Report by Alistair Oxby

Smeatharpe Stadium hosted the first day of the July Jamboree weekender which featured no less than nine different racing formulas, many of which were making their only visit to Smeatharpe for the year whilst most of the others are only occasional visitors.  The evening started in warm sunshine and turned fairly chilly later, but that didn’t matter too much because the pace of racing didn’t leave much time for standing around and feeling the cold.  29 races were staged in five hours with plenty of highlights amongst it all.

Modstox

Autospeed’s newest adopted formula raised 16 cars on the Saturday and opened the show.  The two white tops didn’t make the best start to Heat One and so 30 Tim Dyche took the early lead from the yellow grade and held on for a decent number of laps despite the track being littered with spinners.  46 Karl Brazier, 455 Ryan Grindey and 512 James Bishop all took their turns at facing the wrong way or getting forced onto some strange racing lines.  192 Max Harding made a great run from the back to take the lead with four laps remaining, but two yellow tops staged a cracking comeback with 228 Alan Sturgess forcing a mistake from Harding coming off turn four towards the 2-lap board and Sturgess went on to win with Dyche also getting back into second place and Harding ending up third.  All 16 drivers returned for Heat Two with 439 Sam Cherry only managing a lap at the front before Dyche found a gap on the inside to take the lead.  An early crash saw 83 Heidi Clark, 261 Simon Burgess and 291 Dan Baker all tangle in turn four and lose time and after they had cleared, Grindey went spinning at the same part of the track.  Harding made another sprint from the back to take up second place in the closing laps of the race but then got locked in a battle with Brazier which saw the two of them swap second place on three occasions.  This allowed Dyche to stay clear of them to win the race whilst Sturgess was denied points by a very late spin.  Grindey had made a smokey exit from Heat Two, so the Final had a grid of 15 cars.  The two white tops made a much better start, and Cherry held the lead until lap three when Dyche passed him although the yellow flags then came out to separate Clark and Burgess who had tangled coming off turn four and gone into the home straight plating hard.  On the restart, 22 Luke Wilson quickly came to the front of the race whilst 555 Sam Woods got spun by the pack onto the home straight run-off area.  Dyche made a cracking move as he completed a cut-back underneath Wilson coming off turn two just before halfway and he duly reclaimed the lead but only kept it for about a lap until Harding surged to the front.  Once at the front, Harding didn’t look back and he took the victory with Dan Baker making it to second place and Wilson taking third.  Dyche ended up in sixth after getting trapped on the outside line.  Bishop spent the second half of his race spinning out no less than three times!  The Allcomers race raised 15 cars and saw Cherry lead three more laps before Sturgess made a clean pass on the back straight.  Sturgess continued to record his second victory of the evening whilst the other main points of the race were 121 Josh Malt making a hasty exit on lap nine with a mechanical problem and Baker pushing Wilson wide in the first corner of the last lap to claim second position.
A very solid night of stock car action from the Modstox.

V8 Hotstox

A total of 17 V8 Hotstox raced although just 14 of them were ready for Heat One.  Yellow tops 528 Charlie Portman and 369 Ruby Lomax set the early pace and remained at the front until 296 Dan Poole arrived to clatter them wide in turn one just before half way and take up the lead.  Lomax fell away down the places after this but Portman recovered into second position and held this until lap ten when he went into turn one too hard and did some drifting which allowed 171 Tom Dunne up to second place.  However, Portman was straight back on the bumper of Dunne at the other end of the track to take his position back setting  up a great closing few laps.  Dunne eventually got the better of Portman to finish second behind Poole, whilst other hits saw 84 Carl Boswell fire 257 Timmy Aldridge wide for fourth place, only to get nailed by 110 Evan Bullock half a lap later and it was Bullock who came home fourth.  16 drivers started Heat Two, including late arrival 552 Declan Gwin.  A slightly compressed start to the race saw Aldridge up into second place from the blue grade by the end of the first lap, although Portman managed to cling to the early lead.  Poole was once again the quickest in the field, and he passed Aldridge on lap two and set off in pursuit of Portman although it took him until halfway in the race to grab the lead.  The bumpers were flying amongst the red tops in the closing stages of the race, and this resulted in 176 Stephen Young taking a trip to the fence coming off turn two where he was collected by Gwin bringing out a waved yellow with two laps remaining.  The closed grid for the restart produced a massive push into the last corner where a lot of places changed hands, but it was no concern for Poole who registered his second win of the evening.  All 17 cars started the Final although 10 Gilen Bullock was still battling with diff problems that had prevented him from coming out for either of the heat races.  Portman established a very strong lead in the early laps whilst a notable moment came on lap five when Dunne produced one of his best snooker shots to plant a train of cars on turn one and move from ninth to fifth place in one corner.  Poole was once again blindingly quick, and he moved up the inside of Portman to take the lead at the halfway point of the race.  Both Poole and Portman were lapping blue and red tops by this time and particularly big hits came from Aldridge on 69 Matt Barnard and Boswell on 222 Guy Jolly.  Portman got buried as collateral damage in this traffic and a further shake-up came on lap 19 when 202 Sam Knight became stranded on the back straight bringing out waved yellow flags.  The last lap dash was as chaotic as expected but Poole held on to complete victory number three with 329 Thomas Brighton coming home second and teenager Lomax an impressive third having played a big role in the last bend scramble for positions.  The 15-car Grand National was quiet by comparison, but still a good race.  Portman once again took the early lead with Jolly showing his best pace of the night to get up to second position by lap two.  This dropped Gwin to third and his problems were compounded when Lomax put him into the fence off turn four where he was collected by Knight who ran up and over the nerf rail and front wheel.  Portman and Jolly remained the top two to the chequered flag whilst Poole managed to get back to eighth from the lap handicap.
Some of the best V8 Hotstox racing seen anywhere for quite some time.

Junior Bangers

The entry of 13 Junior Bangers was slightly down on expectations, but the drivers actually produced some very high quality racing with the racecraft certainly resembling stock car drivers more than Bangers.  Heat One saw lone white top 134 Charlie Ferris make a slow start handing the early lead to 11 Shane Rowe.  Rowe didn’t put a foot wrong and took the victory but the race of the Superstars from the back was excellent with 113 Beau Jeanes making it from last car to second place with four laps still to run.  It wasn’t plain sailing though with Jeanes getting pushed on by 77 Dylan Perry who stole the place, but the matter was settled late on when a hit from Jeanes sent Perry spinning in Turn Four.  All 13 again for Heat Two which was another flag to flag victory for Rowe.  The main points in this race were 168 Alfie Gill spinning out 295 Todd Wallace at half distance and 119 Jimmy Berry spinning out on the home straight and getting a shot in the back wheel from Perry.  Best of the Superstars this time was 138 Braydon Rice in fourth position.  Berry broke down at the start of the Final, so 12 cars started the race.  Ferris once again made a slow start and was spun out in Turn One by 133 Jesse Jeanes causing 168 Squid to run up the side of the 134 car and roll over.  Gill was fine and a complete re-run was arranged.  At the second attempt, Rowe once again took the early lead but Perry was charging this time and was already up to third position by lap two.  Wallace retaliated a couple of laps later with a hit to Perry that sent him wide and Wallace regained third place for a short while until Perry came charging back in with a hit on Wallace than cannoned him into 133 Jeff ahead.  Jeff lost most ground with Rice getting the most benefit by moving from fifth to third as the other three got back up to speed.  Wallace worked his way forward again and pushed Rowe wide to take the lead with four laps of the race remaining, Perry again scored a hit on Wallace and returned to the front briefly, but again Wallace fought back and it came down to the last bend where Beau Jeanes was the driver to take a dive at Wallace and put him off line.  Jeanes won the drag race to the line by the narrowest of margins with Wallace and Perry completing the podium.
Brilliant racing from the youngsters.

American Cup Cars

12 cars arrived in the pits, but sadly 42 Kyron O’Malley suffered a poorly-running engine in practice and he would not take part in any racing.  Heat One featured the remaining 11 cars and saw a brave early overtaking move as 65 Mark Carnwell threaded his car between 11 Juli Stanford and 22 Steve Stanford on the back straight where three cars wide isn’t at all easy to achieve.  Just before halfway in the race, 73 Dave Moulds span out on Turn Four and was collected head-on by 18 Stratton Mackay bringing out the waved yellow flags.  The remaining laps were about Carnwell trying to find a way around Steve Stanford, but Stanford kept it neat and tidy to take the victory.  Down to 10 cars in Heat Two where 80 Jon Evans was a spinner on the opening lap whilst 89 Richard Newberry started on the outside of the front row and drove some good laps but ultimately couldn’t hold back some of the faster drivers.  76 Aaron Sabean was also a spinner, going around on turn four whilst not under any particular pressure.  Mackay won this one from pole position.  Back to 11 cars for the Final where Steve Stanford never looked back from his front row starting position.  He built a good lead in the opening laps, but Mackay was closing rapidly in the late stages of the race.  However, the laps ran out, and Mackay had to settle for second with Evans coming from the second half of the grid for a creditable third place.

Hot Fords

The Buxton Hot Fords found 10 drivers to make the long trek to the Westcountry although 101 Phil Mitchell had problems with his car on the opening day and didn’t make the track until the Final.  The Saturday night races were very much about the drivers learning where the lines and grip were around an unfamiliar circuit.  Full credit goes to teenager 181 Jaime-Lee Mellor who went from the front of each of the three races and pulled further clear of the competition to bag all three victories on the night.  The only driver from further back on the grid to find some outside passing lines was 690 Tom Parnham who got up to third place in the opening Heat and second place in Heat Two.  However, the Final finished more closely in graded order with Mellor winning ahead of blue tops 115 Benjo Bell and 306 Craig Bennett.

Grand Prix Midgets

The ultra-fast Midgets had an entry of 11 cars, but engine problems meant that 214 John Faggetter was unable to take part in the racing on Saturday.  Despite the fastest cars lapping at around 12.5 seconds which is significantly quicker than a BriSCA F2 Stock Car, the opening heat went without incident.  43 Shaun Lombardo won from the back of the yellow grade whilst 101 Francois Damen flew from the Superstars to finish in third place.  Heat Two had 9 cars on track and saw another of the yellow tops come immediately to the front.  27 Paul Johnson looked set for victory until he hurriedly pulled onto the infield with three laps of the race remaining.  And even more frustratingly, he decided the emergency wasn’t as bad as he first thought and rejoined at the back of the race soon afterwards.  This handed another win to Lombardo.  Back to 10 cars for the Final which was a more interesting race.  37 Antony Smith led many of the opening laps and acted as a cork holding back the best of the rest of the field resulting in some close racing in a pack.  Eventually, 31 Jonathan Pooley decided to have a go on the outside line and stayed out there until he finally got into the lead about half way through the race.  Pooley was the winner with Damen and Johnson also taking a few laps each around the outside to pass Smith and claim the other two podium steps.

UK Modifieds

11 UK Modifieds assembled for action including the very smart trio of team Hanson cars.  Heat One of the evening saw 611 Jamie Hanson start from pole position which proved to be a gift as he kept a clean line and covered the 15 laps unchallenged to take the chequered flag.  Heat Two started with a team Hanson crash when 711 Cody span out in turn four on the opening lap and was collected by 611 Jamie resulting in a red flag and a complete re-run without the two affected drivers.  38 Reagan Panton won this race from pole, but the more experienced drivers made better progress from the back as their track knowledge accumulated.  888 Alfie Tomlinson made it from the back of the Superstars to third place.  All 11 cars repaired for the Final which ran well until lap 15 when 85 Ben White span on turn two and was collected by Panton bringing out the waved yellows.  The last few laps saw no major changes of position with Jamie Hanson winning from pole but 885 Dave Tomlinson and 471 Alaster Houghton both working hard from the back to pick off cars and finish in second and third respectively.

Old Skool Superstox

The Old Skool Superstox were the most ‘out of area’ of all of the formulas and just four of them made the journey.  However, the four drivers in attendance really did make the best of the situation and produced three close races with lots of changes of positions and none of the cars ever getting too far ahead of the rest of the pack.  Heat wins went to 298 Christopher Butler and 443 Steve Monk with the top three in the Final being 66 Colin Fuller, 546 Matthew Gray and Monk.