The new Back to Basics Bangers were an instant hit at Tullyroan Oval on Sunday afternoon, fielding a great grid of cars and serving up some excellent action for the big crowd.
Limavady driver Josh Goligher went down in history as their first ever winner as he scooped the Tullyroan Challenge Cup, whilst Scotland’s Bailey Millar was the afternoon’s other big winner as he took the Ninja Karts Champion of Champions victory.
Other winners in the Stirling Trophies sponsored meeting were Sean Mark (Superstox), Thomas McCrory (Lightning Rods) and Steven Haugh (ProStocks).
Back to Basics Bangers
Cheap and cheerful racing with a huge fun factor is the name of the game in the Back to Basics Bangers, and a big grid arrived for their first meeting on the DMC Race Promotions circuits. There was a vast range of machinery on track, with usual ProStocks star Steven Haugh racing through the heat one chaos to take the win over Dave Haugh and Dan Shannon.
Heat two saw Shannon out front until he got himself into all sorts of bother, opening the door for Josh McKinstry to grab the victory over Steven Haugh and Stefan McClelland.
The final was an exceptional encounter, with Limavady’s Josh Goligher setting his usual non contact skills to one side for the day as he stormed ahead. A stoppage for a fire on Tony Gillespie’s machine brought the field up short, but Goligher raced ahead on the restart and took the win in style over Shannon and Dave Haugh. An excellent Destruction Derby fell to Josh’s father John Goligher, whilst Rocky McKenna was voted Entertainer of the Day.
Ninja Karts
The first event of the day for the Ninja Karts was the Midway Autopoint Individual Achievement Award for those drivers who hadn’t tasted success in 2018. It fell the way of Rhea McConkey who led Matthew Weir home after a fine drive.
The Hollytree Farm Champion of Champions was next up, and it saw Brandon Litter lead early on before defending champion Max Hobson squeezed past to take up the running. Scottish star Bailey Millar then swooped past to hit the front and he duly took the title over Hobson and Lacey Bevan.
The track was very slippery for the heat race, with Toby Tyson from Cumbria showing superb car control to take the win over Millar and Hobson in a race that saw loads of spinners and some fantastic opposite lock driving from the youngsters.
The final saw a superb drive from Leyton Hughes, who at just six years old is one of the youngest drivers on the track. He drove a super race to lead right up until the final stages, when he was pipped by Millar who took his second win of the day. Hughes was a very impressive second ahead of Tyson and another English racer, Ellis Snow, who also impressed on his Ulster debut.
Superstox
Welcome Scottish visitor Trevor Harris led the opening Superstox heat away, as star men Stephen Stewart and Lee Davison tangled which saw Stewart almost pitched into a roll.
Sean Mark continued his recent good form by slicing through to the win over Conor Murphy and Aaron McNeilly. Kyle Beattie worked himself ahead in the second heat, but the former Irish Champion was moved aside by Mark who went on to record his second win of the afternoon.
Mark lost time during the final when he tangled with Murphy, but a caution period brought him back into contention. Stewart was out front, and just when it looked as though he had things sewn up he made a rare error into turn one which opened the door for Mark to race past and complete his hat-trick for the afternoon. Stewart and David Beattie completed the podium.
Lightning Rods
Barry Limer from England joined a very healthy field of Lightning Rods, with Portadown’s Vince Litter the star turn during the heats as he raced to two wins. In the first encounter he led home Thomas McCrory and Adam McCann, before European Champion Jordan Rochford and Ronan McNally chased Vince over the line in heat two. Litter was upgraded on the grid for the final, leaving McCrory to quickly establish himself out front.
The outside line was very treacherous which thwarted the attempts of the star men, but Rochford dragged himself right alongside the leader but he couldn’t quite get ahead. McCrory hung on for an excellent feature race win, his first in the Lightning Rods, with Rochford and Litter filling out the podium places after an excellent afternoon’s racing.
ProStocks
The ProStocks were light in numbers, but served up some watchable racing. European Champion Steven Haugh took the opening heat before David Browne claimed a very notable victory in heat two.
Veteran racer Browne took the battle to Haugh again in the final, but despite swapping the lead back and forth it was star man Haugh who claimed his second win of the day.
Next Meeting
The next meeting at Tullyroan Oval is the festive meeting on Sunday December 30 th featuring the Big Van Bangers, Rookie Bangers, Superstox, Junior Productions and ProStocks.
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