RACING resumed at Lochgelly Raceway on Saturday as we got the 2026 season underway, writes our Raceway scribe Kevin McQueen.
A rain shower before the start time, and with little warmth in the air meant for a damp and greasy track throughout the event, which provided challenging racing conditions for all formula.
That said, the drivers raced excellently across all formula with close, combative and exciting moments in all races throughout the night.
The National Hot Rods were the first formula to take to the track and it was pleasing to see 10 Scottish based drivers take to the track, plus Northern Ireland’s Adam Maxwell.
Though not all drivers compete with us regularly, it was enough for the formula to display some very close, very fast and really good racing.
Roy Anderson made a return to racing having sold up a couple of seasons ago, whilst Charlie Hardie and Chris Leslie made their National Hot Rod debut’s.
Adam Maxwell always seems to go well in such track conditions, having, if memory serves correctly, won the European Championship here in similar conditions a couple of seasons ago.
Maxwell took the opening race win on Saturday with World Champion Robert McDonald finishing in second and James Robertson in third.
Heat 2 was another good race, with Ross McWilliam breaking clear early on whilst the pack behind fought vigorously as they looked to overcome Barry Stephen.
Stephen fought well, defending the inside line to the best of his ability, whilst giving room to race on the outside, however, with the track conditions, the outside line was always going to be a difficult, but a brave move.
Robert McDonald moved through into second some laps later, with Gordon Alexander following him through.
McWilliam had opened up a good lead by this point though, and there would be no catching the Northern based driver.
Even with a late race caution due to Roy Anderson crashing out, McWilliam held on to take victory.
McDonald and Alexander took second and third places respectively.
The meeting final was another good race from the National Hot Rods.
James Robertson had his car hooked up perfectly and put in some impressive laps to open up a good lead early on in the race, whilst the star graded drivers took some time in making overtakes.
Robertson would take the race win ahead of Ross McWilliam and Barry Stephen.
The CC Rods started the campaign, which also doubled up as round 1 of their British Championship qualifying series. The budget formula saw some impressively turned out cars on display.
Heat 1 was a fantastic race for the formula with superb racing between Kevin Donaldson, Ian Donaldson and Lee Scott, with nothing between the trio for large parts of the race, however, three abreast up the back straight soon ended in disaster as the cars tangled with all three sustaining some damage and Lee Scott and Ian Donaldson forced into retirement.
Hollie Ritchie took the first win of the season in the formula, with Robert Conway taking second and Kevin Donaldson being awarded third place.
Heat 2 saw John Gorman find some good pace and some good luck. Gorman has struggled with consistency and luck in the formula over the last year or so, and he will be hoping that it has now turned with a race win in Heat 2, followed up by a third place in the meeting final.
Hollie Ritchie looks to have started the season well, showing good pace in all three races on the night, however, a coming together with Gavin Ritchie in the meeting final put an end to her chances of three podium finishes on the night.
The final went the way of Robert Conway, with Kevin Donaldson and Gorman completing the top three.
The ProStocks had a few more cars in attendance than we had anticipated earlier in the week, and the formula once more, delivered plenty of enjoyable racing.
The bumpers went in throughout the night, with not a lot of damage sustained. This kept the cars on track during each of the three races.
Ryan Martin started his campaign off in the best possible fashion with a race win having moved some opposing drivers out the way early on in the race!
Rachel Kidd looks like she will be a driver to watch one more – often flying under the radar, the girl racer always seems to be there or thereabouts when it comes to the checkered flag, with Rachel taking away a runners up spot in the opening heat, followed home by Kai McNulty.
Heat 2 was another excellent race with the star graded drivers making progress throughout the event.
Paul Barron must have made a few adjustments between heats as his well-presented new car looked to have a lot more pace in heat 2 as he raced to victory ahead of Dougie Kidd and Lee Kopacz.
The meeting final saw Ryan Martin take his second victory of the night, ahead of Barron and Rachel Kidd.
It was good to see a few new drivers make their debut in the formula, with Marley Montgomery, Dylan Dickson and Liam Georgeson all taking to the track with Montgomery showing good pace in each of the three heats, and could be one to look out for once he starts from the white grade.
The 1400 Stock Cars saw a few drivers miss out due to cars not being ready as yet, but with 15 cars taking to the track on Saturday, there was plenty to watch and a few talking points as well.
It looks like we’ve got our first rivalry of the season already with a couple of drivers putting the bumpers into effect on each other early on in the event.
Dean Sievwright was an innocent bystander though, and was caught up with an impact and as a resullt it saw retire from the opening heat.
Abe Adams and Jamie George both made there debuts in the class, whilst Sam Cavanagh also made a return to action.
Northern Ireland's Alexander McCready also joined us for some early season action. Fraser Clark will be happy with the way the 2026 season started as he took a heat and final double.
Charlie Henry showed good pace as well and she too will be satisfied with her night's racing, coming away with a win and a runners-up spot in the final.
Callum Sturrock has been a rising talent in the formula, and has shown glimpses of what he is capable off during 2025, and he’ll be hoping that his good start to 2026 can continue as the season develops.
The Stock Rods were arguably the formula of the night, with an extremely competitive field of drivers all chasing championship qualification.
The formula looks to be on a serious upwards trajectory with three new drivers taking to the track on Saturday (though, only 2 managed to take a green flag) and several others still to join the ranks.
There were strong showings throughout the event from drivers across the grades – Baillie Glencross drove excellently in the meeting final and looked on course to challenge for a win, whilst Kevin Stewart also showed that he has the pace to compete and was somewhat unfortunate not to come away with a few more points on the night.
Fraser Anderson took an excellent win in the opening heat, whilst Lee McGill took a heat and final double.
Harry Minish joined us from Northern Ireland and was one of the quickest drivers on track – the youngster certainly has a lot of potential and will be one to watch come the World Championship here in September.
Hardie Race Promotions would like to extend our gratitude to our 2026 season partners.
David Philp Commercials, ASD Racing Products, Spedeworth TV, Scrapco Metal Recycling, Fife Medical Group, Dhoom Indian Streatery, APEX Garden Buildings, GA Autos, SP Utilities, Lothian Property Services, GNR Signs, Specialist Roofing, AG Motors, RS Motors.
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