1960's » 1967 COWDENBEATH / CARNTYNE

Cowdenbeath / Carntyne Records

COWDENBEATH RECORDS 1967 6.pdf  (126kB)

1967

F2 Drivers

115 Cars

No Name     Name   No Name  
1 Tiger Thompson   52 N/A   110 Alex Kerr  
2 Stan Thompson   53 Lewis Kane   117 N/A  
3 Jimmy Reid   54 John Birnie   118 Stanley Williamson  
4 Bill Mcleod   56 Fuzz Turner   119 Alan Neilson  
5 George MacMillan   57 James Gordon   121 Kenneth Kerr  
6 Walter Brown   58 Tommy Halpin   123 John Duncan  
7 George McLean   61 Vic Connors   124 Dougie McMurdo  
8 Peter Cuthbertson   62 Ian Sinclair   128 George Findlay  
9 Peter Dent   63 David Sutherland   138 Charles Williamson  
11 Bill Williamson   64 Chico Douglas   141 John McMenamin  
12 Kenneth Cooper   65 Phillip Brady   143 Gordon Somerville  
13 Willie Kilgour   66 William Morrow   144 Robert Davie  
14 Billy Mathieson   67 Dick Ritchie   145 Ron Anderson  
17 Tom Conner   68 Clark Thomas   146 George Elder  
18 N/A   69 N/A   148 Jim Easton  
19 Tom Cunningham   74 Bob McFarlane   149 Scott Cramb  
21 Sam Ellis   75 John Braid   150 N/A  
22 James Williams   76 Thomas Cairns   151 Neil Stevenson  
24 William Duncan   77 Norman McCorquodale   152 Bob Stuart  
25 Gavin Paterson   81 Bill Pullar   153 Bill Stuart  
26 Colin Morris Jnr.   82 Bruce Davidson   154 John Kerr  
27 Chips Rafferty   83 Doug Boyd   159 Roy Findlay  
28 James Mullen   85 Sam Page   160 Rowdy Yates  
29 Chas Miller   86 Bernard Hunter   162 Ian Thompson  
31 Tennant Douglas   87 John Kerr   164 Robert Begg  
32 Frank Little   89 Jim Ballantyne   166 Jimmy Kerr  
34 N/A   91 Thomas Gray   167 Sid Kennedy  
36 Billy McCourt   92 Ian Graham   169 N/A  
37 Derek Cowan   94 Vic Russell   173 Thomas Meikle  
38 N/A   95 Ronald MacGregor   176 Ronald Crighton  
39 Les Clark   96 John Melvin   407 Frank Horner  
41 Gordon McDougall   97 Hilbert Geurts   600 Henry Horner  
42 Mid Bruce   98 Bill Thirkell   601 John Nicolson  
43 Tammy Elder   100 Les Page   605 Fred Waite  
44 Tom Blackwood   102 Robert Graham    631 Maureen Waite   
45 Jo Gordon   104 Thomas Campbell        
46 Tony Rodwell   105 N/A        
49 Ronald Murray   107 Malcolm Paterson        
50 Peter Curran   109 John Melville        

F2 Stock Cars - 1967 Points Chart

Pos No Name Points
1 85 Sam Page 382
2 5 George MacMillan 330
3 6 Walter Brown 329
4 9 Peter Dent 294
5 31 Tennant Douglas 277
6 107 Malcolm Paterson 269
7 145 Ronnie Anderson 201
8 94 Vic Russell 185
9 76 Thomas Cairns 184
11 4 Bill Mcleod 166
12 92 Ian Graham 160
13 86 Bernard Hunter 151
14 128 George Findlay 148
17 41 Gordon McDougall 141
18 2 Stan Thompson 136
19 25 Gavin Paterson 130
21 148 Jim Easton 100
22 109 John Melville 99
24 166 Jimmy Kerr 90
25 61 Vic Connors 88
26 97 Hilbert Geurts 82
27 11 Bill Williamson 75
28 39 Les Clark 69
29 1 Tiger Thompson 63
31 100 Les Page 63
32 27 Chips Rafferty 58
34 81 Bill Pullar 53
36 151 Neil Stevenson 47
37 45 Jo Gordon 44
38 67 Dick Ritchie 41
39 44 Tom Blackwood 40
41 164 Robert Begg 39
42 119 Alan Neilson 37
43 62 Ian Sinclair 36
44 37 Derek Cowan 34
45 57 James Gordon 33
46 118 Stanley Williamson 33
49  631 Maureen Waite  31
         

 

British Championship - Ipswich   European Championship - Hengelo
16th July   30th July
1st E304 Derek Fiske   1st E364 Tony May
2nd E417 Roger Warnes   2nd E68 Trevor Frost
3rd E399 Chris Studd   3rd E95 Jan Scott
4th E68 Trevor Frost   4th E182 Rod Tanswell
5th E320 Dave Pierce   5th E282 Roger Browne
6th   Roy Gladwyn   6th E294 Geoff Goddard
7th E294 Geoff Goddard   7th   N/A
8th E267 Graham North   8th   N/A

 

 

 

East of Scotland - 30th July   West of Scotland - Carntyne - 4th August
1st 85 Sam Page   1st 107 Malcolm Paterson
2nd 9 Peter Dent   2nd 85 Sam Page
3rd 6 Walter Brown   3rd 31 Tennant Douglas
4th 11 Bill Williamson   4th 9 Peter Dent
5th 76 Tommy Cairns   5th 151 Neil Stevenson
6th 92 Ian Graham   6th 92 Ian Graham
7th   N/A   7th   N/A
8th   N/A   8th   N/A
             

 

Scottish Championship - 27th August   UK Challenge Cup - 24th September
1st 5 George MacMillan   1st E364 Tony May
2nd 100 Les Page   2nd 76 Tommy Cairns
3rd 86 Bernard Hunter   3rd E384 Ken Mussell
4th 76 Tommy Cairns   4th E295 Alan Freebody
5th 49 Ronald Murray   5th   NOF
6th 128 George Findlay   6th   NOF
7th   N/A   7th   NOF
8th   N/A   8th   NOF
             

World Championship - Wimbledon Cock O The North  
16th September 16th October
1st E531 Todd Sweeney 1st 41 Gordon McDougall
2nd E320 Dave Pierce 2nd 6 Walter Brown
3rd E463 Del Sticking 3rd 3 Jimmy Reid
4th E278 Alan Taylor 4th 5 George MacMillan
5th E35 Trevor Carpenter 5th 4 Bill Mcleod
6th E294 Geoff Goddard 6th 9 Peter Dent
7th E304 Derek Fiske 7th    
8th E267 Graham North 8th    

********** 

The 1967 season commenced on the 26th March, over 60 drivers were booked in. We were informed that over 50 new drivers had been added to the ranks.
Over 200 were said to be ready to race. However only 100 were ever listed in the programmes during the season. There were a planned 42 fixtures to be delivered at Cowdenbeath & Carntyne.
Many new cars had been constructed over the close season in fact Tennant Douglas had built no less than nine chassis for himself and other drivers since the end of the 1966 battle. Reigning points champion Walter Brown had built a new car to defend his crown. The National Coal Board Film Unit had been doing some filming of Walter Brown during the close season. Producing a profile of Walter and his Stock Car Racing hobby.
The NCB film shorts were often screened in cinemas as an addition to the feature. The film was eventually  screened in 1967, it is entitled "Track Rod" it is number 20/10 (20th Year Film No 10) in the Mining Review Archive. I have never seen this film but I understand it is available for viewing in certain libraries, colleges & universities on the "BFI Screenonline". Incidentally the NCB Film Unit was created in 1946 & produced over 900 films, it was shut down by Margaret Thatcher in 1984.

Gordon McDougall had spent a lengthy term in hospital over the winter. Tiger Thomson had decided to retire after sustaining a number of injuries in accidents during 1966, the worst when he was badly burned during the British Championship at Ipswich, putting him out for the remainder of the season. He was taking up the position at the track as Chief Scrutineer.
Roy Cecil had stated that he would not re-issue the famous No 1 to any new or other driver in case Tiger changed his mind and decided to return.
Roy was true to his word, in fact Spedeworth Scotland under the Cecil family tenure never re-issued the number one to any other driver.


5 George MacMillan, 31 Tennant Douglas, 75 John Braid, (605 Fred Waite upside down) (knockhillimages.smugmug.com)

MARCH
Many of the meetings in the early years had trophy awards for the Finals. The first meeting of the year was designated "The Easter Trophy" and was won by Tennant Douglas.
A good crowd of 5000 spectators endured some horrendous conditions to attend. A snow storm engulfed the track an hour before the start. Vic Connors driving the ex Ian McLelland car (Ian was a trail blazer as far as Stock Car design and engineering in Scotland was concerned) was going extremely well in the first race until the fence beckoned. This left Ronnie McGregor with a big lead, going on to be the first race winner of 1967. There were only 7 finishers! In the 2nd heat
Peter Dent showed no sign of rustiness after his year off, zipping off to an early lead & never looking back, Malcolm Paterson made a big effort to close the gap - in the end there was too much ground to be made up. Bernard Hunter made it one place better in the 3rd heat when first heat winner Ronnie McGregor spun out. This race was significant in that it also witnessed Malcolm Paterson's first roll over of his stock car career & it was a pretty spectacular one at that. He received a fair amount of ribbing in the pits afterwards. Along the lines of "you can call yourself a proper stock car driver now". The 4th heat was a fairly straightforward win for Tennant Douglas. The Final ended up a bit of a fizzer when many of the front runners took themselves out on the 5th lap. Tennant Douglas was left with one of the easiest of wins. He  was followed home by Ian Graham & George MacMillan


5 George MacMillan, 14 Billy Mathieson, 109 John Melville, 128 George Findlay. (knockhillimages.smugmug.com)

APRIL
The opening meeting in April was for the "Helldrivers" Trophy. The sun was also shining! - For the Parade Lap! - Then it started to pour with rain! The 4 heats were spread around Tennant Douglas captured the first, Bernard Hunter won the 2nd (long time supporter & sponsor of Stock Car Racing in Scotland), Walter Brown the 3rd & Peter Dent the 4th. Peter had a year off in 1966, though he did fill in with some commentating at the track. I'm pretty sure Peter was one of the original Stock Car Formula One drivers from the 50's and certainly featured in the Formula Two's at White City. Anyway Peter cemented his return to the track, taking full advantage of his white roof grading by also taking the win in the Final from Sam Page.

Peter also went on to win the Final the "Bridges Cup" the following week. Bill McLeod had made a supreme effort to close the gap to Peter but ran out of laps.
Peter had also won both of his heats. The other heat winners being Sam Page & Bill McLeod.

There was an entirely bizarre comment in the programme for the "Silver Rose Bowl" on the 16th April where it was disclosed that "Happy" Sam Page had been invited to compete in BEIRUT in the LEBANON in June!! I understand English driver Trevor Frost made a trip to Beirut for the month of April to assist in the introduction of Stock Cars to that country. Les & Mavis Eaton were also present at the opening meeting so there must have been some Spedeworth International involvement. It was planned that an International meeting would be held in the Lebanon later in the year including competitors from the UK. The Lebanese Champion would take part in the World Championship at Wimbledon.
This week was Peter Dent's last week as a white top in the current spell & was again well rewarded with two heat wins and a Final 2nd. Vic Connors went one step better than Peter though with two heat wins & the Silver Rose Bowl, his ex Ian McLelland car going extremely well. George MacMillan had thought he had won (he was in fact a lap down according to the lap scorers). The Starting Marshall up until this point had been directing the race from ground level. The misunderstanding in race position was attributed to this. Roy Cecil stated that from now on the Starting Marshall would administer the race from a raised platform.

For the "Stewards Cup" meeting on the 23rd, the drivers were competing with their new roof gradings. Peter Dent headed the chart on 97 points, the other Red Roofs were:- Tennant Douglas 55 points, George MacMillan 48 points, Malcolm Paterson 48 points, George Findlay 44 points, Jim Easton 42 points, Sam Page 40 points, Bernard Hunter 38 points, Bill McLeod 33 points & Ian Graham 33 points. 38 drivers scored points in the period. Peter's upgrading to red didn't hold him back too much, in fact he won the first race. Tennant Douglas & Hilbert Geurts were other heat winners.
However top performer in the meeting was Walter Brown with a heat win, (after a close battle with Ronnie Anderson which was only resolved right on the finishing line) & the "Stewards Cup" Final.


Stewards Cup winner Walter Brown (knockillimages.smugmug.com)

Last get together on the last day of April was for the "Cowdenbeath Cup". What a meeting for Hilbert Guerts (known as The Flying Dutchman - of course), winner of both of his heats from Tennant Douglas & Peter Dent respectively and then the Final with Sam Page the runner up (also after a heat win) & Bill McLeod 3rd. Ronnie Anderson being the other heat winner.

Of course the crowd love to see a white top winner, all the better when in this case Sam Page had battled from the rear of the field, got through to 2nd & then exonerably closed the gap but just ran out of laps.


Tommy Cairns winner in May - not in this one though!

May

At the start of May the top ten points scorers were:-

Peter Dent - 124 points, Tennant Douglas - 76 points, Walter Brown - 70 points, Sam Page - 67 points, George MacMillan - 64 points, Jim Easton 59 points, George Findlay - 57 points, Malcolm Paterson - 54 points, Bill McLeod 53 points & Tommy Cairns - 49 points.

Efforts were continuing to try & get the first meeting of the season at Spedeworth Scotland's other venue at Carntyne. It was originally hoped the opening meeting would be on 6th April, however severe gales had resulted in a substantial amount of damage which was taking an age to repair. The promoters were targeting an opening late June / early July.

The "All Stars" Trophy commenced the months festivities at Cowdenbeath. A pair of wins each for Vic Russell & Walter Brown in the heats did nothing for either driver in the Final though, Gordon McDougall stepped up for his first of the season, for the 2nd week in a row Sam Page was runner up.

14th May & the battle was for the "Daredevil's Trophy". A representative from Grampian TV, Mr Edward George was present to view proceeding for possible inclusion of Stock Car Racing in their "Sport-Scope" programme. Regrettably the timing was not the best and the meeting was very wet. The track surface was still shale at this time & when very wet - well you have to be a very keen supporter to enjoy!
This meeting had a welcome visit from a certain Englishman Mr Frank Horner, racing number at that time 407. Frank of course would become a mainstay at Newtongrange some 14 years later! In fact he was looking like a winner in the first heat until he crashed into Ian Sinclair.
 


Roll Cage What Roll Cage! (knockhillimages.smugmug.com)

Four different winners in the heats, Walter Brown, Sam Page, Tommy Cairns & Stan Thomson. Though Frank Horner again went out into an early lead in the Final until crashing out. It was 19 year old Stan Thomson who was the stand out performer in the very wet Trophy race, eventually winning by half a lap from Tommy Cairns & Ronnie Anderson. Interestingly this was Stan's first Trophy win in Scotland. I understand though he had won a Trophy race in England. He had been in tremendous form of late with a heat win & four 2nd places.


Peter Dent a great start to th 1967 season, Bill Pullar comes a cropper in this one though (knockillimages.smugmug.com)

For the next meeting in May (the first for some time without any trophy). New roof gradings were in place, the top points scorers for the month were Walter Brown 82 points, Stan Thomson 63 points, Stan Page 61 points, Ronnie Anderson 53 points, & George Findlay 49 points.
The overall tally still had Peter Dent in the lead with 145 points a long way in front of Walter Brown on 105 points, Sam Page 101, George Findlay 93, George MacMillan 87, Tennant Douglas 87, Stan Thomson 80, Malcolm Paterson 69, Tommy Cairns 68 & Bill McLeod the last red top 66 points.

Some more work had been done to the track in the previous week laying more hardcore sub-base in an effort to help the drainage and eliminate the quagmires. Four differing winners in the heats Ian Graham (first win of the season), Peter Dent, Gordon McDougall, & Vic Russell.
Novice Les Page (brother of Sam) was the star of the Final. Les had only been competing for a couple of months and he scored points for the first time in both his heats. Les went out like a bat out of hell, various drivers did close the gap and then managed for one reason or another to fall by the wayside. It was Walter Brown who eventually made it through to 2nd and he set about closing down Les. The Cowdie crowd really came alive, "Look Out" we could have an upset as Les held out Walter lap after lap, then disaster as Les's engine blew on the 2nd last lap!
Walter graciously excepted the gift and he was followed over the line by Dick Ritchie & Tommy Cairns.

The dreaded "Team Racing" West of Scotland V East of Scotland was on the bill for the last get together in May. Ironically in view of the extra track work just carried out to allow better drainage the meeting on the 28th May was cancelled due to severe flooding!


Ex European F2 Champion (4) Bill McLeod, (6) Walter Brown, (92) Ian Graham

June
As a result of the visit from the Grampian TV representative in May the cameras were present for the first meeting in June. Excerpts to be transmitted on the "Sport-Scope" on June 9th. Sadly no video recorders in those days! Unfortunately due to the cancellation of the the previous meeting, that meant the cameras were televising the "Team Racing". The thing about the "Team Racing" is, if it was any good it would be on the bill more often.
Anyway 30 cars were in the first heat (not part of the "Team Racing" programme), so some action would have been extracted from that one. Gordon McDougall was the victor.  There were 22 cars in the 2nd non-team racing heat resulting in a win for Dougie McMurdo.
 


West Captain Tiger Thomson

On to the team racing, 20 cars in heat 1 and a win to the returning Tiger Thomson representing the West, his first race of the season. Another "westerner" was 2nd in the form of Gavin Paterson. This all helped the West take a 21 - 15 points lead after the first heat. The 2nd heat however saw the East take the first five spots Peter Dent followed by Sam Page for a 24 - 12 points win. The overall result then 39 - 33 points to the East. The main race of the day, the Final saw the East's Captain Sam Page take a comfortable victory in the end after a stoppage when Tommy Cairns had been knocked unconscious.

11th June the "Laurels" were up for grabs. 5000 fans were in attendance. Johnnie Melville won his first ever race taking the first heat, Malcolm Paterson made a return to the top after being absent for a couple of weeks by taking the 2nd & the 4th. Ronnie Anderson was the other heat winner. What a Final the "Laurels" turned out to be. Tiger Thomson was in the lead for 16 of the 25 laps. Sam Page muscled his way through to the lead only then to spin out. Ronnie Anderson then moved through - Tiger was closing back in though. Both cars then got jammed together and rolled into the fence. Malcom Paterson then made no mistakes to take his 3rd race win of the day. A huge amount of dust was created during the racing, it was hard to believe so many meetings during the season had been mud baths. In fact it was so bad that a water cart had been engaged for duties at future meetings.

The "Chequered Flag" Trophy on the 18th June. Two drivers were in top form, Scottish Champion Sam Page and ex European F2 Champion Bill McLeod. Sam won the 1st & 3rd heats. Johnny Melville the 2nd heat. Bill McLeod had the best return though with a heat and the Final.

At last the re-opening of Carntyne occurred on the 23rd June. In the end the reason given in the programme was "circumstances beyond our control". Tiger Thomson was looking forward to this meeting, being something of a track specialist, in fact he had won both of his heats & Final at the opening meeting last season. The meeting was a qualifying round for the British Championship at Ipswich on the 16th July.
The first 3 spots in the Final would qualify. Another 3 drivers would qualify from the Cowdenbeath round on the 2nd July.

It would be fair to say that quite a few of the drivers struggled on the tarmac surface. In fact a large number of them were racing on asphalt for the first time.
Differing drivers shared the heats Hilbert Guerts, Gordon McDougall, Gavin Patterson, & Malcolm Paterson, Malcolm then went on to collect the Final.

The crowd was only described as "fair", in meeting reports, on journalist put it as "it was a pity more Glaswegians did not take the opportunity of seeing the most exciting sport in the world!"

The final meeting in June the "Golden Award" Trophy on the 25th. The car numbers were down a bit at this get together which made the racing a bit tamer.
 

The wins were all captured by established greats, Sam Page, George MacMillan, Walter Brown & lastly Tennant Douglas heat & Final. It was Sam that top scored at this meeting though & it was at this meeting that Sam overtook Peter Dent in the points chase. Peter had experienced a very lean spell of late having written off his car a couple of weeks ago requiring the construction of a new one.

July
Last meeting before the holiday break was on the 2nd of July & it was the Cowdenbeath British championship qualifying round. The first item of interest in this metting was that the first 5 finishers in heats one & three were exactly the same, in the same order! Walter Brown was the victor. Ian Thompson got his first win in heat two & Sam Page collected the other.

The Final was a cracker, Chips Rafferty was the early leader (he often was), Ronnie Anderson however got by on lap 6. Walter Brown & Sam Page closed up to Ronnie. The three were nose to tail & the Cowdenbeath crowd were vocal in their encouragement. Page got by Brown & dived for the lead with 2 to go. Disaster the cars locked together, it looked as though Walter would be the beneficiary, but no! team racing took over & the Anderson / Page team kept their feet to the boards & they crossed the finish line ahead of Walter. The crowd were ecstatic in their approval for the first three.


The major meeting during the holiday break was the British Championship - Ipswich - July 16th. The result of which was 1st Derek Fiske, 2nd Roger Warnes, 3rd Chris Studd, 4th Trevor Frost, 5th Dave Pierce, 6th Roy Gladwyn, 7th Geoff Goddard, 8th Graham North.
The European Championship also took place at Hengelo, Holland, on the same day as the resumption of racing in Scotland on  July 30th. The result of which of this race was 1st Tony May, 2nd Trevor Frost, 3rd Jan Scott 4th Rod Tanswell, 5th Roger Browne. There were no Scottish entrants for this meeting.


The headliner on the 30th July was the "East of Scotland Championship" the first of the "majors" in Scotland for the year and it delivers with a huge entry of cars & huge crowd. The weather however was crap! Sam Page secured the first & third heats in a couple of thrillers, in close battles with Walter Brown.
Heat 2 was quite bizarre Tiger Thomson was half a lap in the lead when he crashed into son Stan while in the process of lapping him. Malcolm Paterson took advantage of the spill and shot through for the win. Ronnie Anderson won the last heat at a canter. It looked as though Gordon McDougall may have been on route to retaining his title when he opened up a substantial gap on the others when he was forced out with mechanical maladies. Sam Page pushed his way through to the front and started opening up some clear air. The chasers slowed each other up and Sam was almost a lap in front at the end. Peter Dent was victorious in his battle with Walter brown for the runner up position.

August
In an unfortunate piece of scheduling the second major the "West of Scotland Championship" was up for grabs at Carntyne only 4 days later.
A fairly decent crowd turned out for this event. It makes you wonder if the racing at Carntyne could not have been given a bit more time.
In the end poor crowds were given as the reason for abandoning the venue. But this meeting did show what was possible. It may well have been that Carntyne in the end was a victim of the success of Cowdenbeath. How much effort do you put in for such a small return in comparison with what was available at Cowdenbeath?
Hilbert Guerts again demonstrated his liking for the Carntyne tarmac by winning very well in the 1st race from Malcolm Paterson. Chips Rafferty collected the 2nd, regular English visitor Fred Waite the runner up on this occasion. George MacMillan it was in the 3rd with Malcolm Paterson again relegated to 2nd spot. The last heat produced yet another different winner Gordon McDougall a long way in front of Neil Stevenson.
Malcolm Paterson had always shown a great turn of speed at Carntyne and so it was in the title race. He got through to the front and opened up a substantial lead. The chasing terriers of Sam Page, Peter Dent & Tennant Douglas started to close him down. It was a tense conclusion Malcolm kept his lead by the slimmest of margins from Sam Page, Tennant Douglas & Peter Dent.

The meeting on the 6th August was again one of the few with no trophy / title to race for. Proceedings commenced with a first heat where numerous drivers occupied the leading slot until Vic Russell assumed this position and did not surrender it, though he did clash with Ronnie Anderson on his way to the chequer, sending Ronnie into a multiple roll. Tennant Douglas was victorious in the 2nd,  another great race with numerous spills. Bill Williamson resolved to drive straight into the fence in the 3rd heat, when he was a mile ahead of the rest with not a soul around him. Ronnie Anderson took advantage, obviously both him and his car no worse following his tumble in the first heat. Only 5 cars completed the distance. A huge pile up right at the start of the last heat put paid to a number of runners. Tennant Douglas held off Sam Page & Peter Dent in a close one. Newly married regular English visitior Maureen Waite led the first 3rd of the Final. Vic Russell took over until a clash of those contesting the lead saw Malcolm Paterson again force his way to the front. Yet another Final win then to the young Malcolm.
I think it is fair to say that 1967 witnessed the emergence of the magnificent Malcolm Paterson. Notwithstanding that he had won the UK Challenge Cup in 1966, but in 1967 it became apparent something special was on view. In particular at this point in the 1967 season when Malcolm wasn't winning he was always there or thereabout.

13th August and it was the "Fife Trophy" that was up for contention. This was the start of a new gradings period. Sam Page (the current holder of the Fife trophy had opened up a bit of a gap at the top of the chart now & current points champion Walter Brown had moved past Peter Dent into 2nd spot. The first three totals were 270, 241 & 217. The other red tops were George MacMillan 187, Malcolm Paterson 183, Tennant Douglas 162, Ronnie Anderson (first time as a red top) 148, Bill McLeod 139, Stan Thomson 122, George Findlay 116 & Ian Graham 92.
White top Derek Cowan made a great fist of the first heat holding on to the lead until right at the end when Vic Russell & Ronnie Anderson caught him. Ronnie knocked him wide to take the win & Derek collected a well deserved 2nd. It was blue top Bernard Hunter who made much of the running in the 2nd. Engine issues however scuppered Bernard's chances. Tennant Douglas & Sam Page fought it out for the win with Tennant ultimately taking the spoils. Derek Cowan again was brilliant in the 2nd and would definitely have won but for car failure. It finished up as another win for Ronnie Anderson.
The Cowdie quagmire returned for the last heat. Malcolm Paterson's car just didn't seemed suited to the field ploughing duties. Pressure from Sam Page resulted in Malcolm doing a 360. Tennant Douglas also slipped through for 2nd, Malcolm did well to recover for 3rd.
The Final developed into a ding dong battle between Peter Dent & Ronnie Anderson it was one of these classic Stock Car finishes where the leaders are belting each other out of the last corner and down the finishing straight. Peter held on for the win but was so out of control that he proceeded to career into the fence after the finishing line. Thankfully not injuring himself. In so doing remarkably Peter became the first driver to win 3 Finals at Cowdenbeath in 1967. Malcolm Paterson of course had won 4 finals though - 2 at Cowdenbeath & 2 at Carntyne.


Malcolm Paterson - Winner (knockhillimages.smugmug.com)

World Qualifying Round at Carntyne on the 18th August. As well as Malcolm Paterson, George MacMillan also went well at Carntyne, he took this first heat from Maureen Waite. Malcolm Paterson was dominant in the 2nd heat, Walter Brown taking the runner up spot. The 3rd race was a repeat of the first for the main protagonists with the same result George MacMillan just winning from Maureen Waite. Another close battle in the final heat between Walter Brown & Malcolm Paterson saw Walter just win out. The Final turned out as another win for Malcolm but it did take the full duration of the race for him to make his way through - 3 Finals in a row at Carntyne - very impressive. Jimmy Gordon was also very impressive picking up the runner up spot ahead of George MacMillan

So to the 20th August at Cowdenbeath and another trophy up for grabs, the Pit Marshall's Trophy presented by Willie Strang. This meeting was very much a warm up for next weeks big one the Scottish Championship. It was also a crowd warm up as 6000 fans came through the gates.
Sam Page was going great guns in the heats taking a couple of wins and staking a claim on retaining his title. Tiger Thomson & Walter Brown also picked up heat wins. The last race at last saw Vic Russell take a Final win. He battled throughout with Bernard Hunter and George MacMillan was 3rd across the line.


George MacMillan - Scottish Champion 1967 (knockhillimages.smugmug.com)

Scottish Championship day on the 27th August. It had been rumoured that one of Scotland's original Stock Car greats Ian McLelland (this going back to F1 Stock Car days as well as F2) However this did not eventuate and he was not among the 56 car field.
The format was 3 heats & a consolation & I believe 27 cars started the Championship race.
The results were heat 1 Vic Russell followed by Stan Thomson & Tom Blackwood. Heat 2 Tiger Thomson ahead of Bernard Hunter & Walter Brown.
Heat 3 Ronnie Anderson, Malcolm Paterson & Les Clark. Consolation Vic Connors, Les Page Alan Neilson.
I have 27 cars listed as starting the race, though the programme states only 20 cars qualified for the main event. The winner of the 1967 Scottish Championship was George MacMillan followed home by Les Page & Bernard Hunter. However how this race evolved warrants considerably more detail. Firstly the race included two English drivers Frank Horner & Fred Waite. So what? Well Spedeworth Scotland were very disparaging when the Newtongrange Promotion "Scottish Championships" included English competitors - selective memory perhaps. As it was Frank was out before the first lap was completed. Les Clark had made a return for the Scottish having been absent for a few months. He had drawn a brilliant grid spot and made the early running. Gordon McDougall then moved through, however Malcolm Paterson & Sam Page were threatening (Sam the reigning champion had sportingly chosen to start rear of field). Malcolm's car got hooked up with Sam, Walter Brown collided with them and ended up on his roof. Sam careered on with Malcolm's car swinging around like an out of control caravan on the back. Peter Dent & Chips Rafferty crashed and were knocked unconscious. Amazingly with race still underway, mechanics & "others" vaulted the safety fence and started to try and free the drivers.
The race was immediately stopped. Gordon McDougall had been half a lap in front at this point. The track was awash with mechanics & sundry helpers repairing damaged cars. Sam & Malcolm had severed their close arrangement. A very comical decision was then made and as they would say in Australia "You Wouldn't Read About It". Sam & Malcolm's car would have to be re-hooked together for the re-start. Sam & Malcolm obviously didn't think this was a very good or indeed sensible idea. How was this resolved?
Incredibly a "Driver's Committee meeting was held in the middle of the pitch - in the middle of the Scottish Championship! It was resolved that Malcolm & Sam could restart the race "parted" but at the rear of field. This is all pure theatre for the fans of course, you could say they were "very vocal!". It's why we keep coming back for more! So Scottish Championship (part 2) got underway. Could Gordon open up his big lead again?
White top Les Page had other ideas, he was right on Gordon's tail for the next few laps applying sustained pressure until Gordon ended up in the fence! George MacMillan skipped through as Les  was delayed in the fracas and held on despite Les's best efforts to get back in touch. Bernard Hunter took a well deserved 3rd.
Notwithstanding the circumstances of the race the Cowdie crowd could not have been more appreciative of George's efforts and he got a standing ovation at the flag and on his lap of honour. Great Stuff!


Malcolm Paterson, Ronnie Anderson & Jimmy Kerr (knockillimages.smugmug.com)

September
3rd September was a World Qualifying round at Cowdenbeath. Les Clark picked up a couple of heat wins, Bernard Hunter & Sam Page th other heats. Bernard again came up trumps in the Final, heading home Sam Page & Peter Dent. The Scottish qualifiers from the Cowdenbeath & Carntyne rounds were Peter Dent, Tennant Douglas, James Gordon, Tommy Cairns, Sam Page & Malcolm Paterson.


Walter Brown gets in a tangle with 145 Ronnie Anderson, 27 Chips Rafferty gets through (knockhillimages.smugmug.com)

So to the last meeting in Scotland prior to the World Championship break. The Tay Trophy, this meeting marked the start of the final grading period. The points chart was as follows:- in the lead - Sam Page 335, Walter Brown 291, Peter Dent 280, George MacMillan 256, Malcolm Paterson 237, Tennant Douglas 214, Ronnie Anderson 189, Tommy Cairns 151, George Findlay 142 & Bill McLeod 140.
Sam Page had a fantastic meeting, opening up the gap at the top of the chart by a substantial margin by taking both his heats and the Trophy Final. His main adversaries for the points championship Walter Brown managed a heat win & Peter Dent a heat 3rd & Final 5th.

World Championship - Wimbledon - September 16th. 1st Todd Sweeney, 2nd Dave Pierce, 3rd Del Sticking, 4th Alan Taylor, 5th Trevor Carpenter, 6th Geoff Goddard, 7th Derek Fiske, 8th Graham North.

The festivities returned to Cowdenbeath after the World Championship with another "major" the UK Challenge Cup on the 24th September. The weather was truly horrendous, in fact it was suggested that had it not been for the fact that the English drivers had made the long trip for this meeting it probably would have been cancelled.
Visiting drivers programmed to take part were World Champ Todd Sweeney, European Champ Tony May, Geoff Goddard, Alan Freebody, Ken Mussel & John Gray.
Format was 2 heats, UKCC, Consolation & the Final. I do not have much info on the meeting. I can say that Alan Neilson won the first heat, John Braid possibly the 2nd heat. The UKCC was a race of attrition where only 4 cars finished & 3 were English! Tony May won followed by Tommy Cairns then Ken Mussel & the final finisher Alan Freebody. In fact there were only 4 cars splashing through the water after the first lap! Odd cars rejoined & odd cars retired. The STV cameras were in attendance at the meeting to film sequences for a future edition of their Scotsport programme.

The final Stock Car meeting of the season at Carntyne, indeed the final meeting ever at Carntyne took place on 29th September. It is a great shame that Spedeworth Stock Car Racing left the West of Scotland never to return. The West kept Stock Car Racing alive in Scotland for a number of years.
Cowdenbeath was unusual in the UK, that it was able to sustain a Stock Car meeting every week for more than 30 weeks each year. It was and is difficult to establish another track (utilising the same drivers) if you are going to promote additional meetings as well as Cowdenbeath in the same week.
I leave the final word on this to Edinburgh Evening News journalist Ian Fraser who in his report on the 18th August meeting stated "This 3rd meeting of the year at Carntyne showed a considerable increase in the attendance and there is little doubt that this track could become one of the most popular stock car centres in the country"
The results then for this final meeting:- heat 1 Malcolm Paterson, Les Clark, Ian Graham. heat 2 Bill Pullar, Vic Connors, George MacMillan. Heat 3 Les Clark, Malcolm Paterson. Ian Graham. Heat 4 Bill Pullar, George MacMillan, Vic Connors. The final race the Carntyne Golden Award was a superb victory for George MacMillan just getting the better of Neil Stevenson, Jimmy Kerr collected 3rd & Maureen Waite 4th.


85 Sam Page 1967 Points Champion (knockhillimages.smugmug.com)


October
Down to the last three meetings of the year, in October's first the weather was again horrendous. One of the drivers who had shown great form in these conditions was
Vic Russell. In fact journalist Ian Fraser had tipped Vic for success in this meeting in Saturday's issue of the Edinburgh Evening News.Noting that the heavy conditions seemed to suit Vic and that he was also chasing the final Red Top position (there would be a grading of drivers at the end of the season). Ian was absolutely spot on with his prediction (he usually was). Vic won both of his heats and the "Grand Prix Trophy" Final.

Vic was amazing he had hit the front after 3 laps!, Sam Page was the only driver to put up a fight. He frantically tried everything he could to stop Vic's progress whereupon he took himself out. In the end Vic actually lapped the whole field! Ian Graham & Bill McLeod were the other heat winners.

So to the penultimate meeting of the season on the 8th October. Sam Page was presented with his Driver of the Year award, beating 1966 winner Walter Brown into 2nd. Heat winners were Walter Brown, Derek Cowan, Jim Easton & Tennant Douglas. Tennant was also the Final winner.

The final show of the year 16th October, the main race was the "Cock O The North"championship for Final & Championship winners, quite an early finish to the season compared with later seasons.

A couple of heats excluding the Final winners from the year commenced proceedings, these were picked up by Jim Easton & Tommy Cairns. The Cock O' The North saw a victory to Gordon McDougall from Walter Brown & Stan Thomson. Malcolm Paterson was victorious in the Consolation ahead of Frank Horner. Malcolm also collected the Final Final of the season, he had put down the marker - you all better watch out!

Cock O' the North winner 41 Gordon McDougall, 128 George Findlay & 145 Ronnie Anderson