Drivers defy incessant rain at Raceway

Track conditions at The Showgrounds were more suited to boats than automobiles, but it takes more than a drop of rainwater to stop the hardy Raceway patrons and it was very much a case of kept calm and carry on as everyone battled against anything the elements could throw at them.

The driver who reigned on the track was F2 star Christopher Kincaid and the Antrim ace was crowned DK Race Series champion after a comprehensive victory in the series final.

In the other races at the Mulholland Scrap Metal sponsored meeting there was a final win for Broughshane’s Freddie Fleck in the Group Two Lightning Rod division, Cargan’s Mark Dewar romped to a heat and final double success in the Saloon Stock Cars and Ben McCully from Waringstown scored his first ever Raceway win in the Stock Rod final.

F2 STOCK CARS

This was the third and final round of the DK Race Technology Series for the F2 Stock Cars and the points scored in the two heat races would be added to those already compiled in the opening 2 rounds to decide the grid for the grand finale.

Christopher Kincaid extended his lead at to the top of the chart with a very impressive victory in the opener.

Heat two developed into a great tussle between Conor Hughes and Craig McConnell and it was McConnell who got his nose in front on the very last lap to grab the honours.

The two heat winners shared the front row for the final, with William Murray and Irish Champion Graham Fegan, who had struggled with engine problems during the heats races, on row two. Kincaid survived a first corner attack from Fegan to take an immediate lead, but McConnell, Murray and Hughes were not so lucky and all three lost a lot of time due to a tangle on that first bend.

Fegan’s car was going much better in this one, but Kincaid was still able to hold his pursuer of with ease and the Antrim lad actually extended his advantage as the race progressed to earn himself the DK Series title after a totally dominant display on the sodden track. Fegan followed the winner home, with Hughes recovering strongly from that opening lap spill to claim third.

Heat One: 1st. Christopher Kincaid (Antrim), 2nd. Conor Hughes (Antrim), 3rd. Craig McConnell (Bangor)

Heat Two: 1st. McConnell, 2nd. Hughes, 3rd. Kincaid

DK Series Final: 1st. Kincaid, 2nd. Graham Fegan (Belfast), 3rd. Hughes

STOCK RODS

Stephen McCready charged through from the blue grade section to claim a comprehensive win in the opening heat.

McCready’s Vauxhall Nova also set the pace in heat two, which was interrupted when Jonny Cardwell rolled his Vauxhall Nova on the exit of Fisherwick bend, and those two heat successes meant an automatic promotion for McCready to the red roof section for the final. Ben McCully set the pace in the trophy race with Alastair Bolton his nearest challenger.

McCready was also making good strides through the pack, with British Champion Raymond Harper in tow, and the pair worked their way up into second and third positions. McCully still had a handy advantage out front and the teenager expertly steered his JMC Mechanical & Construction backed Vauxhall Nova through the closing stages to register his first ever final win at Ballymena Raceway.

Heat One: 1st. Stephen McCready (Antrim), 2nd. Lee Johnston (Portadown), 3rd. Thomas Morrison (Ballymoney)

Heat Two: 1st. McCready, 2nd. Alastair Bolton (Ballymoney), 3rd. Johnston

Final: 1st. Ben McCully (Waringstown), 2nd. McCready, 3rd. Raymond Harper (Dundrod)

SALOON STOCK CARS

As a tribute to English Saloon driver Steve Newman, who tragically died while competing in the British Championship at the Mildenhall Raceway in Suffolk recently, all the Saloons drivers had painted their car bumpers yellow which was the colour scheme Steve carried on all his cars.

Matthew Stirling took the honours in the opening heat, but the rest of the meeting belonged to Mark Dewar. The Cargan based racer opened his account in race two and proved uncatchable again in the final. Kieran McIvor followed the winner home in the trophy race, with Cullybackey’s Ryan Wright third in his Ford Mondeo.

Heat One: 1st. Matthew Stirling (Ballymoney), 2nd. Ryan Wright (Cullybackey), 3rd. Mark Dewar (Cargan)

Heat Two: 1st. Dewar, 2nd. Kieran McIvor (Coleraine), 3rd. Stirling

Final: 1st. Dewar, 2nd. McIvor, 3rd. Wright

GROUP TWO LIGHTNING RODS

Jason Clyde continued his race winning form from the previous week by nipping ahead of long time leader Brian Alexander on the very last lap to snatch victory in the opening heat.

Heat two proved to be a stop start affair with caution periods required when first Rodney Stewart and then Noel Hazlett were tagged on the unforgiving Raceway wall. Brian Edgar kept his cool through all the mayhem to record a well taken win in his Vauxhall Astra with Kenny Greer in second.

Edgar led the final for a while as well but the man on the move was Freddie Fleck. The Broughshane man made light of both the conditions and the opposition to power home for a comprehensive victory in the Broughshane Car Dismantlers Vauxhall Astra. Edgar showed up well again as runner-up, with Alexander in third.

Heat One: 1st. Jason Clyde (Broughshane), 2nd. Brian Alexander (Ballymena), 3rd. Freddie Fleck (Broughshane)

Heat Two: 1st. Brian Edgar (Galgorm), 2nd. Kenny Greer (Ballymena), 3rd. Clyde

Final: 1st. Fleck, 2nd. Edgar, 3rd. Alexander

THIS WEEKEND

Racing continues at the Ballymena Showgrounds on Friday evening (June 29) when the ProStock division contest their 2012 Challenge Cup. Stock Rods, Group Two Lightning Rods and Junior Rods are also competing at the Broughshane Car Dismantlers sponsored meeting, with the first race getting underway in The Showgrounds at 7:15pm.