Big Tullyroan Easter Wins For Bell, McNeice and Woolsey

Storm Dave couldn’t deter the racers at Tullyroan Oval on Easter Saturday night, as they served up some superb action to entertain the holiday weekend fans. Portadown’s Glenn Bell was victorious in Round 9 of National Hot Rods World Series NI, whilst a hard fought NI Open for Stock Rods fell to Randalstown’s Sam McNeice.
Scotch Street’s former World Champion Wayne Woolsey won the 2.0 Hot Rods Irish Masters, with other feature race wins going the way of Steven Haugh from the Birches (Superstox) and Antrim’s Leyton Hughes (Junior Productions)

The changeable weather conditions kept the drivers busy all evening, with set up and tyre choice critical. Portadown driver Mark Heatrick made great use of his generous yellow grading to take the opening National Hot Rods heat win in his Fiesta, heading home Glenn Bell and Jeff Riordan. Mark repeated the feat in heat two, this time ahead of a fast-charging Adam Maxwell and James Ginty.
The final saw a superb dice on a track that was drying at a fast rate of knots. Heatrick had a spell out front until he was demoted by Cork’s Ian Riordan. Ian held sway out front, even when Bell and John Christie joined the scrap for the top spot. Riordan then got wrong-footed in the backmarking traffic, allowing Bell to slip ahead and take the win over Christie, with Riordan having to make do with third in the end.

A huge field of Stock Rods contested the annual NI Open, with a very welcome sprinkling of visiting drivers adding to the occasion. The first heat saw defending champion Mark Foster out front until he lost out to Scotland’s Robbie Armit who took the win. The packed raceway was leading to some competitive action, and heat two fell to Irish Champion Sam McNeice ahead of Harry Minish, with veteran Victor McAfee catching the eye in third after a great outside run on a late restart.
Armit and Foster disputed the early lead in the NI Open final, which was run on a rapidly drying track. McNeice pulled off a splendid move to relegate both and hit the front, grabbing a deserved lead he would never lose all the way to the flag. As Sam took the title win, British Champ Siobhan Martin came on strong late on for second, with Dan Shannon inheriting third after Minish and Callum Magill inherited penalties.

Visitors also boosted the 2.0 Hot Rods field to the mid-twenties, and they served up some of the best action seen all evening. Shane McMillan took a flag to flag win in the opener, coming home ahead of Adam Hylands, Wayne Woolsey and Ally Neill. The reversed grid heat two was easily the best of the night, and an early contender for race of the season. Callum Doak and James McKinney were battling for the lead out front, but had a whole gaggle of cars breathing down their necks. In the damp conditions a whole multitude of lines were being used in the search for grip, with next to no contact between the cars at all. Rob Barnett managed to claw himself to the front when it mattered most to take the win in an incredible race, with McKinney, Hylands and Doak next home.
The Irish Masters final saw Hylands ahead from the off before Woolsey found the slenderest of gaps down his inside into turn one. As Wayne went ahead, Hylands and World Champion Secker kept the pressure on all the way, searching for a way past. Woolsey kept his cool though, keeping it neat to take the win in some style over Hylands, Secker and Andy Best.

The Superstox provided the contact element for the day, with Troy Crawford taking a deserved heat one win over Stephen Stewart, before British Champion Jordan Robinson claimed heat two ahead of Steven Haugh.
Andrew Murphy set the pace in the feature race, but he had no answer when World Champion Haugh came knocking in the final stages. Steven took the win from Robinson and Murphy.

The opening Junior Productions heat saw Jack Murphy out front early on until Jack Morrison swooped past to win from Leyton Hughes and Ryan Berry. Heat two saw a decisive win for Jamie Hadden, who controlled the race from the front ahead of Morrison and Murphy.
The final saw Tony Calvin, Jake Barnett, Hadden and Morrison all have spells in the top spot, before Hughes came charging past at the halfway point to take the win. Behind the flying British and National Champion came Morrison, Casey Cherry and Hadden.