“I WAS looking forward to my second year in the Stock Rods, especially as my dad, Sandy was going to be racing against me,” Scott Galbraith from Auchtermuchty told me, writes our Cowdenbeath Racewall reporter Jim Turner.

“My dad has been away from racing for ten years and decided half way through last season he was going to return".

But the Galbraith clashes have been put on hold by coronavirus.

Said Scott: “I had been brought up with stock car racing. In fact I was taken there when I was two weeks old! At that time my dad raced along with Kenny and then Jimmy Pitcaithly. Racing was in my blood and I was sure that at one time or another I would join them on the track.

“I only had one season in the Ministox when I was fifteen. My dad had bought the car through Bill Barrack, at Crimond. I did quite well, won a few races and ended up in the blue grade. I really enjoyed my time in the Minis – it was great fun.

“I had plans to race but for some reason it just didn’t happen as I had hoped. I kept spectating and liked the Stock Rods. I suppose that was because my dad had raced them and had picked up a fair bit of success in them. They seemed to me to be the formula that I would go into, when I was ready.

“Just before the start to the 2019 season I bought the car that Andrew Webster had raced. It had been Lee Buchan’s car. By the time that we got the car ready to race it was April and I had missed a couple of meetings.

“I remember my first ever race well. It was very wet and I started from the front of the grid and won it! I was second in heat two and the final. I had been apprehensive about driving in the wet but had got to grips with the conditions quickly. I loved it and have been very competitive in wet and greasy conditions since.”

These were encouraging for the young racer: “I was quite lucky that I had another couple of meetings from the white grade but at the end of the grading period I had scored sufficient points that I had to start from the red grade.

“Of all the luck my first meeting from the red grade just happened to be the European Championship! I had a mixed bag of results in the qualifying heats which meant that I had to start from the fifth row on the outside of the grid.

“The European didn’t go well! For some reason the car developed a misfire which in the end saw me having to retire half way through the final.

“One of my targets was to qualify for the World Final, which was to be staged over at Nutt’s Corner in Northern Ireland. I had a spot of bother with my car, which I had stripped down and it was touch and go as to whether I would have it ready in time.

"In stepped Dean McGill and he offered me the use of his spare car. If he hadn’t I don’t think that I would have managed to get mine ready in time. The weekend turned out to be a nightmare!

"The car started to misfire. We checked everything we could to get rid of the problem and even changed the engine for Sunday’s racing. Nothing we did cured the problem and it was only after it was back in Scotland that the problem was sorted. I turned out to be electrical and as Dean is an electrician he sorted it eventually!

“Whilst we were over in Ireland my dad bought the car from Dean and whilst I raced it for the remainder of the year, he was going to race it in 2020.”

But the motor grew on Scott: “Once the misfire had been sorted I was happy with how the car ran.

"It was a confidence thing for me after seeing how well Dean did when he had raced it and my next big test was not that far away – the Scottish Championship! To say that I loved it and hated it at the same time was an understatement!

"I drew pole position which made me happy and when the race did start I got away well and quickly built up a good lead. The top names were chasing me but then there were an incident and out came the yellow flags.

"We all slowed and came to a stop on the back straight. I had Michael Bethune, Lee McGill and Stuart McKinnon right behind me. Made a good restart to race but I lost the lead but then saw a gap on the inside and went for it. The gap closed and I bounced off a marker tyre and out of the race.

“I felt that I had raced well and my confidence was high as a result. I had raced hard against the top drivers and led them for a while.”

He reflected: “Over the remainder of the season I did relatively well and was in the top ten track points scorers which I thought was good for my first season.”

“At the end of the season we had the Simon Laing Memorial Trophy and the National Championship to decide. The track was wet and greasy, conditions that I like so was hopeful of doing well. It started off alright and I was chasing David Philp Jnr for third and then my battery packed up and I had to coast out of the race.

“Luckily I had another battery with me and I made it back out for the second heat. I managed to finish the race and qualified for the National. The track was still greasy when the National started I got away well and managed to make up a lot of ground. I managed to finish in fourth from a poor starting so was really pleased. Not only that but I finished in seventh place in the track points.

“At the practice sessions in February both my dad and I were there to test our cars. We did reasonably well. I was using my own car and my dad the McGill one. I think we were both pleased with the first session. "At the second session my dad was using the car he had won in a raffle. I am building a new Corsa C and we are going to strip the running gear and things out of the raffle car and put it in the new one. My original car is going to be kept as a spare.

“I get a lot of help from my dad, Chris, Coddy and Todd and I really appreciate their help. I also have a few sponsors who help to make my racing possible and to Pine Lodge Auctions and Interiors, Pitcaithly Auto Centre, Provan Joinery, Westfield Motors, Muchty Taxis, Calvin Motorsport Scotland, Leslie and Sons Garage, JP Fabrications, McGill Motorsports and D. McGill Electrical I thank them for their support.”