Top Tullyroan Wins For Rochford and Bell

The race fans were treated to an action packed evening of short oval entertainment at Tullyroan Oval on Saturday night, August 29th. In arguably the best meeting of the season so fay, Portadown’s Irish Champion Jordan Rochford successfully defended the Lee Cherry Memorial Trophy for 2.0 Hot Rods. Fellow Portadown star Glenn Bell took a decisive win in the National Hot Rods final, whilst the other feature race winners were Ballymena’s Conor Doherty (Lightning Rods), Larne’s Charlie Johnston (Junior productions) and Portadown’s Alan Haugh (1600 Rookie Bangers).

2.0 Hot Rods
With some welcome visitors on hand the 2.0 Hot Rods entry topped 25 cars, with World Champion Adam Hylands taking the win in heat one after a tough battle. James McKinney and Jordan Rochford took the places. Heat two saw Rochford come through for the win, just holding off a spirited challenge from Cork’s Brendan O’Connell and Michael Rodgers.
The final was for the coveted Lee Cherry Memorial Trophy, a quite stunning piece of silverware. Rochford quickly put daylight between himself and the rest, racing home to a successful defence of the trophy after a controlled drive. There was a huge battle for second, which went the way of McKinney ahead of Hylands, Wayne Woolsey and Callum Doak. The top three all received some well earned extra prize money from the Cherry family, with Shane McMillan and Dean McFarland also cashing in as the highest climbers in the final.

National Hot Rods
Nigel McCauley went ahead on the opening National Hot Rods heat with a great run around Davy Clarke, and he even withstood a mid race restart following a turn two crash to land the win ahead of Dean McCrory and Simon Kennedy. Kennedy could be well pleased with his third after a spirited effort for the lead on the outside line in the closing stages. Heat two saw McCauley again take the win, this time over the impressive McCrory, John Christie and Glenn Bell.
The World Series NI Round 3 Final saw McCauley out front once again Bell arrived on the scene. The World and British Champion, utilising his Joker Round and four new tyres, soon blasted past to the lead, before a caution was called for a heavy turn four crash for Allen Cherry. Thankfully Allen emerged ok, as Bell raced home to a fantastic win over John Christie and Ian Riordan. Lightning Rods
A stunning field of 25 Lightning Rods, including a very welcome bunch of visitors from Tipperary Raceway, blasted off for heat one, which went the way of Irish Champion Ross Houston – even after he and Andrew Woods had gone airborne over an errant wheel just as a caution was called! Ross led home Nigel Jackson and Dermot Tynan, before former World Champion Stuart Agnew claimed heat two with a great drive to win over Ian Hobson and Duane Wheelan.
Conor Doherty had sustained big damage in a heat one crash, but some sterling work in the pits saw him back in action and he utterly dominated the final. He relieved Aaron Rogers of the lead on lap six, and never looked back as he claimed the win on the formula’s biggest night in many years. Jackson retired from second late on with mechanical issues, leaving Wheelan to inherit the runner up slot ahead of Agnew and Michael Moloney.

1600 Rookie Bangers
There was also a loose wheel in the opening 1600 Rookie Bangers heat which brought about a stoppage. Steven Haugh, normally seen behind the wheel of his World Championship winning Superstox, took the lead but lost out late on to his brother Alan who took the win. Aaron McGraw set the pace in heat two, but once again it was Alan Haugh who claimed the win on the last lap.
The final was action packed with McGraw and Steven Haugh having spells out front. Reece McMaster took out Steven in no uncertain terms, and that opened the door for Alan Haugh to steam though and claim his third win of the night. McGraw and Stephen Boyd completed the places.

Junior Productions
The teenagers in the Junior Productions contested three tough fought and competitive races, and they hadn’t got far in heat one before Liza Kennedy-Gurney found herself upside down at the end of the home straight! Jake Barnett powered past leader Jack Murphy to take the win, with Casey Cherry in third. Heat two was a race littered with caution periods after crashes, and this time it was Ryan Berry who took the win after slipping past Caolan Fegan on the last lap.
The final saw a spirited drive from Limerick’s Meabh Shanahan, as she led until almost half distance. From there though the race belonged to Charlie Johnston, as he roared clear to take a well deserved win indeed. Meabh impressed on her way to a fine runner up slot, ahead of Charlie Hill, Cherry and Jack Morrison.

Added 31/08/2026