Latest Points Update - Superstox, Stock Rods & Thunder Rods

In our latest points update, the latest standings for Superstox, Stock Rods & Thunder Rods have been published.

After the final meeting in the Superstox World Championship qualifying chart, 955 Kyle Beattie has secured a clear win and will draw for pole position in the World Final at Ipswich in October. Ed Davis and Jordan Robinson complete the top three in the chart.

In the Stock Rods, the latest grading in the Calvin Tyres 2020/21 NI Points Championship sees 16 year old Adam McFall on top spot after his fantastic start to his senior career. Jonny Cardwell, Stevie McNiece and Rick Purdy are next up in the standings.

In the Norman Purdy & Sons 2020/21 NI Points Championship for Thunder Rods, Simon Lamont leads the way as the top three places in the points chase are filled by drivers who began the season as novices. Ryan Nixon and Sam Preston complete the top three in the standings at present. As drivers can only climb two grades in any grading period, they all find themselves in the blue grade for the next meeting.

To View the latest points charts, click on 'Drivers' in the menu bar above and then select the desired formula from the drop down under 'Points & Grades'.

Added 21/09/20

Cool Cardwell Claims Cooke Memorial Trophy

On a gloriously sunny evening at Aghadowey Oval, an excellent entry of drivers enjoyed some fantastic racing. Glenavy’s Jonny Cardwell came out on top in the Stock Rods to collect the coveted William Cooke Memorial Trophy after three fine drives across the evening. There was huge celebration in the Hughes household, with young Leyton taking victory in a fantastic Ninja Karts King of Aghadowey, whilst his Dad Conor romped home to the chequered flag in the 2.0 Hot Rods.
The other winners at the Darrell Hanna Auto Repairs sponsored event were Jordan Robinson from Portadown who collected the Superstox King of Aghadowey and Ballymoney’s Simon Lamont who battled through the chaos to take the Thunder Rods final win.

A very healthy field of 23 Stock Rods took to the grid for the annual running of the William Cooke Memorial Trophy. Also present was William’s 1970 Ford Escort Mk1, which was raced at Aghadowey back in 1970 by the expert engineer from Kilrea. It has been painstakingly restored over recent times by William and David Wilson from Cullybackey, and it was really well received by the local race fans.
The first heat saw a huge battle for the lead, which saw Larne’s Philip Wilson hold sway out front to take the chequered flag. But after a lengthy Stewards Enquiry he was disqualified in the final analysis for spinning a backmarker in the closing stages, which handed the victory to Craigywarren’s Adam McFall with his father Micky McFall in second.
Heat two saw a dominant flag to flag win for Shane McMillan, the current holder of the trophy, ahead of Dan Shannon and Jonny Cardwell.
On aggregate points Cardwell annexed pole spot for the final ahead of McMillan, and it was Jonny who settled ahead early on before a caution brought proceedings to a halt for a crash on the Brown Trout Bend. On the resumption, Cardwell had Adam McFall making him work very hard for his lead right from the off. Young gun McFall was snapping at Jonny’s heels for the duration of the event, but Jonny used all his experience to take the victory, and the beautiful trophy, ahead of McFall, Shannon and an impressive debut from Joe Largey.

A host of English and Scottish visitors bolstered the Ninja Karts field, with Ryan Berry slipping past Scottish lad Stuart Shevill Jnr Jnr to take the heat one victory over Leyton Hughes. Michael McLaughlin led the opening exchanges of heat two, but he soon lost out to a flying Caolan Fegan. The Belfast youngster even survived a late caution period to take his first ever win in some style, over Riley Dawson-Stirling and Cayden Connor.
The King of Aghadowey Final saw Irish Champion Hughes surge ahead early on and that was enough to net him yet more silverware after a sterling drive. Bournemouth long distance traveller Jake Ashby was great value in second, ahead of Scottish duo Hamish Plenderleith and Kenzie Kopacz.
Also contesting their King of Aghadowey title were the Superstox, which included Scottish star Dean Johnston amongst a very strong grid. Brian Lammey and Del McLaughlin had spells out front in the opening heat, before Steven Haugh powered through to take the win over Jordan Robinson and Sean Mark. McLaughlin led the majority of heat two, before Robinson this time sliced through to the chequered flag out front, with McLaughlin and Haugh filling out the places.
The closed grid final was always going to produce fireworks, and that it certainly did. Right from the off Robinson and Irish Champion Kyle Beattie traded blows, and the lead, on several occasions in a terrific scrap. Ed Davis was playing a watching brief in third but just couldn’t get past the lead duo. Finally Robinson managed to break clear, and Jordan romped home to a decisive and pleasing win, with Beattie and Lee Davison filling the places on the podium.

Twenty 2.0 Hot Rods blasted off the grid for their opening heat, with Ryan McCrory taking victory over Curtis Greer and Conor Hughes in a race littered with incidents, crashes and caution periods. The standards were much improved in heat two, with McCloy out front before Hughes burst past to take the win over McCloy and Greer.
McCloy set a great pace out front in the Darrell Hanna Auto Repairs Final, but as the closing stages approached he had his mirrors full of the closing pack. Hughes tried the difficult outside line but couldn’t make it stick, before Denver Grattan and Greer then tried but couldn’t unsettle the leader either. Having looked as if his chance was gone, Hughes worked his way back to second and this time he did find a way past the resolute McCloy to take a very impressive victory indeed. McCloy had driven a great race but had to make do with second, ahead of Adam Best, Grattan and Jordan Rochford.

A huge field of 23 Thunder Rods took to the circuit for their opening heat, with Ryan Nixon grabbing the win over Simon Lamont and Sam Preston on a very busy raceway indeed. Nixon repeated the feat in the second heat, taking another great win over Simon McLaughlin and Adam Graham.
The final was dramatic to say the least, as Nixon fought off allcomers as he chased his hat-trick. The experienced Norman Purdy was the one heaping on most of the pressure, and on a couple of occasions he almost found the gap that would have netted him the win.
Purdy eventually did find that gap into the Brown Trout Bend, but he and Nixon tangled for the lead which saw Simon Lamont just nip past into the top spot. There then followed a huge crash, as Graham Young blew a radiator hose at the end of the back straight, and on the resultant fluid a whole host of cars ploughed headlong into the wall. Thankfully everyone escaped uninjured, and the result was declared on the last completed lap as there was only a lap or so to run. Lamont therefore took the silverware by the narrowest of margins over Purdy, Darryl McAleese and Jason Darragh.
Pics by John Wolsey

Many thanks to our meeting sponsors, Darrell Hanna Auto Repairs of Limavady

Added 21/09/20

Restoration of the Willie Cooke Mk1 Escort

This Saturday's race meeting at Aghadowey Oval sees the Stock Rods contest the William Cooke Memorial Trophy, raced in memory of the expert engine builder and former driver from Kilrea.

The meeting sponsor Darrell Hanna from Limavady was always a great friend of Willie, and used his Motex Race Engines with great success. After Willie's sad passing Darrell acquired an old Mk1 Ford Escort that Willie had raced, and recently this was passed on to another former racer, William Wilson from Cullybackey.

William, alongside his son David who races in the Thunder Rods formula, painstakingly restored the car to its former glory, leaving it as close as possible to how it raced in the Production Cars back in the day. They reckon it was debuted new by Willie Cooke back in 1970, and during the restoration it has received a lot of care and attention, including new arches, tidied bodywork and also a new engine.

William and David have pulled off a fantastic job in restoring the car to allow it to once again grace the Aghadowey circuit this weekend. It will be given a few laps on Saturday night by Darrell Hanna, and will be on display for everyone to admire.

The photos show the car before and during the course of the restoration - we'll keep the finished article under wraps until Saturday!

Added 17/09/20

Latest Points Update

In our latest points update, a number of formulas have seen their standings published.

In the AM Motorsport DMC National Bangers Points Championship, last weekend's exciting encounter saw Leonard Dunn snatch the win in the championship whilst Paul Compelli just pipped Rodney Herron for the second spot on the grid in next month's World Championship at Ipswich.

In the Superstox, they have just one more meeting left (this Saturday, Sept 19th at Aghadowey Oval) before their important World Championship qualification ends. Kyle Beattie is already assured of the win, and with it a draw for pole position in the World Final, whilst there is a huge battle for the places. A regrading for the Superstox, sponsored by Mk2 Escort Shells & Spares, also sees post-lockdown sensations Steven Haugh and young Graham Meek both move back on the grid.

In the Lightning Rods, the 2020/21 Ryan Wright Signs NI Points Championship is led by James McKinney after 4 meetings, with Tam Agnew, Nigel Jackson and Stuart Agnew next up.

The 2020 Cirrus Plastics DMC Race Promotions Championship for National Hot Rods see Derek Martin now ahead of Adam Hylands and Glenn Bell after their latest outing, whilst finally in the 2020/21 Autoweld NI Points Championship for 1300 Stock Cars it is 16 year old sensation Jonathan Brown who tops the chart after a fantastic start to his senior career.

To View the latest points charts, click on 'Drivers' in the menu bar above and then select the desired formula from the drop down under 'Points & Grades'.

Added 14/09/20

Carl Storms To Heat and Final Double At Wet Tullyroan

The weather was far from ideal with persistent rain for most of the evening, but it failed to dampen the on track action at Tullyroan Oval on Saturday night. Packed grids were the order of the day, with Kells driver Carl Sloan taking a handsome heat and final double in Round 4 of the Simpson Race Exhausts World Series NI for National Hot Rods.
Donemana’s Leonard Dunn underlined his star man status in the Unlimited National Bangers with victory in the Tullyroan Supercup, whilst the other big winners at the McElmeel Mobility Services and Ray McGrath Transport sponsored event were Portadown’s World Champion Nigel Jackson in the Lightning Rods and Aughnacloy’s Kyle Beattie in the Superstox

Lurgan’s Ian McReynolds was the first to show in the opening National Hot Rods heat as the drivers adapted well to the tricky conditions. Carl Sloan was on a mission though from the blue grade, and he ran down Ian just past half distance to grab the spoils ahead of McReynolds and Shane Murray. McReynolds again set the heat two pace, and this time Ian had enough in hand to hold Sloan at bay to take a well deserved victory. Behind the lead duo, Derek Martin inherited third place after Jaimie McCurdy was docked two places for a jump start.
McReynolds quickly jumped ahead in the final, but Sloan was rapidly on the move to give chase. Carl slipped in front on lap eight, edging out quite an advantage too. Shane Murray was catching the eye as well, leaving the rest of the star grade trailing in his wake as he coolly worked his way up to second. Sloan was well down the road by this stage, but a sterling effort by Murray saw him chipping away at the advantage of the Kells driver. Murray just ran out of laps to mount a challenge, as Sloan completed a morale boosting heat and final double in some style. Derek Martin, McCurdy and Glenn Bell completed the top five.

A fine field of Unlimited National Bangers thrilled the fans as they always do, with Steven Bolton the first to show in the Tullyroan Supercup race. Amidst the carnage, Bolton got removed from the lead as Davey O’Connor raced past to take up the running. Local points champion Leonard Dunn was easily the fastest car on track though, and he soon raced ahead to take the silverware ahead of O’Connor and Kieran McIvor.
The Allcomers event saw Lisburn’s Rodney Herron take some huge hits as his Volvo got destroyed on the Tullyroan Bend, and it was former World Champion Bolton who led them home to take a great win over Dunn and McIvor.

A bruising Destruction Derby completed the night, with McIvor snatching the victory after a head to head with O’Connor. Tony Gillespie was named Entertainer of the Night, with Herron collecting the Best Wreck award.
A fantastic twenty Lightning Rods took to the grid for their Tullyroan Challenge Cup, with recent form man Stuart Agnew from Magheralin just getting the better of a great fight with Richard Stewart to take the win. World Champion Jackson made great progress to third ahead of Ally Neill, the latter back in his old car after a huge shunt at Aghadowey a week ago. The Agnew brothers have been a revelation in 2020 since switching to the Lightning Rods, and after Stuart’s heat one victory it was his brother Tam who grabbed the glory in heat two. In a grandstand finish as the front five raced to the line together, Tam got the verdict over Mark Corry and James McKinney.
On aggregate points Jackson had annexed pole position for the Tullyroan Challenge Cup final, and as a renowned ‘rain-master’ it was no surprise to see him quickly assume the lead. In a masterclass performance, Nigel underlined his World Champion status by racing to an emphatic win, with Neill also excelling in second ahead of McKinney and Tam Agnew.

A strong showing of twenty Superstox saw Ed Davis take a polished victory in heat one, relegating young star Graham Meek in the closing stages. Irish Champion Kyle Beattie laid down a marker in that one by charging through from the rear of the grid to third, and he went on to take the chequered flag in heat two after a blinding drive. Davis and Jamie McCann filled the places ahead of Sean Mark and David Beattie.
In the final McCann showed great pace early on the pull clear at the front, but as they headed for the closing stage he had Kyle Beattie looming large in his mirrors. The Aughnacloy star had given yet another lesson in wet weather driving, and he bumpered his way past McCann as they headed to the one lap to go marker. Kyle completed a great double for the evening, with McCann, David Beattie and Lee Davison rounding out the top four.
The Superstox got a 10 lap Dash For Cash to complete the evening, kindly sponsored by the Moffett family. McCann made up for losing out on the final win with a great victory in this one over Kyle Beattie and Mark.
Pics by John Wolsey

Many thanks to our meeting sponsors, McElmeel Mobility Services & Ray McGrath Transport

Added 13/09/20

Latest Points Update - 2.0 Hot Rods

Our first regrading of the season for the DMC formulas has come a little later than expected, with the 2.0 Hot Rods now updated after their fourth meeting since lockdown.

Drew McKeown sits on top of the 2020/21 Racemart NI Points Championship, with a 14 point advantage over Jordan Rochford, and this will see both rise to the star grade from their next meeting.

Over the lockdown period where we had our lengthy break from racing, we have taken the opportunity to tweak our points process, with all classes now contesting their NI Points Championships from World Final to World Final in line with other promotions across the UK (or Irish Championship to Irish Championship for Junior Productions & Thunder Rods etc).

Click Here To View 2.0 Hot Rod Points

Added 07/09/20