Maxwell takes honours at Tullyroan Oval

Crumlin’s Adam Maxwell took the honours in the feature event, Round 11 of Diemens.com World Series NI for National Hot Rods.

Welcome visitor Lauren Judge bolstered the National Hot Rods field, as local driver Jordan McCann grabbed a welcome win in heat one ahead of Nigel McCauley and Gary Woolsey. The rain arrived for heat two and it saw World Champion Derek Martin come to the fore, taking the win over Adam Maxwell and Woolsey.

The drivers were all back on slick tyres for the final as the track dried, with McCauley leading the way for much of the distance. Maxwell found the slenderest of gaps into the Tullyroan Bend and he went on to scoop the spoils of Diemens.com World Series NI Round 11. Shane Murray came through for second ahead of Glenn Bell.

Superstox

Dean Catherwood looked all set to land the opening Superstox win of the night, only for a caution for debris in the closing stages bringing the pack onto his tail. He was bundled out of the way by the star men, as National and Irish Champion Lee Davison took the victory over Jordan Robinson and Davy Clarke. Brian Lammey led heat two for much of the way and looked a likely winner, until the chasing back caught him in the final stages. Catherwood this time made no mistake to win ahead of Robinson and Steven Haugh.

The final, the opening round of the Spedeworth TV/NIOvalTV Series, was without doubt the race of the night! As they entered the closing stages it boiled down to a battle between Clarke, Robinson and David McMenemy, with the lead swapped numerous times over the last couple of laps. McMenemy entered the final bend in third spot but came out the winner as the bumpers went in, the Dungannon man taking the silverware for the second meeting in succession. Robinson and Clarke helped produced a stunning finish but had to settle for second and third.

2.0 Hot Rods

The 2.0 Hot Rods were racing in the opening round of the Hoosier Challenge Series, and former World Champion Andy Best just held on to win the opening heat despite the best efforts of Allen Cherry on the outside line in what was an excellent race. Cherry went one better in heat two, taking the win ahead of Connor Hughes and Wayne Woolsey.

The final was another superb dice, as the changing track conditions led to a ding-dong battle for the premier places. Cherry, Hughes and McKeown traded places early on before Cherry settled into the lead. McKeown was tracking his every move and pulled off a superb undercut into Turn 3 to grab the lead, the victory, the silverware and a new race tyre from sponsors Hoosier Tyres UK.

Other feature race winners were Limavady’s Josh Goligher in the Rookie Bangers and young Lacey Bevan from Coleraine in the Junior Productions.

Next Meeting

The next meeting at Tullyroan Oval is on Saturday May 27th (6.30pm), featuring National Hot Rods Diemens.com World Series NI Round 12, the Spring Classic for Rookie Bangers, the Junior Productions Moffett Shield plus Stock Rods and Lightning Rods.