It truly was a bumper Bank Holiday at Smeatharpe, as Mayday Monday saw almost 150 drivers cram into the pit area, for a meeting that was heavy on quantity, with no shortage of quality too.

Saloon Stock Cars

Boosted by a couple of drivers who did not race the day before, and two visiting Scots, the entry of Saloon Stock Cars hit 28 in total.  However, the late arrival of some drivers, did cause some confusion over numbers, and if it had been known that that many drivers were intending to race, a two from three format may well have been deployed as originally planned.  Nonetheless, the packed grids led to yet more stunning action, as the Saloon Stock Cars carried on where they had left off the previous afternoon at St Day.  428 Lee Sampson got things started with a heavy fencing of 56 George Boult Jnr, aided in no small way by 730 Deane Mayes, who was on the back of the high speed train that charged towards the plating and the pit gate.  28 Ian Govier was well clear out front when a race suspension was called for, and as the single file grid prepared for the restart, Govier broke away from the front far in advance of the green flag, which earned him a post-race docking of two places, and thus 349 Michael Allard inherited the win.  Heat two saw Sampson spin Boult Jnr around again in the pits bend, but there was to be no doubt about the winner, as 116 Diggy Smith stormed to a convincing victory.  The final brought some poetic justice, as 84 Carl Boswell bounced back from his spectacular rollover at St Day the previous afternoon, to land a popular win.  The race was enthralling, with action on almost every lap.  Allard was second again, and Smith completed the top three.

Stock Rods

The entry of non-contact Stock Rods was boosted by some drivers who turned up ’on spec’ and as such that led to a two from three format.  45 Jordan Wainwright took the honours in the opening heat, which saw a back straight clash involving 3 Matt Peters and 215 Danny Johnson.  Although he crossed the line in second place, Johnson was docked two places, which left 92 Adam Daniels as the runner-up.  Heat two saw 237 Ashley Vaughan lead much of the way.  He was pursued by 315 Trevor Ashworth.  Late on, Vaughan and Ashworth clashed, which saw Vaughan career on to the back straight infield, where he heavily collected the parked car of 234 Josh Murray; with Vaughan sustaining a foot injury in the process.  On the restart, 944 Callum Hosie and Wainwright eventually found a way past Ashworth, to fill the top two positions.  Hosie looked set to win again in heat three, but having got clear in the lead, he encountered carburettor issues with just two laps to run.  Ashworth was able to smuggle back past Hosie in the ailing car, and it was Ashworth who won, and in a photo finish, 9 Chris Drake just grabbed second, with 909 Justin Washer third and the luckless Hosie in fourth.  The final came down to a duel between Ashworth and 437 Lewis Trickey.  Although Hosie came to join them late on, he could not find a way past the lead pair, and Ashworth duly sealed a heat and final double.

Ministox

970 Archie Farrell swept to an emphatic victory in the opening heat for the youngsters, as he led home 917 Gemma Robbins and 654 Harley Soper.  In heat two, there was an early race suspension when 985 Sam Carter was spun, and then collected by 506 Bradley Eltham.  Soper stormed to victory, from Farrell, whilst 677 Warren Darby grabbed third place right at the close of the race.  Farrell then declared his retirement from Ministox, and opted not to grid for the Devon Championship.  Soper and Robbins shared the front row, but at the drop of the green, Darby pounced from row two, to spin Soper around.  From that very early point, Darby eased clear, to win untroubled.  Robbins was the runner-up, and Soper fought back well to eventually gain third place, after 210 Aaron Richards was docked for making avoidable contact with novice driver 907 Cadan Davies, who was making his first appearance.  The day, however, belonged to Darby, who clinched the Devon Championship, in his final year in the Ministox.

Banger Teams

No less than fifteen teams were represented, even though some were one or two drivers short of the full complement of four drivers per team.  113 Chris Jeanes and 991 Ben Hale won the two half-car heats, to put plenty of points on the board for the Happy Campers.  However, consistency was the key for The Men In Black, who turned good places into points, to lead into the second half of the programme.  Heat three was contested on a crowded track, with in excess of forty drivers on the grid.  929 Sam Baker took the win, but three of the Men In Black quartet got in the top ten to extend their advantage.  The fourth and deciding heat was halted when 276 Ross Walter rolled on the start-finish line.  288 Billy Collins led off the restart, but when 409 Joey Collins and 138 Dan Rice indulged in a private DD on the infield, Billy Collins threw away a certain win to blast Rice, which ultimately led to all three drivers landing in disciplinary hot water.  On the restart, 604 Josh Bridger performed some acrobatics in front of the seated area.  Hale took up the running, to land his second win of the afternoon, but there was no denying  the Men In Black, who made it four Team Championship successes in a row.  Numbers for the DD fell just short of double figures, and there was an early stoppage when 46 Tom Greenslade came off worse in a head-on with 23 Barry Staples.  Spirited efforts from 45 Mike Reed, 246 Ryan Sparks and 718 Adie Brown contributed to an exciting contest, but it was 223 Sonny Collins who landed the last blow, to clinch a fine victory.