United Downs Raceway - Sunday 25th July 2021

Summertime Stock Car racing at the United Downs Raceway brought out the absolute best from the Saloon Stock Cars who were in mesmerising form on a sunny afternoon at the Cornish circuit.

Saloon Stock Cars

The day’s action from the Saloon Stock Cars was arguably the best from the formula for a domestic fixture at St Day.  Each of the day’s quartet of races was packed full of incident, with the feature final being an absolutely enthralling contest.  To start proceedings, five drivers contested a White Tops only race.  It would have been six on the grid, had 33 Peter Hollett not suffered a throttle cable fault during pre-meeting practice.  281 Marc Chenery shot away from pole position, leaving 314 Bryn Finch to duel with 842 Lee Williams.  As the race progressed, Chenery looked assured out front, but the battle between 10 Frank Little and 444 Kieran Bellringer to avoid the wooden spoon went all the way to the final bend.  If the white tops could produce such a race, what would the full grid serve up?  That was the question ahead of heat one, and nobody was left disappointed.  Heat one began with a bundle of cars ended up stranded in the pits bend.  Finch set the early pace, but as the race progressed, 677 Warren Darby surged to the front, and he was the leader from 277 Jack Grandon when the race was suspended after Williams was turned around in the turnstile bend and lost a wheel guard.  Whilst Grandon was left to battle with 84 Carl Boswell, 364 Nathan Olden and National Champion 902 Junior Buster, Darby was able to surge clear to win.  Williams spun Little around to take the early lead in heat two.  Chenery came to challenge Williams, but with Finch having clouted the turn four plating, the race was suspended.  When the race resumed, Darby rose to second place, before easing ahead of Chenery and Olden.  Darby then encountered some hinderance from 152 Levi Oughton, but spun him aside.  Late on, 799 Joe Powell spun in the turnstile bend, which caused a partial blockage, and whilst Grandon dived at Chenery for second place, Chenery held on to cross the line behind Darby, who notched a fifth successive St Day victory.  The final was stupendous and will stand comparison with any race at St Day this year.  Not away as swiftly as in the heats, Darby again spun aside the awkward Oughton.  Darby was fifth at the time of a caution period when Little had ground to a halt on the back straight.  Upon resumption, Williams was turned around by 319 Richard Regan, whereupon he was then collected by the oncoming pack.  Out of that pack, Chenery disappeared in a huge cloud of dust on the infield by the pit gate.  Darby grabbed the lead from Olden, but then lost it to Boswell.  As Boswell snaked past the stricken Williams car, Darby retook the lead, but with the lead duo delaying one another, Grandon was able to pounce, and he sent Darby spinning in the turnstile bend.  Grandon moved ahead, closely chased by Junior Buster, Boswell and Olden, whilst 444 Kieran Bellringer was till in touch with them too.  Buster overhauled Grandon, but led only for half a lap, as Olden bundled him into the turnstile bend fence, only for Grandon to leap from fourth to first once more.  Yet, Grandon could not shake off Olden, who sent Grandon bouncing off the plating, to steal the lead for the final time.  Grandon half spun and fell back down the order.  Olden pulled clear and secured the win, a highly commendable achievement at the end of a remarkable race.  Boswell, Buster and Bellringer were the next three home, then 447 Adam Hicks and Grandon made a last bend dive to wrestle sixth from 489 Wayne Jarvis.  And then the crowd could draw breath again.

Back 2 Basics Bangers

There was a decent display from the Back 2 Basics Bangers, who served up some entertaining racing and finished the afternoon with a fun Destruction Derby.  The first heat went the way of 196 Phil Chapman, after he had caught and punted 690 Tristan Clement wide in the turnstile bend.  Heat two featured lots of action all around the circuit, including a spin for 726 Lewis Senford in turn four, which led to him being an effective chicane.  Clement made up for missing out in the earlier race, as he led home track debutant 168 Adam Welsman.  In the final, Welsman was a long way clear from an early stage, but 102 Tom Sandercock continued to hunt him down, and as they approached the 2-laps-to-go board, Sandercock inflicted a perfect spin, which sent Welsman into the already parked car of unsuspecting rookie 333 Ryan Slaney.  Sandercock went on to win from 617 Reece Rixon and 692 Dave Gardner.  The DD saw 652 Kristian Gale limp his battered car on to track, along with a handful of others.  A jacking train developed in turns one and two, with Welsman, 243 Sophie Over and 59 Mike Hamley involved.  It was Hamley who outlasted the rest, as he finished the involvement of Gardner and 161 Anton Ferris to take a fine victory.