The 2nd of our double Scottish Championship weekends have been and gone, with the Junior Productions racing for their Rogerson Coach Travel Scottish Championship and the 1300 Stock Cars racing for their Scottish Championship, writes Lochgelly Raceway reporter Kevin McQueen.

The 1300 Stock Car Scottish Championship was the first of the two big races on the night with the grid drawn out of a hat prior to the race meeting.

Michael Courts pulled pole position with the driver in form, Sean Naismith alongside him on the front row. Marc McNicol and Tommy Smith made their debuts in the 1300 formula at Lochgelly at this meeting and both faired well, with improvements throughout the night.

From the off, Sean Naismith got into the lead and never really looked back, although did look to be under threat when a yellow flag came out, bunching the field back up, although Sean made the most of the restart and got away well.

The race finished with Sean taking the Scottish Championship, with Billy Wilson finishing in 2nd, after a sterling drive from the back of the grid, whilst Patrick Calderwood rounded up the top three.

The first ‘heat’ of the night saw the bumpers continue to fly in, with some excellent battles going on around the track. Sean Naismith, William Stawiarski and Craig Watson all exchanged blows over a number of laps with a big hit eventually going in seeing all three cars clatter the barrier with Stawiarski grinding to a halt on the infield. Patrick Calderwood took the race win ahead of Eddie Corr and Michael Courts.

The 2nd heat of the evening, and final race of the night for the 1300 Stock Cars, again saw some excellent on track action, albeit with a depleted field of cars after the early races. It was Michael Courts who raced to a dominant race win, although Patrick Calderwood did his best to try and catch the run away leader with a last lap lunge from around 5 car lengths back, although didn’t make contact, and almost lost out on 2nd place as a result with Sean Naismith ultimately pushing him over the line!

The Junior Productions saw 2 reverse grid heats that were used to calculate the grid for the Scottish Championship. The opening race of the night saw Amy Devine start on pole position and she got away well to open up a bit of a lead. Meanwhile, behind, Harvey Sneddon and Koddi Wright were making inroads into closing the gap at the front and it soon became a 3 way battle for the lead after overcoming Kyle Rogerson. Harvey Sneddon overcame the Devine car first and was then able to open up a gap to the cars behind as they continued to battle it out, before Koddi Wright moved into 2nd place. As the race grew to a close, it was Sneddon who took the win ahead of Wright and Devine, with Rogerson just behind in 4th place.

The 2nd heat of the night seen a couple of cars missing from the grid after being involved in a crash in the first race. Jack Beresford and Dylan Smart had an accident in heat 2 with Smart losing control before collecting Beresford who was coming past, with both cars suffering damage and retiring to the infield.

The Scottish Championship race saw Koddi and Harvey Sneddon on the front row of the grid. Koddi Wright got away well and into an early lead. The cars behind battled vigorously behind though as thinks hotted up for 2nd place – Sneddon sitting in 2nd place was soon under threat from Dylan Smart and Jack Beresford, with Jas Walle hanging onto the battle as well. Smart managed to overcome Sneddon to move up into 2nd place after starting in 10th place, whilst Sneddon held onto 3rd place despite a challenge from Beresford. Koddi Wright was crowned the 2019 Scottish Champion after a faultless drive up front.

The CC Rods were in action and had another strong field of cars, with Gary Nicholls and Claire Honeyman making their debut’s. Paul Winfield claimed his first win in the formula in the opening race of the night after suffering from teething troubles the previous week. Dylan Coutts took an excellent 2nd place as he continues to improve week upon week in the formula, with Honeyman rounding out the top three.

The 2nd heat of the night saw Claire Honeyman up the anti and claim an excellent race win, matching the achievement of her sister Louise who did the same a couple of weeks ago! Graham Campbell and Dylan Coutts rounded off a top three with two excellent finishes for the drivers. The meeting final saw Lee Wotherspoon get to the front quickly after a messy start which saw Honeyman sluggish from the green flag, with a bit of a bunching of cars afterwards with Lee Scott amongst others spin out, whilst Craig Watson took to the infield to avoid the chaos, jumping over the kerbs and getting some airtime! As the laps dwindled down, Honeyman began to reel in Wotherspoon again up front, although it wasn’t to be, as Wotherspoon took the race win by just over a car's length, with Honeyman 2nd and Gary Nicholls in 3rd.

The Stock Rods provided some excellent ‘non-contact’ action throughout the night, with a few moments of drama in there as well. The opening race of the night saw Andy Grant cross the line first, but was docked a couple of places for contact on Jock McEwan after Grant went for a gap up the inside which quickly disappeared, with McEwan being spun out of contention as a result, only to be collected by the oncoming David Crichton car! Darren McAlpine inherited the race win with Stewart Paterson given 2nd with Grant down to 3rd position. The 2nd heat of the night seen Andy Grant make amends as he took a race win ahead of John Lee Green and Darren McAlpine. The front row of the final seen McAlpine and Grant lock it out and it was Grant who got away first with McAlpine dropping down the order. A bit of bumping along the way saw Stewart Paterson disqualified for a move on Kerr Paterson which seen Kerr spin out of contention. McAlpine was on a charge as he battled through the pack again and was soon back up into 2nd place chasing down Andy Grant. The laps drew in though, and Andy Grant held on to take a race win with McAlpine 2nd and Gary Dean in 3rd position.

The Ministox were the final formula in action on the night and saw some excellent racing throughout the night. Ciaran Adams took the opening heat win; his first race win for a number of meetings at Lochgelly, whilst Jamie Dawson and Max Walker rounded off the top three. It was back to normality though in the upcoming races as the star grade drivers made inroads into the pack a little quicker than the first race. Aaron Richards took the race win after spinning out Ciaran Adams with a lap or 2 to go, with Mitchell Gold and Lauren Ford rounding out the top three. The meeting final saw Aaron Richards again take the race win with an excellent finish for 2nd place, with Adams and Robbie Armit finishing the race sideways with Taylor Borthwick just behind.

This Saturday night we have the Superstox Scottish Championship up for grabs. The title is currently held by Stuart Gilchrist, although there is doubt as to whether or not Stuart will be fit enough to defend. Bryan Forrest will be hoping to add the Saltire to his National Points Championship, although could face competition from the likes of Barry Stephen and Dean Johnstone. The Ninja Karts, Ministox, Classic Hot Rods and 2.0 Hot Rods are all also in action.

We are just 2 weeks away from the Micro Banger World Cup weekend, with the ProStock British Championship also taking place. Over 100 bangers are booked into race and will be all out to win the World Cup. This event takes place on the weekend of the 12/13th October and advance discount tickets are only on sale until the September 30 from hardieracepromotions.co.uk.