THE last meeting of the stock car season took place on a track that was wet and greasy, at the Cowdenbeath Racewall on Saturday night, and whilst it didn’t rain at times there was a slight drizzle, writes our Racewall scribe Jim Turner.

However the drivers made light of the conditions and there were plenty of exciting racing.

The ORCi Stock Rods, in particular, served up three exciting races with the main racing line being as close to the wall as you could get and as a result any drivers wishing to overtake had to get off that line and take to the inside. It certainly was a good night’s racing for Stuart McKinnon who won the Simon Laing Memorial Trophy and then the National Championship.

It was almost ladies night in the Prostock Basics formula and the clean sweep was on until the closing stages of the final when the leader, Joanne Hilditch, was delayed behind a back marker and was in third before she got passed the car.

The Formula II drivers were taking part in one of the National Series Rounds where nine of the fourteen drivers turned up although two of those missing were out injured.

Luke Wrench was the leader going into this round by one point, over Mickey Brennan, at the start to the meeting and whilst there were no Scottish drivers in the Series, the defending champion Gordon Moodie, was amongst those racing.

Making his Racewall debut was Lyndon Rushby whilst Jack Cave and Charlie Guinchard were having their first taste of the Racewall. Local drivers were Craig and Paul Reid (Cowdenbeath) and Gordon Moodie (Windygates). The format was a two thirds one with each driver racing in two out of three heats.

The opening heat saw Moodie go charging through to win from Stevie Forster and Matt Stoneman with C. Reid in eighth place. In heat two Robbie Dawson came out on top where he led home Alex Gault and Steven Burgoyne.

At the start to heat three Moodie and Dawson had another bout of “coming togetherness” resulting in both ending on the sidelines. This time it was Burgoyne who went through to win from Wrench and Brennan with P. Reid eighth.

The final saw C. Reid go straight into the lead and when Dawson was delayed, Moodie managed to slip ahead before making short work of getting ahead of the red grade drivers. Dennis Middler moved through into the lead but Moodie began to eat into his lead and just after the half distance moved into the top spot. Once there he eased away and started to lap some of the back markers. Jack Cave was the lead National Series driver and he was running just ahead of Dawson and Jon Palmer

Moodie continued relatively untroubled at the head of the field going through to win from Middler and Burgoyne.

Middler went on to win the Grand National from Burgoyne and Dawson with Moodie eighth after having to start the race with a lap handicap.

Amongst the ORCi Stock Rod drivers was David Philp Jnr who was having another outing but missing from the ranks was Dean McGill although he was sponsoring the National Championship. Local drivers in action were Stuart McKinnon (Kincardine), Lee McGill (Kirkcaldy), Stuart Wedderburn (Leven), Steve Gunby (Cupar), Kris Simpson (Methil), Liam McGill (Dysart), Dean McGill (East Wemyss), Scott Galbraith (Auchtermuchty), David Dignan (Leven) and Michael Bethune (Kirkcaldy).

The drivers lined up in a pre-drawn grid for the Simon Laing Memorial Trophy race with Bethune making a good start from row 2 to lead. The race was suspended after Chris Paul’s car came to a stop at the turnstile bend and on the restart Bethune had McKinnon glued to his back bumper.

They eased away from the pack and towards the end McKinnon was able to get alongside Bethune heading up the main straight, but then lost out on the bends. This continued until the last couple of laps when McKinnon managed to get alongside and through into the lead, before taking the chequer ahead of Bethune and Liam McGill, with Wedderburn sixth and ahead of Simpson.

For heat two the drivers lined up in reverse order with McGill the initial leader but he slowed and it was McKinnon who took the lead. This time James Gray managed to sneak through to win with Philp Jnr third with Lee McGill fifth and ahead of Galbraith with Bethune eighth and Simpson tenth.

The final saw the drivers line up in their points order with McKinnon on pole with Philp alongside and it was McKinnon who led the field away from Cameron Doak, Philp, Bethune and Gray.

As Doak and Philp locked up, Bethune was delayed and that let Gray through into second the race was suspended to allow Doak out of his car and once the track was clear the fight for the lead continued with McKinnon fending of Gray. Gray just couldn’t find the line to make a telling pass and McKinnon went through to win from Gray, Lee McGill, Galbraith Simpson, Liam McGill and Wedderburn with Dignan ninth and Bethune, who limped around in tenth place.

The Prostock basics saw Archie Mason make his debut whilst Tori-Leigh Adams was back. Local drivers included Megan Wilson (Comrie), Graeme Dignan (Leven), David van Dieken (Leven), Martin Loggie (Methil), John Downs (Dunfermline) and Callum Rennie (Kinglassie).

The first heat saw Lauren Ford go through to win from Loggie and Joanne Hilditch with Dignan eighth and Rennie in tenth place. Heat two was led for most of the time by Megan Wilson and she went on to win her first ever race, leading home Loggie and Jack Robertson with Dignan fifth and Rennie eighth.

It looked as if it was going to be a ladies clean sweep, only for Hilditch to be delayed during the closing laps allowing Jake Mason through to win from Loggie, Hilditch and Wilson, with Rennie seventh and just ahead of Dignan.

Amongst the Ministox in action were the British Champion Owen Robbins and Alfie Aldous, the English Champion. Local drivers were Jay Paterson (Saline), Rian Mitchell (Lochgelly), Mirran Adams (Lochgelly), Koddi Wright (Lochgelly) and Mitch Gold (Cowdenbeath).

The first race of the night was a white/yellow final with Ethan Doull going through to win from Mitchell and Robbie Hamilton, with Wright in eighth place whilst Adams received a trophy for the first female driver home.

Heat one saw Mitchell go through to win from Hamilton and Gold with Wright in tenth. Heat two saw Mika Millar take a win in his second last Ministox race and he led home Aldous, Charlie Hardie and Gold with Mitchell in seventh place.

Wright led the cars away when the final started but he was soon to be caught by Doull who then took over at the head of the field. Once there he went on to win from Paterson and Millar with Gold sixth.

The Micro F2 drivers were in good form despite the greasy track which caught out a few drivers from time to time. Connor St. Aubyn ((Glenrothes) was the local driver on the grid and in one of his races he ended with bumpers locked with another cars. However, in a big turn out of cars he failed to finish in the top ten in the others.

It looked as if David Philp Jnr was on his way to a first heat win only to get caught up on the turnstile bend and this allowed Oliver Heron to go through to win from Jaden Key and Cole Ramsay.

Heat two ended with Philp Jnr winning from Heron and Key and then in heat three the top three drivers finished in the same order.

The meeting finished with a spectacular fireworks display that lit up the evening.

The next stock car meeting at the Racewall is on the 4th January with the Van Bangers making their return.