IT was an entertaining night of racing on Saturday night at Lochgelly Raceway despite the track surface being damp and greasy in an event featuring an incident filled Stock Rod Scottish Championship!, writes Raceway reporter Kevin McQueen

The Ninja Karts were in action for the second week in succession, alongside the Superstox, CC Rods and 1300 Stock Cars.

The Ninja Karts started off the evening with the first of their four races, the whites and yellow event. This race is great for some of the less experienced drivers to gain confidence in a smaller and often slower, field of cars. Rory Burrell made his debut in the formula, whilst Saul Galloway and Mathew McIntyre continued to find their feet in the class.

Jack Connor returned to racing last week after a spell on the sidelines, and is rapidly getting back to grips with the kart, having a great battle with Cole Ford during the first race as he took an excellent race win, just ahead of Cole and Candice Smart. The first main heat of the evening saw 23 karts take to the track to provide another enthralling race, and another dominated by the lower graded drivers. Jack Connor led the race for the majority before being overcome in the closing stages by Jack Baird as they navigated their way around lapped karts. Baird took the win ahead of Connor, with Keiran Hay rounding out the top three.

Heat 2 of the evening saw Scottish Champion Toby Tyson storm his way from the back of the grid to get into the lead. Cole Ford capped of an excellent meeting with another 2nd place finish with Jack Baird bringing his kart home in 3rd position. The final race of the evening seen the race victory fall back to a yellow graded driver, this time Keiran Hay was the one who claimed victory. Jack Connor rounded off an excellent evening with another 2nd place, whilst Kaitlyn Smart brought her kart home in third position. An excellent night from the youngsters with a lot of great racing on show – there is just one more meeting left at Lochgelly for the Ninja Karts, and that takes place on the 19th October, with the JusBounce Trophy up for grabs.

The CC Rods were again in great form with some excellent racing throughout the night. The opening race saw former 1300 Stock Car driver Craig McComb battle his way to the front and despite a gallant effort from Andrew Nelson to overcome him, Craig held his own as he appeared to have better traction out of the corners to stay ahead of the Nelson car, with the pair of them finishing the race in first and second positions. Heat 2 of the evening saw Louise Honeyman get away well and get to the front, before being overtaken by Craig McComb as the cars collided mid corner, only for McComb’s car to cut out.

Honeyman also lost a place to Andrew Nelson as a result, but drove superbly in the closing stages to close the gap and re-take the lead of the race to claim her 2nd race win in the formula. Nelson finished 2nd with Winfield completing the top three.

The meeting final saw the grid closed up with Nelson starting on the front row. As the race settled down, Gary Nicholls soon found himself out in front, although a fantastic battle was taking place for the places behind him! Paul Winfield, Craig McComb, Sandy Allen, Ian Donaldson and Louise Honeyman had a fantastic battle, as they battled it out for 2nd place. A bit of bumping and some eager driving, saw Donaldson knocked back the order somewhat with Sandy Allen crossing the line in 2nd place – however, as a result of some contact, both the Sandy Allen and Louise Honeyman cars were docked a couple of places, promoting Winfield up to 2nd and McComb up to 3rd.

The Superstox were a little down on numbers, but provided some super racing on the greasy surface, which resulted in a number of cars hitting the wall and colliding with each other, most notably when Kenny McKenzie and Chris Hay collided on turn 3, with McKenzie spinning across the front of the Hay car as a result and rolling over onto its roof during the 2nd heat of the evening.

The opening race saw Bryan Forrest use his experience to get to the front of the grid quickest, and open up a gap at the front whilst the others jostled around behind him. Kenny McKenzie finished 2nd whilst northern driver Dean Johnston brought his car home in third. Heat 2 of the evening saw Bryan Forrest tangle with another car and spin towards the wall, resulting in some damage to the front bumper, dropping him back the order, but not out of the race.

Scottish Champion Barry Stephen crossed the line first to take the win, with Johnston finishing 2nd ahead of Adam Low. The meeting final saw Bryan Forrest again take control of proceedings as he battled his way through to the front, taking no prisoners on his route there. Barry Stephen quickly followed him through into 2nd place, but couldn’t close the gap to the Forrest car out front as the laps drew in. Kenny McKenzie brought his car home in third position.

The 1300 Stock Cars were in superb form all night, with the bumpers flying in throughout the evening as they looked to steal the plaudits. Rory Naismith and Danny Whyte had a superb battle in the opening race as they traded blows lap after lap as they jostled for the lead of the race. Whyte looked quicker, but couldn’t break a gap to Naismith who did his best to keep Whyte at bay, with a few hits into the corners as he retook the lead, only for Whyte to come back at him again. Naismith led going into the last lap of the race and a lunge up the inside seen Whyte bounce over the kerb to take the lead of the race, with Naismith losing a few places as a result, with Billy Wilson and Eddie Corr finishing in 2nd and 3rd positions. Heat 2 of the evening seen Naismith again lead the way, with the pack finding it more difficult to close the gap on this occasion. However, a yellow flag midway through the race closed the pack up. As the cars rolled before the race re-commenced, Danny Whyte anticipated the start a bit too early and jumped up into the lead of the race to eventually cross the line first. However, due to the jump start was docked a few places as a result, with the win being handed to Rory Naismith, with Eddie Corr and Stuart Farrell completing the top three. The meeting final was yet another frantic race from the 1300 Stock Cars – a five way battle for the lead developed, with Naismith, Whyte, Farrell, Gold and Corr battling it out. As the laps wore on, the lead changed hands lap after lap, with Farrell, Naismith and Whyte being the biggest challengers, before Eddie Corr was sent spinning dropping him out of contention. Michael Courts meanwhile closed the gap on the lead pack of cars and whilst they squabbled for position, Courts managed to avoid the drama to sneak up the inside to take the lead of the race! Courts opened up a good lead to take a race win ahead of Farrell and Whyte.

The Stock Rods battled it out for their Scottish Championship with 2 reverse grid races done to determine the grid for the main race.

Gary Dean got off to the best possible start as to took the opening race win, ahead of Andy Grant. Heat 2 of the evening saw a little more drama as Alan Cuthbert, Chris Lattka and Andy Grant came up the home straight three-a-breast, with Cuthbert clipping the wall and hitting Lattka, who in turn clipped Andy Grant, who spun across the front of the 2 cars to clatter the wall resulting in a yellow flag being brought out.

Siobhan Martin took the race win ahead of Chris Lattka, with Brett Sneddon completing the top three.

The Scottish Championship race saw Gary Dean get away in the lead with Chris Lattka dropping in behind in 2nd place, with Siobhan Martin there as well. Andy Grant was a driver on a charge and was soon up battling the lead cars. Lattka was soon in front, before a coming together with Andy Grant and Siobhan Martin saw Siobhan spin around, dropping her down the places.

Chris Lattka led the way with Andy Grant up to 2nd place with Gary Dean in third, with Darren McAlpine just behind – McAlpine saw his race seemingly over after he was caught in a tangle with Stewart Paterson and Ricky White, with McAlpine being spun towards the wall with a fair amount of damage.

McAlpine was able to carry on and had good speed to catch up the field again. Up front, Andy Grant was challenging Chris Lattka for the lead of the race and with Grant up the inside, Lattka was squeezed into the wall, with his car grinding to a halt after developing a misfire. Stewart Paterson was spun against the wall on turn one and a yellow flag was called for.

The pack closed up and Andy Grant was removed from the race as a result of his coming togethers. Gary Dean was again in the lead of the race and stormed to victory, with Siobhan Martin and Darren McAlpine performing excellent recovery drivers to complete the top three.

This weekend (12/13th) we have the Micro Banger World Cup taking place at Lochgelly Raceway with around 140 cars booked to race. The ProStocks will also race for the British Championship, whilst the Junior Productions and Junior Bangers both race for their Open Scottish Championships! Be sure to join us for 2 spectacular days of racing!