-crossed” which means they were under investigation for an incident (in this case jumping the start of the race) – drivers involved were Jamie Brown, Jamie Bell and Emma Kirk.

Bobby-James Bone led briefly before David Byers took over; but he was subsequently passed by Jamie Bell who crossed the line first.

However, the story did not end there as Bell, Brown and Kirk were all deemed to have jumped the start thereby demoting Bell to third place with Byers being promoted to the position of race winner!

The second heat was another frantic race with fans having difficulty deciding where to look as action happened at every turn; but Shane Allen enjoyed a relatively trouble-free run as he took a dominant win from Ian Hotchkies and Brandon Gourlay.

With the lower graders enjoying victories in both heats, it was all eyes on the drivers starting further back to see if they could get themselves on the score sheet in the feature final. Heat One winner Byers led the early stages before Brandon Gourlay took over at the front. Jamie Brown’s engine let go in a cloud of smoke which left a huge trail of oil around the entire track – several drivers including race leader Gourlay and Brown himself crashed out as the slid in the oil.

Star grade trio Bob Cairns, Ian Donaldson and Daniel McDonald were all making great progress through the pack and soon began fighting Byers for the lead after the restart of the race with Byers offering stubborn resistance.

However, Cairns eventually found a way past with Byers sliding wide to take the lead and he held on to that until the chequered flag with National Points Champion Ian Donaldson coming home in second and McDonald third.

The 1300 Stock Cars were back out for the second round of the MR Coachworks and Ringtone Racepaints Series with enhanced prize money and grade awards up for grabs.

Regan Watson led the early stages before his car ground to a halt elevating Ricky White into the lead which he held on to all the way to the chequered flag to take the win ahead of Stuart Farrell and Andrew Mathieson. White is, of course, more commonly-seen in his Stock Rod and was enjoying a run in the Billy Wilson Scottish Championship winning car. Farrell took the lead very quickly from Craig McComb at the beginning of heat two before being relegated down the order briefly by a combination of White and Craig Haxton amongst others.

Farrell managed to re-take the lead as the drivers battled amongst themselves but White managed to get his car back in front to take his second win of the night and a promotion to red grade for the feature final. The feature final was another frantic race with the bumpers being used at all corners; but it was that man White who survived the chaos to take a hat-trick of victories ahead of Mathieson and Haxton to bring an end to a great night of action.

The next slice of stock car action at HRP Lochgelly Raceway comes your way this FRIDAY JUNE 1st as Scotland’s premier stock car venue kicks off the weekend in style from 7pm with Superstox, 2.0 Hot Rods, ProStocks and Ministox with twelve races scheduled to get the weekend off to a flying start.