IT was almost snow go at Lochgelly Raceway on Saturday, writes our Raceway writer Kevin McQueen.
Eight hours before start time, the snow was coming down, blanketing the track and surrounding areas in around two inches of snow. However, with a bit of luck the weather turned and rain cleared off the majority of snow well before the 6pm start time, enabling the racing to go ahead, on what turned out to be a milder night than anticipated.
The ProStocks were in action for the first time this season at Lochgelly Raceway and endeavoured to put on a show.
World Cup winner, Paul Barron, was on track but appeared to be off form as he tinkered with the set-up of the car in the wet conditions.
David Linton crossed the line first in the opening race but was removed from the result due to not having his transponder fitted, giving Dougie Kidd the first win of the night. The second race saw a good battle between race one winner Dougie Kidd and Robert Hamilton. An initial spin out by Hamilton on Kidd saw the start of the battle between them.
Dougie Kidd managed to catch up with the Robert Hamilton car, pushed him round for a few laps before spinning him.
Neither driver lost too much ground, but the race win went to newcomer David Linton – this time he was awarded the race win ahead of Lee Kopacz.
The meeting final was another great battle in the closing few laps, Lee Kopacz led the way with Paul Barron and Ian Christie in pursuit. Barron moved into the lead only to be challenged by Christie and Kopacz again, as a few laps went by, Grumm Flemming latched onto the back of the battle.
Barron forced Christie out wide going into turn one for the last time, causing a bit of a coming together between Christie, Kopacz and Fleming and Barron getting a bit of space coming into turns 3 and 4 for the last time enabling him to take the win ahead of Fleming, Christie and Kopacz.
Mitchell Gold was in great form in the Ministox, taking two wins and a second from his 3 races. There were nearly 20 cars in action, including debutant Rian Mitchell from Lochgelly.
The opening heat seen some good battles with bumper to bumper action. A race stoppage was called for as Mika Millar and Brandon Morton had a coming together on the back straight resulting in both cars pointing the wrong direction on the track!
Mitchell Gold and Barry Scott had a good tussle for a few laps as they traded blows with each other for position before Gold finally got the gap with Scott failing to finish the race.
Taylor Borthwick and Jamie Stewart had a good race for the minor places, with Taylor coming out on top after putting the Stewart car into a half spin dropping Stewart back a couple of places.
Brandon Morton showed good speed in the second race, speeding to a heat win ahead of Mitchell Gold and Jamie Stewart, with Ciaran Adams coming home in 4th place after a good battle with northern driver Ross Lawrence, who was eventually spun out by Adams.
Borthwick was again in the thick of the action, this time being pushed sideways down the back straight by Ross Lawrence as Lawrence battled back through the places.
The final race of the evening for the youngsters saw Mitchell Gold claim his second win of the night ahead of Taylor Borthwick and Scott Allardyce.
The final race was led by novice Rian Mitchell (Lochgelly) for almost half distance before being caught and eventually spun out.
The Superstox saw a downturn in car numbers, affected somewhat by the weather conditions.
Bryan Forrest won the opening race ahead of Kenny McKenzie and Dean Johnston, before Kenny McKenzie took a heat and final double, cementing his place into the red grade for the next meeting!
National Points Champion William Hardie was back in action in the 2.0 Hot Rod after a short retirement from racing. Hardie was right back on form like he had never been away, racing his way to a hat trick of wins.
The opening race saw Hardie make the most of challenging conditions, sneaking up the inside of the red graded drivers at the start of the race before racing to a good win ahead of Glenrothes’ Jim Pitcaithly and Dunfermline's Gerry Hendry.
The second race was much the same, with Hardie getting to the front quickly and setting the pace whilst the battles went on behind him. A great tussle was had with Pitcaithly and Hendry with the cars going across the finish line less than a bumper size between them, this time, Hendry coming out ahead of Pitcaithly.
The meeting final saw Hardie get away in front, with Hendry squeezing in behind him and Pitcaithly behind Hendry. Gerry Hendry pushed Hardie all the way in this race, finishing only a car length behind the 72 William Hardie car.
The National Bangers were in action in the 2l format for the first time in a number of years in part of a four meeting series for the specification. Four drivers from the Barrow region of England joined the Scottish based drivers and put on a good show all night.
The opening race saw the Pete McVay car get stranded on the back straight before it was collected by one of the oncoming cars. Sean McConnachie 180 took the race win ahead of Daniel Wright 47 only after giving out some big hits in the opening laps. The second race saw McVay manage to sort his car out and get it back on track, although, with a slight crab! Daniel Wright raced to victory in this race ahead of McConnachie.
The meeting final saw McConnachie steel the limelight again though, as he pushed his way to the front of the pack to take the win ahead of Wright again. McVay for his efforts, won the nights Demolition Derby.
We are back in action this coming Saturday at Lochgelly Raceway with the 1300 Stock Cars, Stock Rods, CC Rods, Ministox and Ninja Karts all in action. Join us from 17.30 when the action gets underway. Admission costs just £10 for adults and £5 for concessions or 12-15 year olds, under 12s go free at Lochgelly Raceway!
We are now onto the countdown for the National Hot Rod European Championship, the top drivers from throughout the UK and Ireland will descend upon HRP Lochgelly Raceway on 6 and 7th of April.
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