Moody gives opposition the blues with dominant display

Earlier in the week Moody had successfully defended his Irish title at the Nutts Corner circuit and was in untouchable form at his home track on Friday evening.

Another local racer amongst the prizes was Cullybackey driver Mark Turtle who took the final spoils in the Group Two Lightning Rod class.

Main event on the Raceway programme was Round 4 of the PC Paints & Components National Hot Rods World Series NI where the final honours went to Simon Kennedy.

His final win, coupled with a pair of second place finishes in the two heat races behind Mark Heatrick, confirmed Kennedy as top points scorer for the round and earned him the Driver of The Day award.

The remaining silverware at the Ricardo Imaging Photography sponsored meeting went to Euro Stocks winner Stephen McCahon from Garvagh.

NATIONAL HOT RODS

A season’s best entry of 19 cars took part in Round 4 of World Series NI, with Davy McKay unveiling his superbly finished new Vauxhall Tigra for the first time.

Mark Heatrick, on his first appearance in the new qualifying campaign, took maximum advantage of his advantageous yellow grade starting slot to motor home in both heat races.

Simon Kennedy got the drop at the start of the final with Heatrick his main pursuer and the leader wasn’t going to give this one up without a fight. Their battle drew Rob Forsythe into the mix as well and when the Forsythe Commercials car got beneath Heatrick’s it spelt the beginning of the end for Heatrick’s hat-trick hopes.

Maxwell, Keith Martin, Stewart Doak and Glenn Bell quickly honed into this contest too and Heatrick found himself railroaded own to eighth as Kennedy continued to hold sway out front. Maxwell was now putting the squeeze on Forsythe for second and the pair would touch on the entry to Fisherwick bend as Forsthye attempted to shut the door on the Maxell Freight Services Vauxhall Tigra.

That contact sent Forsythe spinning into retirement, but gave Maxwell a clear run at the leader. The gap steadily reduced over the closing laps, but Kennedy had enough in reserve to edge home for a well judged win that also earned him the Driver of the Day award of a new Hoosier tyre from series sponsor PC Paints and Components.

PC Paints & Components World Series NI Round 4: 1st. Simon Kennedy, 2nd. Adam Maxwell, 3rd. Keith Martin, 4th. John Christie, 5th. Glenn Bell, 6th. Andrew Murray

GROUP TWO LIGHTNING RODS

Twelve cars took to the track for heat one with novice grader Jason Darragh enjoying a flag to flag victory.

Darragh repeated the feat in heat two which earned him an automatic upgrade to the yellow roof section for the final.

Darragh’s hat-trick hopes were quickly dashed however during an incident at Suffolk bend which sparked a caution period. When the action resumed Mark Turtle roared off into the lead and drove a controlled race to secure his first silverware of the season.

Final: 1st. Mark Turtle, 2nd. Paul Dunn, 3rd.David Wilson, 4th. David Gillespie, 5th. Freddie Fleck, 6th. Daniel Norris

EURO STOCKS

The Euro Stocks warmed up for their Irish Championship this week with an encouraging 13 cars in attendance.

Stephen McCahon and Trevor McFaul split the heat wins between them and it was McCahon who got his nose ahead once again in the final to claim his second race win of the evening.

McFaul followed the race winner home with Johnny McCloy motoring through to third at the chequered flag.

Final: 1st. Stephen McCahon, 2nd. Trevor McFaul, 3rd. Johnny McCloy, 4th. Philip Doherty, 5th. Mark Frew, 6th. Lester McCloy

JUNIOR RODS

Two reverse grid qualifying heats determined the line-up up for their Champion of Champions race.

Patrick O’Boyle set the early pace in heat one, but was eventually forced to defer to Aaron Moody on lap four as the Irish Champion breezed around the outside for a comfortable win.

Heat two followed a similar pattern with Liam Wilson and O’Boyle both enjoying spells out front before Moody made his race winning move to the front on lap five.

Those heat results put Moody on pole for the final and this was another dominant display from the Irish Champion who rounded out a faultless display with his third win of the evening.

Champion of Champions: 1st. Aaron Moody, 2nd. Patrick O’Boyle, 3rd. Liam Wilson, 4th. Robert Mawhinney, 5th. Aaron McGraw

NEXT MEETING

Short circuit motorsport continues at the Ballymena Raceway on Friday evening (September 19) with a number of title races set to be decided.

The ever improving Euro Stocks division contest their Irish Championship on Friday evening, with defending Champion Stephen Doherty expected to be in the thick of the battle again along with Points Champion Lester McCloy and Irish Grand Prix winner Philip Doherty. The ever popular Formula Two Stock Cars compete for the Moffett Shield, with the likes of Conor Hughes, Craig McConnell and current holder Christopher Kincaid the main protagonists in this one.

The keen young racers in the Junior Rod division will battle it out to settle the outcome of their Track Championship for 2014, with Irish Champion Aaron Moody from Ballymena very much the form driver at present.

The Group Two Lightning Rods complete the programme, with added interest provide by a special ladies’ only race for The Queen of Speed Trophy.

The first race at The Redz Piano Bar & Grill sponsored fixture blasts off the start line in the Ballymena Showgrounds at 7:15pm.