WE are only 1 week away from our staging of the Keir Millar Memorial Final for the Ministox on May 11, an event that will see visiting drivers from throughout the UK join us to celebrate Keir’s life, writes Lochgelly Raceway scribe Kevin McQueen.

We also have a number of drivers visiting us across the other formula in action that day as numbers swell to over 100 cars due to be in attendance at this early stage.

We have a large contingent of National Micro Bangers, Ministox and Ninja Karts all booked in to race, with a healthy field of 1300 Stock Cars and Junior Bangers in action as well.

The meeting on Saturday May 11 will also feature for the first time ever in Scotland, a couple of Push Car Races!! We currently have 60 teams entered for this event as both adults and children embrace this opportunity! With a large number of teams customising their coupe cars to their own designs, it is looking like an event not to be missed!! All the action kicks off at 4pm for that particular meeting.

Last Saturday saw a five formula line up in treacherous conditions with poor driving conditions as a result of the at times heavy rain.

With extreme wet conditions resulting in less grip on track and poor visibility, the drivers showed great class to race as well as they did across the night.

Last week we saw the Junior Productions in action for the first time in April and an increase in car numbers was an indication of progression in the formula.

Leona Anderson, Amy Devine and Jensen Bell all made there debut in the formula with Jensen Bell picking up a number of good positions. Jensen Bell found grip on the outside line as he raced from the back of the grid in each of the heats and grew in confidence in the car. Koddi Wright picked up a couple of heat wins before Dylan Smart picked up his first win in the formula despite his car sounding a little worse for wear in the closing stages of the race.

The CC Rods were out in force with a couple of drivers making the first outing of the season in the formula, Colin Thomson and Sandy Allen. Colin got to grips with his car as the night went on and eventually brought it home to a 5th place finish in the meeting final after starting at the back of the grid.

The CC Rods were racing in the latest round of the Colin Wotherspoon Joinery series with the meeting final winner taking away a new tyre. Ian Donaldson and Lee Wotherspoon had a couple of great races across the night with Ian and Lee finishing 1st and 2nd in both the first heat and the meeting final with two excellent races.

Paul Muir seemed to have his car going well in the opening heat but found himself in the wall in the 2nd race cutting his evening short due to the damage sustained. Daniel MacDonald scored his first win of the season in the 2nd heat of the night before picking up a hard fought 3rd place in the meeting final behind Donaldson and Wotherspoon.

The Superstox saw Chris Miller and Stuart Gilchrist return to action and it was an eventful evening for both drivers. Chris Miller will be wishing he’d stayed at home!

The opening race of the evening saw Chris battling with Stuart Gilchrist and Mark Brady in a good race in the wet conditions before seeing his engine go up in a cloud of smoke bringing an abrupt halt to his evening.

Stuart Gilchrist was in the thick of the action likewise, after getting into the lead of the race, Stuart tangled with 34 Scott Campbell, with Gilchrist spinning around and hitting the wall before rejoining the race with some major damage. Gilchrist nursed his car home to a fourth place finish. Dean Johnston recovered from an early spin in the opening laps to win the opening heat ahead of Bryan Forrest and Mark Brady. Stuart Gilchrist made amends in the following races, taking a heat and final double.

Adam Low finished his only race of the night in 2nd position in heat 2 with Forrest in third. The meeting final seen an epic battle with Kenny McKenzie and Bryan Forrest with a full race battle as the chopped and changed positions between each other, with Dean Johnston catching up in the closing stages. Gilchrist held on for the race win ahead of Forrest and McKenzie.

The Stock Rods were in action after a weekend on the road with a number of cars racing in Ireland and a few others racing at Hednesford on the Bank Holiday weekend.

Darren McAlpine made the most of his blue grade starting position in the heats, taking a double heat win which will see him elevated back up to red grade for the month of May. Gary Dean found some form in his car and scored his best points haul of the 2019 season so far, picking up two 2nd place finishes and a 3rd place finish. Siobhan Martin maintained her good streak of form with yet another final win, cementing her place at the top of the track championship in 2019.

The ProStocks were the final formula in action and struggled in the wet conditions. Ian Christie seemed to enjoy it though and took an opening race win ahead of Lee Kopacz and John Jackson. Heat 2 was won by white grade driver David Linton with World Champion Paul Barron finishing in 2nd place ahead of Lee Kopacz. The meeting final saw David Linton secure a 2nd win of the night, with Craig Millar finishing in second place on his first outing of the season and Paul Barron 3rd.

We are back in action on Saturday May 4 with the Ninja Karts, Stock Rods, 2.0 Hot Rods, Superstox and Junior Productions all in action. The Ninja Karts have been in excellent form throughout 2019 so far with in excess of 25 karts in attendance at each of our meetings. The 2.0 Hot Rods have provided excellent non contact action this year and the battle for the points seems to be shaping up nicely.