A SUN-KISSED Cowdenbeath Racewall hosted a pair of retro stock car formulas on Saturday, evening as the Classic Hot Rods competed for their Best in Britain title, while there was a first-ever visit from the Old Skool Superstox, as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of former Racewall owner Gordon McDougall's Superstox World Championship win at Cowdenbeath, writes our Racewall scribe Jack Watson.
It was excellent to see some iconic cars from that era blasting around the track.
John Buchan added the Classic Hot Rod Best in Britain title to his illustrious roll of honour, on an evening where he won all three races.
Among the winners in the Old Skool Superstox was 1974 Superstox World Champion Steve Monk, who was the European Champion the same year that McDougall won the World title.
Around thirty Prostock Basics drivers contested their Turner Trophy, which went to Liam Boyle. Earlier in the meeting, Ellie Ferguson won her first ever race - she also celebrated her 18th birthday on Saturday night!
There were Final wins too for Craig Wallace in the BriSCA F2 Stock Cars and Michael Bethune in the ORCi Stock Rods.
Among the BriSCA F2 Stock Cars were debutant Paul Reid Jnr (Cowdenbeath), while Liam Dollan (Leven) returned to racing under a new number.
There was also a second appearance of the season at the Racewall for World Champion Gordon Moodie (Windygates). Brian Hogg was the intial heat one leader but Graeme Leckie soon hit the front. Leckie began to create a gap, with Peter Watt dropping down the order and leaving John Hogg as Leckie's closest challenger.
Leckie stayed out front to win, ahead of J. Hogg and Craig Wallace. Rebecca Reid (Cowdenbeath) joined the grid for heat two which was led throughout by regular visitor from the North East of England, Richard Walden - his first win at the track. There was a fantastic battle for second place, featuring Moodie, J. Hogg, Watt, Wallace and Jason McDonald.
In the end, it was Wallace and J. Hogg who completed the top three, just ahead of Moodie.
The Final was halted after a couple of laps after R. Reid collected a marker tyre towards the end of the back straight. Walden led the restart but was overtaken by Watt, before dropping back and eventually retiring on the turnstile bend. Wallace pursued Watt and was able to move the latter on to the outside line, helping him on his way to the win. Moodie and J. Hogg were second and third.
There was another good battle for the lead in the Grand National, with Watt trying to fend off the attentions of J. Hogg and Moodie. Watt was delayed when approaching a backmarker, allowing J. Hogg into the lead and Moodie into second.
Moodie was unable to get on terms with J. Hogg who went on to win. Watt held on for third.
With just one week to go before their World Championship at Nutts Corner in Northern Ireland, ORCi Stock Rod numbers were understandably lighter than usual.
The star drivers were quick to get into the lead of the opening heat, with Ross Graham hitting the front after a couple of laps. Graham had Michael Bethune (Cowdenbeath) and Jamie Dawson on his tail just before the halfway point, with Bethune finding a gap to take the lead.
Dawson capitalised on the gap that was left open to relegate Graham to third, but Bethune had built enough of a gap to take the win.
The second heat featured some impressive defensive driving from J. Dignan, who managed to keep a train of star drivers in his rear view mirror for a few laps before Graham and Dawson made their moves at the same time, leading to some brilliant three wide racing.
Dawson got through and set about chasing down leading pair, George White and Lauren Gray, and eventually got into the lead with the lap boards showing.
Bethune had tailed Dawson from the three-wide move moment onwards and came through for second, and third went to Cameron Doak.
White led the majority of the Final too, but was overtaken by Bethune with a handful of laps remaining before retiring before the end.
J. Dignan and Peter Henderson had a brief tangle on the back straight but were able to recover and complete the race. Dawson and Graham were second and third behind Bethune.
Another big field of Prostock Basics were on hand for their Turner Trophy fixture.
Lee Logan was an early casualty in the opening heat, which was led initially by Shannon Dalgarno. John Paton took over and built up an unassailable gap. Second went to Barry Jackman and third to Liam Loggie (Leven).
Ellie Ferguson, who was racing on the night of her 18th birthday, led the second heat from start to finish, to win her first ever race! John Paton was second and Joanne Hilditch emerged from some excellent pack racing to claim third.
Ben Kerr was nearly half a lap clear in the third heat when the yellow flags appeared for a three car stramash on the pit bend involving Loggie, Russell Adams (Glenrothes) and Zoe Stewart.
Cole McDonald took advantage of the bunched field at the restart to take the win, ahead of Kerr and Moore.
The Turner Trophy Final was stopped the first time when Jackman found himself stuck on the home straight, facing the traffic! There was some fluid dropped on the pit bend just before the race was stopped, and the restart saw plenty of drivers scrambling to keep their cars under control.
Mill slid into the wall before being collected heavily by Ferguson, causing another stoppage. Dalgarno slammed off the home straight wall at the third restart but with her car moving to a place of relative safety, the race was able to continue.
Kerr, who had led in a similar fashion to the previous race, was once again thwarted by yellow flags. Boyle came through to win, ahead of Kerr and McDonald.
The first race for the Old Skool Superstox went to Steve Monk, who was the 1974 World Champion in the class. Second was Clive Freeman, who was racing the 1988 and 1989 BriSCA F2 World Championship winning Jimmy Wallace car, and third was Matthew Gray - who was racing a replica of his father John's English Championship winning car.
Merv Smart, who was racing the car that raced in the 1976 Superstox World Championship at Cowdenbeath by Stu Blyth, was the winner of the second race of the night. Freeman was second and Richard Hampshire was third. Gray was the winner of the Final, leading home Freeman and Hampshire.
While the Classic Hot Rod entry was modest, four nations were represented in the field.
English visitor Lee Wood's evening came to an early end when his Vauxhall Viva expired in a cloud of smoke on the pit bend. John Buchan took the win, ahead of Gordon Naismith and Englishman Hughie Weaver.
Buchan got the better of Weaver in the closing stages of heat two to take the win, with Anthony Morgan from the Republic of Ireland in third. Buchan completed his hat-trick in the Best of Britain Final, leading home Weaver, Naismith and Northern Irish driver Caleb Howard.
The five formula meetings at the Racewall continue on Saturday, as the Turner Trophies for the BriSCA F2, Saloon Stock Cars and Micro F2s are up for grabs. There is also racing from the Prostocks and Streetstox, with the first race scheduled for 5.45pm.
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