NOT long after the start to the stock car meeting at the Cowdenbeath Racewall it started to drizzle and basically stayed that way until the end of the night, writes our Racewall reporter Jim Turner.

The track became greasy and when a liberal coating of oil was added then the drivers had to be careful about their racing line and there was quite a few who came to grief as a result.

There was quite a big shunt at the start to the formula II final starting off when Craig Reid was nudged into a spin and as a result there were numerous cars left on the sidelines.

No sooner had the race restarted than Reid was spun again and as he tried to regain control sent Gordon Moodie crashing into the infield tyres.

Ricky White and Paul Barron had a bout of taking each other out in one of the prostox heats with the White car having to retire after being sent bouncing off the pit bend wall.

The Micro bangers were in good form and as a result there was plenty of contact resulting in cars spinning and being caught by those in close order. Lee Burden rolled his car after tangling with James Dillon on the back straight

The 1300cc saloon numbers have been increasing on a regular basis over the season and on Saturday there were another four new faces in action although one had to retire after practice with a mechanical problem.

ORCi stock rod World Champion, Michael Bethune, was given a lap of honour after winning the European Championship over in Ireland.

Amongst the formula II drivers on the grid were Ryan Farquhar and Edwin Middleton, from Crimond, whilst the local drivers in action were Kieran Howie (Dunfermline), Paul and Craig Reid (Cowdenbeath), Simon Cranson (Cowdenbeath) and Gordon Moodie (Windygates).

The opening heat saw Chris Burgoyne go through to win from Moodie and Robbie Dawson with P. Reid in eighth and Cranson in tenth place.

In heat two it was Moodie who went on to win leading home Dennis Middler and Burgoyne with P. Reid fifth and just ahead of Howie with Cranson again in tenth place.

When the final started it was C. Reid who was first to show but he got a nudge going into the pit bend resulting in chaos. The drivers in close order were trying to find grip but quite a few didn’t and as a result piled in with Stevie Forster, Burgoyne, Dawson and John Hogg sidelined.

Not long after the restart C. Reid was clipped going onto the back straight and spun just as the field tried to thread their way through a narrowing gap. Most made it but Moodie was shunted into the tyres and retired.

On the race restart Alex Hamilton led the field away from Howie but Middler was finding more grip and he soon moved through into the lead. Once there he drove away from the field to win from Hamilton with Craig Wallace pinching third from Howie whilst Cranson was sixth.

The Grand National ended up as a close run affair with Adam Blacklock having to fend off a last bend challenge from Burgoyne to do so with Dawson in third, Middler sixth, Howie seventh, Cranson eighth and Moodie in ninth place.

There were a few grade changes in the 2 Litre saloon drivers line up with Kes Watson making his debut whilst the local driver being Raymond Dick (Glenrothes).

Heat one saw Barry Glen go through to an easy win over Ian McLaughlin and Luke Grief. James Letford went on to win heat two, his first win since he returned to the scene and he led home Paul Honeyman and Grief.

When the final started Alan Ainslie was the leader but a couple of laps later Letford was in the lead. P. Honeyman was making up ground and when he moved into the lead he was able to pull away from the field. In the end P. Honeyman scored a well deserved win and he led home Letford and Grief.

There were 15 1300cc saloon cars at the Racewall, the biggest turn out of the year with Grady Ross, Ross Forrest, Steven Wilson and Chris Murray making their debuts whilst Cameron Milne was using the ex - Letford car.

Local drivers in action were Lee Wilson (Comrie), Grady Ross (Lochgelly), Steven Wilson (Ballingry), Fraser Anderson (Cowdenbeath), Michael Byers (Methil) and Arron Hastie (Ceres). However, Murray struck problems in practice and didn’t appear for any of the races.

The opening heat ended with Anderson picking up a close win over L. Wilson and Brian Allan. Heat two saw Anderson again go through to win this time leading home Allen Bruce, Derek Campbell and L. Wilson, with Myers in sixth and S. Wilson tenth.

There was a hard shunt during the early laps of the final which left Bruce and Ross on the sidelines and suspending the race. Anderson had just taken the lead and he led the cars away going on to pick up his third win of the night and he led home Campbell, Graham Swan and Hastie with S. Wilson in ninth place.

There were a few more prostox drivers in action with Leonard Dunn over from Northern Ireland whilst the local drivers were Ricky White (Thornton), Darren Rae (Lochgelly), Grady Ross (Lochgelly) and Paul Barron (Cowdenbeath).

Heat one ended with Tam Melrose winning from White and Ross. Ross went on to win heat two from Jason McAlpine and Melrose with Barron in eighth after being spun with Rae in ninth place but White had to retire after being sent crashing into the pit bend wall.

Barron ended up against the wall right at the start to the final with McAlpine going through for an easy win over Dunn and Ross.

The Micro banger drivers were in their element and even the wet and greasy track surface did nothing to deter their antics, if anything made them more exciting!

The first heat saw Tam Melrose go through to win from Stevie Allen and James Dillon Jnr. In heat two it was Melrose who again took the honours after getting ahead of Allen and they finished in the top two spots with Dillon Jnr again in third.

The final saw Allen pick up his first win of the evening and he led home Melrose and Dillon Jnr but there had been a race suspension after Lee Burden had rolled his car.

The Destruction Darby lasted quite sometime as the cars tried to destroy each other and some of the head on shunts were quite hard. There were cars running round on four wheel although both the rear ones were not necessarily touching the track!

After some heavy shunts Melrose was declared the winner after a few very heavy hits on the main straight.

There is no racing at the Racewall next Saturday with the formula II drivers down at Mildenhall for their World Final with Scots Chris Burgoyne already on the grid but Gordon Moodie and Robbie Dawson will have to hope that they finish in the top six in the consolation so they can start from the back of the World Final grid.

The stock cars return to the Racewall on the 17th with the formula IIs, ORCI stock rods, the 1300cc saloon cars whilst the prostox drivers will be racing for their Scottish Championship. The meeting starts at 6pm as usual.