Rob Barnett has shown some great pace of late in the 2.0 Hot Rods, and he took their opening heat from Shane McMillan and Chris Hamill. The roles were reversed in heat two, with McMillan this time the victor over Barnett, with Hamill once again in third ahead of Callum Doak.
Barnett edged out ahead in the final, but as the laps dwindled down McMillan and Hamill led much of the field onto his rear bumper. It was an enthralling final few laps, with Barnett just holding off McMillan to seal his second win of the night. Most eyes were on Adam Hylands though, as the former World title holder made an audacious attempt on the outside line. He came from nowhere to snatch a fantastic third on the line, ahead of Hamill and Doak.

A well subcribed field of Thunder Rods were on top form all evening, with Sam Dougherty pulling clear to win the opener ahead of Adam McMullan and Liam Irwin. Heat two saw McMullan ahead early on before Liam Wilson came storming through to claim the win over Jordan Nicholl and Norman Purdy.
Tyler McMaster and Alex Milligan had spells out front early in the final, before Irwin settled into the top spot and invited allcomers to take him on. Jason Darragh, Purdy and Wilson were right there on his tail, before Liam was bundled wide and out of contention. Darragh took the flag but was penalised for his part in Irwin’s demise, which handed the second win of the evening to Wilson from Mark McLaughlin and Darragh.

Steven Haugh sported the gold roof of Superstox World Champion for the first time after his big win last month, and he stormed through to take the opening heat win ahead of Dean Catherwood and Sean Mark. Mark led heat two for a time, but he had no answer to Haugh who claimed his second win of the evening over Mark and Catherwood.
There was an early caution in the final with Jonathan Crawford stuck in the wall on the Brown Trout Bend, and on the resumption Haugh lost a lot of ground to the leaders. Neil Hyndman was the man out front, but despite his earlier setback, Haugh arrived on his tail on the final lap, nudging him wide to complete a faultless hat-trick of wins. Hyndman tried to come back on the last bend but had to settle for second, ahead of Mark and Gregg Hyndman.

The Junior Productions Irish Championship was another keenly fought event, with Leyton Hughes and Ryan Berry sharing the front row on aggregate point from across the season. The duo had a great battle early on before a caution period, only to resume the fight once the greens came back out, and with Jack Morrison now joining in too! It could have gone wither way as the laps ticked down, but Hughes kept hid cool and held on to retain his Irish title ahead of Morrison and Berry in the closest of finishes.
The reverse grid Irish Revenge race saw a fantastic drive from Ryan Carroll as he took the win from Keegan Turtle and Hughes.

After an ill-disciplined affair the previous weekend, it was great to see some fantastic racing this time around from the 2.0 Hot Rods. Shane McMillan led heat one until Adam Hylands found a way past, and he had to use all his experience to hold off Jordan Rochford over the closing laps to take the win. Heat two again saw McMillan set the early pace, but this time it was Rob Barnett who broke clear to take a well deserved and popular win over McMillan and James McKinney.
Approaching half distance in the final Hylands put a superb outside pass on McMillan to take the lead, and the formula Grand Slam winner held on to take his second win and announce his return to the scene in style. Rochford, the impressive Barnett and McMillan were next home.

Once again a full field of Stock Rods put on some tight, competitive racing. Neil Capper and Aaron Dilly battled out front in heat one before Callum Magill stormed past to take the win over Dilly and Rab Preston. Capper and Magill had spells out front in heat two, but this time it was Samuel Wilson who came home ahead, winning from Siobhan Martin and Jonny Cardwell.
An early yellow in the final changed the complexion of the race and brought the higher graders into play early. Wilson was once again the star of the show, pulling clear to record his second win of the night and seal a return to the star grade. Magill, Harry Minish and Sam McNeice completed the top places.

It wasn’t the best day at the office for the 2.0 Hot Rods formula, with some ill-disciplined driving seeing a number of penalties handed out and some cars unfortunately damaged. British Champion Conor Hughes pulled off a great pass on early leader Jake Devlin to win the opening heat, before former World Champion Andy Best took heat two ahead of James McKinney and Callum Doak.
There was an early crash in the final which eliminated some runners, with Jordan Rochford hitting the front. Hughes was soon running him down having started down the pack, and despite Rochford looking to be in some mechanical difficulty he held on to take the Tullyroan Challenge Cup ahead of Hughes. Aaron Stewart inherited third spot after both the third and fourth placed drivers over the line were disqualified in the post-race analysis.

Jake Morgan was first over the line in the opening Lightning Rods heat, but the teenager was penalised for contact which handed the win to Mark McBurney over Ross Houston. Heat two saw a clear win for another teenager in Tom Hewitt, as he took the flag ahead of Nigel Jackson in a chaotic race.
The final saw Morgan quickly hit the front after just four laps, and the Meath driver held sway all the way home to win from Houston and Stuart Agnew.

Completing the programme were the Thunder Rods, where Jason Darrgh took the opening heat win after first across the line Liam Wilson was penalised by the Stewards. Heat two saw Adam McMullan and newcomer Jack Gault clear out front until they hit fluid on the track and skittled into the wall, bringing out the yellow flags. At the resumption it was Joshua McMullan who took the lead and the win over James Goldie and Joe Largey.
The final saw a repaired Adam McMullan out front early on but this time Wilson was on a charge, and he took a clear win to make up for his penalty earlier in the afternoon. Darragh, Goldie and Adam McKinney chased him home.

Many thanks to our meeting sponsors, McKinney Safety Centre

National Hot Rods
Saturday saw some sublime racing from the fastest cars on the local tracks, the National Hot Rods, as they contested four qualifying heats for the British Championship, sponsored by Cirrus Plastics. Crumlin’s John Christie, Norwich driver Perry Cooke, Scotland’s World Champion Robert McDonald and Portadown’s Glenn Bell shared the heat wins, with Bell the one who claimed pole spot for Sunday’s British Final.
Despite a number of early cautions and the subsequent 2-wide restarts, Bell held his cool to edge clear and take a record-breaking fifth British Championship title of his career after never putting a foot wrong all weekend. Christie was a gallant runner up, with McDonald coming home third after a stirring drive from down the grid.
McDonald then won the Tullyroan Challenge Cup after a great outside pass on fellow Scot Gordon Alexander, before McDonald again took the win in the inaugural NI Open ahead of Christie and Shane Murray.

Ninja Karts
Providing some superb action were the Ninja Karts, and the kids were racing for the first ever Internations Cup which will become their ‘fifth major’. With a 39-car entry the track was more than busy, as heat wins fell to local star Jack Murphy and English pair Ralph Payne and Mason Carberry.
The Internations Cup final, sponsored by Cirrus Plastics, saw a great battle between East Anglian duo Carberry and George Cooper, with Carberry just grabbing the win ahead of Cooper and Henry Hunn for an all-English top three.

A great DMC Gold Cup race then fell to Scotland’s Rory Wilson ahead of England’s Johnny Wheeler and Scotland’s Alfie Shevill. The final race of the weekend was for the Keir Millar Memorial Trophy, and important race for the formula held in memory of the former driver who always competed superbly at Tullyroan Oval. It was a top quality race befitting Keir’s memory, with Carberry coming home to successfully defend the impressive trophy ahead of Cooper and Wilson.

Many thanks to our meeting sponsors, Cirrus Plastics and Mk2 Escort Shells & Spares

With their World Final only a fortnight away, it was pleasing to see a very packed grid of Stock Rods on hand, with a very ill-disciplined heat one falling to Rab Preston who impressed out front. Star men Mark Crawford and Sam McNeice came through for second and third. Aaron Dilly led early on in heat two, before Harry Minish came storming past to take the win ahead of Callum Magill and Jamie Cardwell.
The final was a brilliant race, with a huge mid-field battle amongst a whole pack of cars. Up front Dilly led before losing out to Magill, but Minish was soon closing in. He hit the front, only for Magill to fight back to regain the lead. Harry wasn’t finished though, as he again found a way ahead, holding on to take a great win from the challenging Darragh O’Shea and Magill.

In the Junior Productions the novice graded drivers held sway in both heats. In the opener Sam Torrington took a great win ahead of Ryan Carroll, before Carroll went one better to take his first ever win in heat two ahead of Torrington and Andrew Hawe.
The DMC Gold Cup final saw Torrington and Carroll out front in the early stages, but all eyes were on the fast moving pair of Leyton Hughes and Ryan Berry. They were scything through the pack at a great rate of knots, and were soon bearing down on the now race leader Keegan Turtle. A great battle ensued for the silverware, with Hughes getting ahead late on to take the win in fine style ahead of Turtle and Berry after a fantastic race.

Completing the programme were the Thunder Rods, where it was pleasing to see another big grid on track. Stephanie Hawthorne impressed out front in heat one until a yellow flag brought the field onto her tail, with Rasharkin’s Jason Darrgh edging ahead to take the win over Liam Wilson and Norman Purdy. Heat two saw Wilson improve, this time taking a clear win over Joe Largey and Andrew McLean.
In the final Hawthorne impressed once again by leading until past the halfway mark, before Josh Young powered through to take the victory. Wilson, Darragh and Largey were next across the line.