Tullyroan Challenge Cup Wins for Hughes & Jones

Antrim driver Conor Hughes and Hampshire youngster Jack Jones were both Tullyroan Challenge Cup winners at Sunday’s Tullyroan Oval race meeting, in the 2,0 Hot Rods and Ninja Karts respectively. Other feature race wins at the Coronation weekend meeting were Aghalee’s Chris Hamill (1300 Stock Cars), Birches driver Steven Haugh (Superstox) and Portadown star (Lightning Rods).

Denver Grattan was victorious in the opening qualifying heat of the 2.0 Hot Rods, the Banbridge driver showing excellent pace to lead home Conor Hughes and Ryan McCrory. With the grid reversed for heat two, it was World Champion Jordan Rochford who took the win, but only after first over the line Allen Cherry was docked 2 places for an over robust defence of his lead spot.
Consistency across the heats saw Drew McKeown and Hughes share the front row for the Tullyroan Challenge Cup final, and it was Hughes who got the jump when the green flag dropped. As Conor controlled the race to take a clear win, Grattan nipped past McKeown to take the runner up spot ahead of McKeown, Adam Best and Rochford.

A number of visiting Ninja Kart drivers joined the locals for their Tullyoan Challenge Cup, with Jaxon Cairns and Kori Curran having spells at the head of heat one. England’s Jack Jones surged into the lead late on to take the win over Curran and Keegan Turtle. There was late drama in heat two, with another English driver, Mason Carberry, taking the victory over Curran and Scotland’s Katie-Lee Smart.
The final turned out to be a cracker, with the destination of the trophy boiling down to a frantic last lap between a whole host of the top runners. As they came to the final bend they were confronted with a recovering backmarker. Some went inside, some outside, and there was a superb drag race to the line. Hampshire lad Jones just got the verdict by 0.06 of a second, ahead of Carberry, Riley Dawson-Stirling and Charlie Weston at the end of a superb day of racing from the primary school kids.

Some of the best racing of the day came from the all-action 1300 Stock Cars, with Michael Logan taking his aged Toyota Starlet to the heat one win ahead of Ryan Stewart and Chris Hamill. In heat two Hamill blew an engine late on, coating the track in oil and causing a multiple car shunt which saw Fionn Donnelly rolling onto his roof. At the resumption, Stewart took the win over Irish Champion Jonathan Brown and Josh McKinstry.
The final saw Hamill make the grid after a frantic engine change from his team. An action packed affair saw the bumpers being put to good use, and sensationally it was Hamill who made all the hard work worthwhile by charging through to take the victory and the silverware. Ivan Elliott and Matthew Milliken filled the podium places.

Top Scottish ace Dean Johnston joined the local drivers on the Superstox grid, as Gerard Hartley led the opening heat before being demoted late on by Curtis Greer. Curtis unfortunately was later docked a number of places for starting in the wrong grid position, which handed the win to Craig McConnell over Hartley and World title holder Kyle Beattie. Heat two saw Dungannon’s David McMenemy take the win over Jordan Robinson and McConnell.
The final saw Conor Murphy build a healthy lead early on, but he soon had the leading star men hunting him down. First to show was Irish Champion Steven Haugh, who burst through to take the win in some style over Murphy, McConnell and Johnston.

Strabane’s James McKinney took the opening Lightning Rods heat ahead of Nigel Jackson and Mark McCambridge, before Gerry Rogers held on for the heat two win. A delighted Gerry enjoyed his lap of honour for what was his first ever win, having been a stalwart of the formula for many years.
Rogers again went ahead in the final, being challenged initially by McCambridge. Mark went ahead with Dean Catherwood in tow, before Jackson produced one of his expert outside line runs to surge alongside and past to the lead. Nigel rounded out the distance to take his fourth feature race win (including a European Championship triumph at Tipperary) in as many weeks. McCambridge and Mark Corry filled out the top three.

Completing the programme were a trio of demo runs from Anthony Morgan's Classic Hot Rod and the National Hot Rods of Derek McMillan and Sean Dynes.