IT was another fine Friday night of racing at Lochgelly Raceway which saw a fantastic 13 races in just three hours in an evening that seen almost 30 Ninja Karts in attendance, writes our Raceway scribe Kevin McQueen.

A number of visiting drivers from Northern Ireland bolstered the numbers in the Ninja Karts with three additional karts, including Leyton Hughes (929) who scooped a hat trick of race wins from his blue grade starting berth.

Dean Heeps (484) made his debut in the formula in one of the Smart karts. The opening race for the youngsters was for the white and yellow graded drivers.

Newcomer to the formula, Isla Chisolm (846) raced to victory in only her 2nd outing in the formula ahead of Candice Smart and Leeland Dearn (878). The 2nd race of the evening for the youngsters saw an influx of other karts take to the track, with the grid swelling to around 22, including 9 blue graded drivers.

Recently crowned World Cup winner Bailey Millar (60) was starting from the back of the grid and found it challenging to battle his way through to the front, with a large number of karts in good form, and unfortunate spinners deterring his progress. Leyton Hughes was the victor in heat 1 for the Ninja Karts after a great drive from the back of the blues, finishing just ahead of Kayden Connor (27) and Bailey Millar.

Heat 2 for the Ninja Karts saw a dramatic end to the race as the leading pack closed in on some back markers in the last lap. Kaden Connor and Leyton Hughes were battling for the lead going into the last lap however, a last lap spin out for another kart seen Hughes come out on top, whilst Bailey Millar and Toby Tyson had a great last few laps as they raced for 3rd position.

Unfortunately, Kaden Connor seemed to slow on the last corner which resulted in Bailey and Toby overtaking Connor just a yard short of the finish line as the three karts crossed almost side by side! Hughes took the flag, with Millar 2nd and Tyson finishing in 3rd, before Connor brought his kart home in 4th place. The final race of the night for the Ninja Karts again seen Kayden Connor and Leyton Hughes race for the lead, though Leyton managed to get a few kart lengths on Connor by the time the chequered flag had came out. Declan Dixon rounded off the top three after a mixed night after failing to reach the start line in his first race of the night.

The 1300 Stock Cars saw a few new faces on track including Grady Ross (694) and Steven Dawson (600) in the hire car.

Patrick Calderwood returned to action after missing a few meetings, and picked up a race win in the opening race of the night with Grady Ross finishing 2nd and Craig Haxton (67) in 3rd position.

Michael Courts (75) has been getting quicker with each passing meeting recently and capped off that improvement with a race win heat 2 of the night for the all action 1300 Stock Cars. Steven Gold(22) and Steven Dawson completed the top three in an eventful race that only seen 9 cars finish. The meeting final drew in and there was a few scores to settle on track following previous incidents in the previous race.

Steven Dawson, Grady Ross and Patrick Calderwood all exchanged blows over a number of laps before a few big hits went in, which seen Michael Courts take the brunt of the force, resulting in a sudden end to his evening racing as he clattered the barrier with some force. A lap later, Patrick Calderwood also went in for a hit on Steven Dawson, who was slowing on the outside of the track, before all cars pulled off onto the infield, with only Grady surviving the battle. European Champion Zak Gilmour (122) avoided the chaos and took the race win ahead off Eddie Corr (654) and Craig Haxton (67).

The Stock Rods were in action for the final time ahead of their World Championship on August 31 / September 1 at Lochgelly Raceway and there was a place still up for grabs in that World Championship event.

A four-way battle was in place for the final place amongst a host of yellow grade drivers. Alan Cuthbert (52) had the advantage going into the final meeting, with Andy Grant (7), Jock McEwan (557) and Chris Dearn (878) all within 14 points of that final place.

Chris Dearn didn’t compete in the meeting meaning it was a three way battle on the night. With Jock McEwan struggling on the night, it went down to a fantastic dual between Cuthbert and Grant.

Grant took the opening heat win in style, surging to an excellent race win and looked on course to repeat that in heat 2, before his engine dropped a valve. Andy held on as best as he could to nurse the car home, but lost a number of places, including the race win to Alan Cuthbert. Andy Grant finally finished in 4th place.

It all went down to the meeting final, and it was the two yellow grade drivers that everyone was watching. Andy Grant took the race win in relative ease again, however, it wasn’t to be enough to close the gap on Cuthbert, who took that final position by only 4 points, meaning that at the moment, it is Cuthbert who takes the final Scottish place in the World Championship! Siobhan Martin also secured the National Points Championship on the night, meaning that she will wear the silver roof for the next year as a reward for her efforts throughout the season.

The Ministox likewise were in action for the final time ahead of their National Championship meeting here at Lochgelly Raceway at our speedweekend at the end of August.

A number of visiting drivers joined us including Aaron Richards (210), Harry Darby (577), Harley Soper (654) and Alfie Aldous (499) as they looked for a bit of tracktime ahead of the speed weekend.

Aaron Richards is no stranger to Lochgelly Raceway having participated at every meeting in 2019 so far and currently leads the track championship standings. Kai Gilmour (122) took the opening heat win of the night after despatching of his opposition throughout the race. Charlie Hardie (7) and Robbie Armit (684) both saw their chances of a race win fall aside after a couple of track incidents saw both spun out of the reckoning. Lewis Burgoyne (674) finished in 2nd position with Brandon Morton (603) completing the top 3.

Heat 2 of the night saw Robbie Armit make amends and take a race win, whilst Koddi Wright (111) and Aaron Richards (210) rounded off the top three. A great battle between Richards and Taylor Borthwick (629) was had throughout the race with both drivers trading blows before Borthwick was spun out of the race.

The meeting final for the youngsters saw visiting driver Alfie Aldous take the plaudits after an excellent race win, where he finished just ahead of Scott Allardyce (178) and Ryan Borthwick (604) in the wet conditions.

We are back in action this Saturday August 24 with the CC Rod Scottish Championship taking centre stage, before all roads lead to the War of the Worlds event on the August 31st/September 1 speed weekend!