The Thunder Rods made their first trip of the season to Tullyroan Oval to contest the Tullyroan Challenge Cup, with the usual graded order start dispensed with in favour of the reversed grid qualifying system. Dean Catherwood pulled clear from the front of the opener to take the victory over Samuel Murphy and Norman Purdy, before the second heat fell to David Wilson over Irish Champion James Goldie and Adam Graham.
Wilson and Purdy annexed the front row of the grid for the final on aggregate points from the heats, and Wilson quickly took charge from pole position. The Cullybackey man comfortably kept the challengers at bay to race home to victory over Catherwood and Goldie, with Chris Baird catching the eye with a steady drive to fourth.

Like every other formula on the night, the Lightning Rods also gridded a full field of cars, with Portadown’s Dylan McCann taking the opening heat win ahead of Neil Capper and Dermot Tynan. Capper went one better in heat two to take a great win having just returned to the formula, with Mark McCambridge showing great pace to land second ahead of Martin O’Flaherty.
Peter Wehrly set the pace in the final early on before losing out to McCann, who really did look to have the bit between his teeth once again. Dylan quickly moved ahead, but with Capper and now O’Flaherty tracking his every move. The gap between the front runners ebbed and flowed for many laps, with Capper losing out just as it looked like he was about to mount a challenge for the lead. World Champion Nigel Jackson and the star men arrived on the scene too to set up a great finish, but McCann had enough in hand to take the win in some style to complete his double and earn an upgrading for the next meeting. Capper completed his great night in second, with O’Flaherty, Ricky Shaw and Jackson completing the top five.

With welcome Scottish visitor Declan Dixon on the grid, it was Ballymena’s Aaron Ward who showed great speed in the opening Junior Productions heat to take the win over Lexi Crooks and Sam Percy. Heat two followed a similar pattern, with Ward again passing early leader Andrew Woods to take the win over Woods and Crooks.
The final saw Ward upgraded back to the blue grade, allowing Woods to stretch clear out front from the off. Declan O’Connor stepped forward to challenge for the win, but then Percy arrived on the scene and effortlessly pulled himself right around the outside to take the lead and the win, in a drive that even his senior counterparts would have been proud of. O’Connor, Woods, Crooks and Chelsy Rainey rounded out the places.

A great field of 22 Superstox enjoyed their first Aghadowey outing of the year, with a caution period playing into the hands of British Champion Lee Davison in the first heat as he took the win over Kyle Beattie and Ethan Dilly. The second encounter was action packed too, as a number of cars clashed right as the off and Keith McAreavey was very lucky not to roll. There was more drama shortly after with Graham Meek in the wall, as once again Davison powered home to land the victory, this time over Jordan Robinson and Dilly.
Having impressed in the heats, Dilly went clear in the final as Davison’s hat-trick bid faltered when mechanical issues slowed him for a lap or so. Steven Haugh was the man on a mission, moving forward at a fast rate of knots to chase down Dilly as they entered the closing stages. In a grandstand finish, Haugh went in with the bumper on the final bend to dislodge Dilly from the lead and grab the win in sensational style. Ethan had to settle for second spot, ahead of David Beattie and Davison.

A number of English and Scottish challengers joined the Ninja Karts for their King of Aghadowey, with Ben Hawe leading heat one until Irish Champion Leyton Hughes soared past to win ahead of England’s Jake Ashby and Scottish ace Hamish Plenderleith. Hawe and Charlie Johnston disputed the lead in heat two, but again it was Hughes who powered ahead to take the win over Wilson and Caolan Fegan.
The final paired Hughes and Ashby on the front row, with Leyton moving clear of another English star in Murray Hall. Hughes hesitated when a backmarker spun ahead of him, allowing Hall to nip ahead before the caution flags came out. As Hall led them back into battle at the restart, Hughes found a way past and completed his hat-trick after a fantastic performance. Hall took a well deserved second, with Plenderleith third. The ‘Cars Bought 24/7’ sponsored grade awards fell to Hughes, Ryan Berry, Hawe and Ronan Ward, with the sponsors also giving all the kids that competed a momento, sweets and ice cream!

A packed grid of Thunder Rods was always going to produce action galore, with the Race Stewards kept busy all evening handing out a raft of penalties. There was a morale boosting flag to flag win for Ryan Fleming in the opening heat, with Josh Young and Graham Loughlin chasing him home. Young went one better in heat two to take the chequered flag over Brendan Doherty and Loughlin, before the Limavady lad made it a double for the evening by taking the feature race final as well in his Peugeot. Doherty and Loughlin were the placement once again behind Josh, with Irish Champion James Goldie the first of the star graders home in fourth.

Donegal’s Trevor McConnell led a packed field of 25 2.0 Hot Rods into battle for heat one, before he lost out to a squabbling Jordan McCann and Johnny McCloy. McCann took the flag and survived a lengthy Stewards Enquiry before getting to keep the win, with Michael Woods and Curtis Greer filling the places once a number of penalties had been handed down. The second heat saw heartbreak for Gary Grattan as he looked all set to claim his maiden win in the formula, only for his car to mysteriously cut out with just two laps to go. That gifted the lead, and the win, to McCloy over Greer and McCann.
The final, the opening round of the Hoosier Racing Tyres Series, saw McCann set the early pace in what turned out to be a thrilling race. He was challenged hard from behind by the pack, until Greer got right alongside him into the Brown Trout Bend. As the lead duo drifted wide, Antrim’s Stephen Emerson grabbed the opportunity and nipped underneath them both to take the lead, the win and the new Hoosier race tyre courtesy of the series sponsors. Greer, Ryan McCrory, Adam Heatrick and Drew McKeown completed the top finishers in a fantastic event.

The reversed grid qualifying system was in operation for the Lightning Rods King of Aghadowey, with Stuart Agnew pulling well clear to take the opening heat over Vince Litter and Ricky Shaw. Former World Champion Gordy McKee hit the front early in heat two, before Mark McCambridge powered past to take the win over current World title holder Nigel Jackson and Aaron Stewart.
Jackson had qualified on pole position on aggregate points, which looked very ominous for the rest of the field. The Portadown based World Champion then produced a masterclass to leave the rest trailing in his wake to land the King of Aghadowey crown. Aaron Stewart and his cousin Richard Stewart completed the podium, the latter having the best result so far for his new BMW.

The young aces in the Junior Productions were competing for The Young Trophy, presented each year at Aghadowey for many years now by the Young and Hosie families. Ballymena’s Aaron Ward took the opening heat in some style after edging past leader Andrew Woods around the outside. Heat two had plenty of talking points, with Alexander McCreadie the early leader until he tangled with Sam Percy, with Jack Morrow also getting involved too in the mix. Morrow emerged from the back straight chaos to land the win over Stewart Hanna and Chelsy Rainey.
The final saw Ward and Morrow share the front row, although the unfortunate Ward went out early on with a puncture. Morrow pulled clear to record a fine win and claim the fantastic Young Trophy, with Rainey just getting the better of Percy for second. Declan O’Connor claimed the best white/yellow grade award, whilst the Merit Award went to the welcome Scottish visitor Declan Dixon.