Hylands Tops In Hoosier Series Opener At Aghadowey

The new race season at Aghadowey Oval kicked off in great style with some fantastic racing on Saturday night, March 28th. With a packed pit area and big grids in every class on show, it was Portadown’s Adam Hylands who took the feature event of the night, the opening round of the Hoosier Challenge Series for 2.0 Hot Rods.
World Champion in the 1400 Stock Cars, Cullybackey’s Curtis Greer, showed great pace in his new car to land a heat and final double, whilst Glenavy’s Jamie Cardwell took victory in the competitive Stock Rods division. There was also a heat and final double for Antrim’s National & British Champion Leyton Hughes in the Junior Productions, with the final feature race of the evening falling to Limavady’s Liam Wilson in the well-subscribed Thunder Rods formula.

A very pleasing field of over twenty 2.0 Hot Rods took to the grid for their opening heat, which developed into a huge battle for the win nearing the end. Ronan McNally held on for the victory ahead of former World Champion Adam Hylands and local driver Aaron Stewart. Heat two saw British and Internations Cup Champion Conor Hughes take the honours after a stirring drive, although due to mechanical issues that was the last we’d see of him for the evening.
With the grid for the final, the opening round of the annual Hoosier Challenge Series, lined up in points order it was Hylands who quickly hit the front. He was never to be challenged as he took a straightforward victory to really set down a marker for the 2026 season. Ally Neill impressed on his way to second ahead of Stewart and James McKinney.

The all-action 1400 Stock Cars produced some super entertainment all evening, with Michael Logan’s aging Toyota Starlet just holding off World Champion Curtis Greer in the opening heat in his brand new Vauxhall Tigra. Heat two saw a couple of caution periods as the drama ramped up, with Greer this time powering home to victory ahead of Matthew Weir and Graham Meek.
The final had everything, with some sensational racing keeping the crowd on their toes. There were a couple of early cautions, for debris and then a big crash for Tommy McCrory on the pit bend. Greer looked set to capitalise on the field being closed up, but the bumpers went in hard and he got shovelled right down the order as Curtis McConkey stretched clear out front. Another caution however, when Logan was stranded on the back straight, brought Greer back into contention and he showed the rest a clean pair of heels to complete his double for the night in some style, having looked right out of it at one stage. Josh McKinstry and Weir completed the podium places.

Neil Capper held sway out front in the opening Stock Rods heat, until a mid-race stoppage for Darragh O’Shea in trouble. At the double-file restart the outside lane really did get the jump, with Declan O’Connor taking the win ahead of Jamie Cardwell and Siobhan Martin. Junior Productions graduate Ryan Carroll impressed out front in heat two, until the repaired O’Shea took a welcome win ahead of Harry Minish and Sam McNeice.
Carroll again led the way for a time in the final, but this time it was the charging Cardwell who was coming fast. Jamie hit the front on lap 10, and despite some late pressure he held on for a deserved win. O’Shea and Ballymena stalwart Victor McAfee chased him home ahead of McNeice and O’Connor.

An excellent grid of Thunder Rods took to the track which bodes well for the season ahead. The opener fell to Cullybackey-based newcomer Jack Gault after a fine drive, as he led home Irish Champ James Goldie and James Steele. Heat two saw Liam Wilson first across the line but he was demoted to third for contact by the Race Steward, handing victory to Jason McMullan ahead of Steele.
Gault set the pace in the final ahead of Stephanie Hawthorne, with Wilson again making strides from the rear of the line up. Liam went second with just 4 laps to go, and quickly set about chasing down the leader. Wilson then managed to haul himself past Gault on the outside line on the very last lap, taking a splendid win by the narrowest of margins. Gault impressed as he finished off a very good evening with second spot ahead of McMullan and Steele.

Completing the programme were the young 10–16-year-old stars in the Junior Productions. Ninja Karts Irish Champion Jack Murphy once again impressed out front in heat one, leading for much of the way before Leyton Hughes dived past to take the flag. Unfortunately for Leyton he was adjudged to have jumped the start and copped a two-place penalty, as did Murphy for late contact. That handed the win to Jack Morrison ahead of Ryan Abernethy.
Heat two saw Hughes and Casey Cherry scythe through the field at blistering pace like a hot knife through butter. Both bettered the lap record in the process, but although Cherry was fastest on the timing screen it was Hughes who took the win.
The pair once again closely contested the final, which was brought under caution at a time for a huge home straight rollover for Scottish lass Candice Smart. She emerged unscathed as battle resumed between the lead duo. Cherry once again bettered the lap record, but it was National and British Champion Hughes who took his second win of the night after a very impressive evening’s racing. Cherry, Noah Teggart and Keegan Turtle were next home.