Locals excel as racing returns to Showgrounds

Ballymena based Chris Gordon recorded an impressive heat and final double success in the Stock Rod class and his exploits were matched by Cullybackey's Ryan Wright who stormed to a brace of victories in the Saloon Stock Car class.

Raceway stalwart Kenny Carson from Ballymena capped a good evening for the locals with victory in the opening Group Two Lightning Rod race at the Ulster Livestock Care sponsored meeting.

STOCK RODS

Lee Johnston claimed his first victory of 2010 in the opening heat ahead of Bobbie Johnston and Victor McAfee. Chris Gordon served notice of his intentions by claiming a clear win in heat two and followed that up with a swashbuckling display in the final where the Ballymena lad swooped from third to first on the final two laps to secure a sensational win in his Peugeot 106.

Heat One: 1. Lee Johnston (Portadown), 2. Bobbie Johnston (Glenarm), 3. Victor McAfee (Ballymena)

Heat Two: 1. Chris Gordon (Ballymena), 2. Raymond Harper (Nutts Corner), 3. John McMillan (Ballymoney)

Final: 1. Gordon, 2. B. Johnston, 3. L. Johnston

SALOON STOCK CARS

Ryan Wright registered a flag to flag win in the opening Saloon heat, before Irish Champion Andrew Stewart ripped through the pack to claim heat two.

Come final time however it was Wright who made all the right moves in his Ford Mondeo. The Cullybackey based racer quickly took over out front and established a clear advantage which was comfortably retained all the way to the chequered flag.

Heat One: 1. Ryan Wright (Cullybackey), 2. Jason Burns (Ballymena), 3. Andrew Stewart (Portadown)

Heat Two: 1. Stewart, 2. Ross Houston (Waringstown), 3. Wright

Final: 1. Wright, 2. Stewart, 3. Burns

NATIONAL HOT RODS

Tommy Maxwell was the victor of the opening heat of World Qualifying Round 12, but a crash during heat two would sideline his Peugeot 206 for the rest of the evening.

Glenn Bell dominated the remaining National races, taking victory in both heat two and the final in his Vauxhall Tigra. Northern Ireland Champion Stewart Doak followed Bell home in the final with Mark Heatrick third in his Mercedes SLK.

Heat One: 1. Tommy Maxwell (Antrim), 2. John Christie (Crumlin), 3. Glenn Bell (Portadown)

Heat Two: 1. Bell, 2. Christie, 3. Keith Martin (Dungannon)

Final: 1. Bell, 2. Doak, 3. Mark Heatrick (Portadown)

CLASSIC HOT RODS

The three races for the Classics provided a different winner each time. Teenager Caleb Howard took the spoils in heat one, before former Saloon Irish Champion Stephen Nevin recorded his first ever Classic Hot Rod win in heat two.

The final was all about Thomas Dilly however. The Dungannon driver powered away from the rest in his impressive Ford Escort Mk. 2, to take the silverware ahead of Howard and Nevin.

Heat One: 1. Caleb Howard (Moneymore), 2. Stephen Nevin (Coleraine), 3. Kenny Wilson (Ballymena)

Heat Two: 1. Nevin, 2. Thomas Dilly (Dungannon), 3. Howard

Final: 1. Dilly, 2. Howard, 3. Nevin

GROUP TWO LIGHTNING RODS

Stewart Nicholl led the opening heat for a long way before dropping to second behind a fast finishing Kenny Carson. Nicholl would make no mistake in the remaining Group Two races and ran out clear winner of both the second heat and the final.

Nigel Doherty followed Nicholl home in the final, with Ballymena’s Lyle Murray in third.

Heat One: 1. Kenny Carson (Ballymena), 2. Stewart Nicholl (Kilrea), 3. Samuel Montgomery (Castlerock)

Heat Two: 1. Nicholl, 2. David Parkhill (Ballymoney), 3. Nigel Doherty (Garvagh)

Final: 1. Nicholl, 2. N. Doherty, 3. Lyle Murray (Ballymoney)

THIS WEEKEND

The biggest racing weekend of 2010 so far lies ahead for oval racing fans.

It all kicks off at Raceway on Friday evening (April 30) with another five formula meeting which features the William Cooke Memorial Trophy for the Stock Rods, the opening round of the Group Two Lightning Rod Grand Prix Series, plus F2 Stock Cars, Classic Hot Rods and Junior Rods (start time 7:15pm).

MAY DAY OVALFEST

The action then switches to the neighbouring Nutts Corner venue where organisers have lined up two days of top class action at MayDay Ovalfest 2010.

This joint venture between the promotions at Ballymena and Nutts Corner will showcase ten of the province’s premier oval racing classes and produce non-stop action over two breathtaking race meetings. On Sunday (May 2) National Hot Rods, ORC Lightning Rods, Saloon Stock Cars, Group Two Lightning Rods and Junior Rods will provide a sizzling series of races, while the mouth watering line-up on Bank Holiday Monday (May 3) features F2 Stock Cars, Two-Litre Hot Rods, Stock Rods, ProStox and Junior Productions.

It’s a weekend of the best that Northern Ireland oval racing has to offer, with both Ovalfest meetings commencing at 2pm.