WHERE do most stock car drivers, families and supporters go when the Cowdenbeath Racewall holiday break is on?
You’ve guessed it – Skegness or Skeg Vegas as it is now known, where they can get three days of blistering action, writes our Racewall reporter, Jim Turner who was on the spot.
Thursday night's stock car action at Skeg Vegas was held in blistering hot weather attracting big fields of both Formula 2 and Saloon drivers from all over Britain and the continent.
If this was a prelude to the weekend then bring it on! The Formula 2 heats were won by Luke Syrett-Barsby, Dan Roots and Jack Witts.
The consolation heats went to Gordon Moodie and Charlie Lobb. Moodie won an exciting 36 car final from Matt Stoneman and David Shearing and the Grand National ended with Euan Millar winning from Craig Driscoll.
The Saloon heat winners were Jack Grandon, Luke Dorling and Graeme Shevill, who won heat three.
Austen Freestone won the first consolation with Gemma Russell the second.
The Dave Garner Memorial Trophy final was won by Levi List from Brad Compton-Sage and Archie Brown, but there was to be no top three finish for the Scottish drivers. Brown won the Allcomers race.
On Saturday the drivers played a fitting tribute to Charlie Morphey, who lost his life in an accident during the week, with the cars of Diggy Smith and Ryan Santry carrying tributes to Charlie.
There were two rollovers, Jessica Smith in the Formula 2s and Liam Gilbank in the Formula 1s.
However, there was a big shunt in the Saloons and how Ryan Wright didn’t roll beats me!
To start with we had the Teng Tools Champion of Champions Challenge, which is open to the Formula 1 and 2 and Saloon World Champions.
Each driver has five laps in the others’ cars with the fastest time dictating who the winner is.
This year Luke Wrench, who is the Formula 2 World Champion, narrowly beat the Saloon champion Archie Brown, with the Formula 1 champion, Tom Harris, third.
The Formula 2 qualifying rounds were won by Shearing, Charlie Guinchard, Adam Rubery, Jack Bowman and Syrett-Barsby, with both Liam Rennie and Ryan McGill having runner-up spots.
There were two consolation heats being won by Archie Grindey and Moodie.
The Cottage Farm Final, which doesn’t count as points for the ‘UK’, was won by Moodie, who led home Steven Burgoyne and Tom Davison.
The Saloons races were full of action with Grandon winning three heats and in doing so secured pole position for the UK Championship.
The other heats saw G. Shevill, Freestone, Ryan Santry and Nathan Olden win.
There were quite a few of the Scottish drivers picking up decent results to qualify, but those who didn’t headed to the last chance qualifying heat on Sunday.
In the Formula 1s their Trust Fund race was won by Jack France, before Thomas Rogers won the Steve Froggatt Memorial Trophy.
Richard Burt then won the consolation heat and then the Ray Tyldesley Memorial Trophy with Frankie Wainman Jnr Jnr winning the Grand National.
On Sunday the action continued thick and fast with no shortage of incidents.
There were three Formula 2 qualifying heats which were won by Josh Hamstead and whilst Lewis Burgoyne won the second, Charlie Guinchard and Graham Fegan tangled not once but twice.
The third heat was won by Shearing, which netted him pole position for the UK Championship.
In the consolation heats Kasey Jones and Luke Grimer were the winners.
The front row of the grid was shared by Shearing and Syrett-Barsby, but at the first bend Bowman was left suspended on the ropes suspending the race!
The grid reformed with Rennie quickly forcing his way through into the lead but then an eight-car shunt suspended the race.
Rennie then led the field away from Guinchard and Dan Roots, but closing quickly was Moodie.
Roots got ahead of Guinchard, a feat that Moodie quickly emulated but that was that with Rennie going through to win the UK Championship from Roots and Moodie.
The Saloon last chance qualifying heat gridded 42 cars and was incident packed.
Kai Gilmour and Rich James got locked together and then there were rollovers for Luke Dorling and Aaron Totham, with Barry Glen going through to win.
The grid for the UK Championship had Grandon on pole with Stuart Shevill Jnr alongside and once the ‘drivers start your engines’ command was given the field burst into life.
The field didn’t manage a lap before it was halted with Stuart Adsley’s car on its roof.
The grid reformed and with S. Shevill Jnr taking the lead, he was then greeted by the yellow flag after Joe Gladden had rolled.
On the restart S. Shevill Jnr led and he was able to open up a gap as four drivers squabbled over second.
Freestone slowed, then Darren Goudy landed on the tyres suspending the race.
On the restart Shevill Jnr was shunted wide as Warren Darby moved ahead with his brother tucked in behind.
There was another stoppage after Kegan Sampson and Levi List fell out. Although W. Darby led the field away there was a push going into the bend which allowed Shevill Jnr to slip through into the lead.
Once there he held on to win the UK Championship from Brown and W. Darby.
The Saloons then lined up for their Raymond Gunn Tribute race, which was also in memory of Gordon Barclay and Neil McAndrew, who lost their lives some 30 years ago when returning from Skegness.
The race was a typical Skegness Saloon race where drivers pushed each other wide, spun out and also swapped places on a regular basis.
There was even a return match between K. Sampson and List towards the end of the race much to the fans delight!
In the end it turned out to be a win for Grandon, who led for most of the race, crossing the finish line clear of Harry Darby and Shevill Jnr.
The Allcomers race may not have had as big a field as usual but there was plenty of incidents and in one, towards the end of the race, left the car of Kalin Bryson on its roof!
This time it was Joey Reynolds who went through to win.
The Formula 1 heats were won by Josh Spiers, Harris and Wainman Jnr Jnr, with Lee Fairhurst winning the Tim Mann Trophy.
Wainman Jnr Jnr rounded off a great weekend’s racing when he won the Grand National.
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