It was always going to be the day after the night before for the second instalment of the Saloon Stock Car World Championship weekend, at The Racewall, Cowdenbeath.  But, with improved weather and another great entry of Saloon Stock Cars still in town, the BriSCA F2 Stock Cars in title mode and the Stock Rods completing the line-up, all watched by another great crowd it was more than a fitting conclusion the weekend.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

Damage sustained the previous evening did see fewer BriSCA F2 Stock Cars in attendance than had been hoped for , but nevertheless a slight change in the format for the F2 Nationals Championship still meant that there were plenty of cars on track.  Not the case for the Teen Sensations race which was first up however, which was missing Saturday’s victor NI935 Dean McCrory who was unable to race following being part of the large crash in the meeting Final the previous evening.  As it was planned, the race went ahead and NI747 Bradley McKinstry won from flag to flag ahead of NI221 Anthony Kincaid and 142 Jonathan Hadfield.  That saw sixteen year old Kincaid as the overall winner of the two-race competition.  The F2 Nationals race was open to the highest graded drivers present, as per the BriSCA F2 rulebook, with the grid determined via a public draw, which was conducted at the pit gate ahead of the pre-meeting Grand Parade of drivers, as Autospeed maintained their own traditions.  It was local star 17 Paul Reid who drew pole position with NI929 Conor Hughes, repaired from his rollover the evening before on the outside with 321 Holly Glen and Anthony Kincaid on row two.  Of the bigger names 38 Dave Polley drew 10, 854 Robbie Dawson 12 and 16 Craig Wallace 20.  With a closed grid at the Racewall there is always a great chance of first corner chaos, but thankfully it didn’t happen, largely because Reid was very swiftly away at the start and the pack was already broken up by the time they headed into that first corner.  Hadfield settled into second as Hughes fell swiftly back, his car still suffering from its damage.  41 Dennis Middler moved past 979 Paul Moss to go third and Polley did the same, and then went ahead of Middler to go second and by lap 7 of the 20, he was in the leading position.  It was a lead he wasn’t to lose.  Wallace, as expected made the most progress but couldn’t catch Middler, or Polley who went on to take the title and with it book his place in the National Series shoot out for the silver roof which begins next month.  Having spun down the order in the Nationals race, NI312 Christopher Kincaid came through to take another win for the weekend in heat two and Wallace won heat three.  The Final was led by 922 Pete Davidson until he was passed by 121 Henry King who held on until 3 Liam Rennie moved past.  Despite Wallace closing in during the second half of the race, Rennie’s lead never looked in doubt and he took his first Final win of 2017.  Wallace was second and Christopher Kincaid third.  The Grand National featured a frightening and freak accident for 629 Euan Miller, which thankfully he could walk away totally unscathed from.  Dawson went on to move into the lead after the re-start and went on to take the win.

Saloon Stock Cars

In slight contrast to the F2 Stock Cars, the Saloon Stock Car entry was probably better than expected, especially given the heavy action on World Final night and ultimately there were 46 cars that raced on day two.  The two half car heats saw yet more action as the first was won by 428 Lee Sampson and the second featured a wild ride around the turns three and four wall for 38 Barry Glen.  499 David Aldous was the winner.  641 Willie Skoyles Jnr won the consolation.  The Final was for the ‘Raymond Gunn Tribute’ in memory of Raymond, who lost his life in a crash here 14 years ago and for the winner £228 which was his racing number.  Prior to the event, there were some words from Raymond’s brother Davy, and as is the tradition, the song ‘Dignity’ by Deacon Blue was played over the PA, before balloons in Raymond’s green and blue colours were released over Central Park Stadium.  With over 30 cars on the track, and the last race of the weekend for the Saloon Stock Cars, and the race that it is, it was always going to be a ferocious one and indeed this was the case.  It featured another large moment for 570 Simon Venni, this time a ride around the turns three and four wall and several other incidents that brought out the yellow flags.  It came down to a battle between the home-grown star 670 Ross Watters and brothers 149 Jamie Sampson and 428 Lee Sampson.  Once Jamie went out, it was left to Lee and to the Scottish star to battle out.  Sampson made his move on Watters with two laps to run, but predictably Watters went in with a huge last bend lunge which took both cars into and round the wall.  Despite visible damage, Sampson was able to bounce off the wall and scramble across the line whereas Watters spun and ended up with nothing, spinning on the exit of turn four in front of the grandstand.  Sampson saluted the grandstand, and as Watters exited his car he was given a huge round of applause.  Sampson’s win was warmly welcomed by all the fans too, appreciative of having watched the end of a proper Stock Car race; the most fitting climax to a truly wonderful race.  711 Anthony McIvor made second and Skoyles was third to round out a mega showing from the Saloon Stock Cars all weekend.

Stock Rods

The ORCi Stock Rods completed the programme and despite it being just five days ahead of the start of their own World Championship meeting in Northern Ireland, there were 17 cars including visitors from the said Province to add to the locals and/or regulars at The Racewall.  257 Paul Prentice won heat one before heat two featured a scruffy scrap for the lead which saw all three involved, 476 Simon Morris, 70 Steven Archibald and 644 Martin Rankin all crash out and it was 932 Ian Thompson who took the win.  The Final was led by Archibald until Thompson moved past with 612 Leon Stewart reeling him in as the laps ticked off.  With two to run, Stewart saw a slight gap that Thompson left, and he went for it.  It paid off and he moved past into the lead and won, on his return to racing.  Thompson held on for second, just ahead of 91 Jim Pitcaithly and then somewhat bizarrely the pair managed to crash into each other on the run-down lap which left the 91 car crunched into the wall in front of the main grandstand.