1974
SALOON STOCK CARS 95 CARS
No | Driver | No | Driver | |||||||
23 | Dougie Farrer | 178 | John GilchrIst / Willie Faulkner | |||||||
40 | Howard Jarman | 182 | Ronnie Dewar | |||||||
46 | Keith Jarman | 183 | John Brady | |||||||
50 | Ian Fraser | 184 | Robert McKenzie | |||||||
65 | David Wylie | 186 | Andrew McLellan | |||||||
80 | Jack Keeton | 195 | Andy Johnstone | |||||||
100 | George MacMillan Jnr | 197 | Stew Sneddon | |||||||
102 | John Smith | 198 | George Gordon | |||||||
105 | Bob Smith | 199 | Iain Morrison | |||||||
106 | Hamish Buchanan | 200 | Adrian Armit | |||||||
110 | Ashley Reith | 202 | Phil Crowther | |||||||
112 | Arthur Gray | 203 | Colin Forbes | |||||||
114 | Franky Tait | 205 | John Nash | |||||||
117 | James Lumsden | 206 | Ricky Smith | |||||||
120 | Harry Harris | 211 | Grahame Ellis | |||||||
121 | Pete Malone | 213 | Pete McVay | |||||||
124 | Robin Dowie | 214 | Jimmy McAlpine | |||||||
125 | Dick Owens | 216 | Alan Crawford | |||||||
127 | Alex Grant | 217 | Des Murphy | |||||||
131 | Gordon Brown | 219 | Derek Mackie | |||||||
132 | Gordon Lumsden | 220 | Willie Anderson | |||||||
133 | Derek Duncan | 222 | Fraser Dunlop | |||||||
135 | Ricky Whitehead | 227 | Duggy Brown | |||||||
136 | Duncan McKellar | 230 | William Paton | |||||||
137 | Jim Duff | 231 | Richard Roy | |||||||
138 | William Turnbull | 235 | Jock Robertson | |||||||
139 | William Shooter | 239 | Robert Hannah | |||||||
140 | Graham Wait | 240 | Ian Turnbull | |||||||
141 | Ian Denhoven | 241 | Charlie Milne | |||||||
142 | Malcolm MacIntyre | 242 | Bob Malone | |||||||
143 | Reginald Keene | 244 | Jimmy Low | |||||||
144 | Peter Muirhead | 245 | Bernie McConnachie | |||||||
146 | James Hunter | 248 | Eddy Stevenson | |||||||
148 | John Harvey | 255 | Edward Gilfillan | |||||||
150 | James Blair | 256 | Brian Duncan | |||||||
151 | Trevor Wallis | 275 | Ralph Sibbald | |||||||
155 | William Gray | 281 | Tim Stirling | |||||||
158 | Thomas Allison | 301 | Bunter MacKinnon | |||||||
161 | Dave McCulloch | 306 | Archie Dewar | |||||||
163 | Donald Keddie | 314 | George Spalding | |||||||
164 | David Fullarton | 316 | Ronald Berry | |||||||
170 | James Cochrane | 322 | Archie Craig | |||||||
171 | Tommy Davidson | 325 | Bill Cunningham | |||||||
172 | David Wilson | 330 | Robert Bruce | |||||||
174 | John Sutherland | 331 | Ford Ferguson | |||||||
175 | Robert Melrose | 332 | Dick Litherland | |||||||
177 | Brian Seago | 333 | Andy Anderson |
SUPERSTOX 56 CARS
No | Driver | No | Driver | No | Driver | |||||||||
7 | Terry Henderson | 42 | Brian Elder | 84 | Les Brown | |||||||||
9 | John Duncker | 44 | Chick Findlay | 86 | George Livingston | |||||||||
10 | Ian Boyd | 47 | Orr Thompson | 92 | William Smith | |||||||||
11 | William Wright | 49 | Eric Moore | 94 | Vic Russell | |||||||||
12 | Bob Buchanan | 53 | Tam Farrer | 96 | Bob Keay | |||||||||
14 | Neil Hamilton | 55 | Bob Morton | 98 | Mike Rouse | |||||||||
17 | Mike Jack | 56 | Sam Ovens | 104 | Ronnie Nisbet | |||||||||
22 | Barry Watson | 59 | Brian Russell | 107 | Malcolm Paterson | |||||||||
24 | Ronnie Burns | 62 | Willie Craig | 108 | Derek Patrick | |||||||||
26 | James Aitkin | 63 | Bill Brown | 109 | Gavin McCreadie | |||||||||
27 | Noel Collgan | 66 | James Reid | 115 | Dave Morris | |||||||||
28 | Peter Forsyth | 72 | Bill Mackie | 122 | Rab Gilmour | |||||||||
30 | Brian Allen | 73 | Alex McKellar | 145 | Ronnie Anderson | |||||||||
31 | Tenant Douglas | 75 | Bill Crawford | 204 | Lauchie Gilchrest | |||||||||
32 | Andrew Cameron | 76 | Harry Gillespie | 221 | Tom Young | |||||||||
36 | Billy McCourt | 77 | Jim Russell | 224 | Gordon Lyle | |||||||||
38 | Ian Edmiston | 79 | Cecil Denham | 322 | Archie Craig | |||||||||
39 | Les Clark | 81 | Bill Pullar | 325 | Bill Cunningham | |||||||||
41 | Gordon McDougall | 82 | Kenneth Crouch |
HOT RODS 26 CARS
No | Driver | No | Driver | No | Driver | |||||||||
15 | William Cowan | 54 | Gerry Moore | 130 | Malcolm Watt | |||||||||
20 | Thomas Slight | 57 | Graham McKinlay | 156 | Ian Ostrau | |||||||||
21 | John Kirk | 58 | James MacGaughay | 162 | Malcolm Chesher | |||||||||
25 | Willie Taylor | 60 | Jim Erskine | 165 | Alan Brash | |||||||||
34 | Ronald McLaren | 64 | Les Kay | 167 | Bill McLellan | |||||||||
35 | Andrew Porter | 90 | Rab Train | 196 | Kenny Ireland | |||||||||
37 | Ian Simpson | 95 | Axe Butchart | 201 | Alistair Dziennick | |||||||||
44 | Andrew Gallacher | 116 | Mike Reilly | 299 | Davy Philp | |||||||||
52 | Alexander Nicol | 118 | Johnny Davidson |
******************************
The points awarded for 1974 season as follows:-
Saloon Stocks | Superstox | Hot Rods | ||||||||
Heats | Final | Heats | Final | Heats | Final | |||||
1st | 6 | 12 | 1st | 8 | 12 | 1st | 6 | 10 | ||
2nd | 5 | 10 | 2nd | 7 | 10 | 2nd | 5 | 8 | ||
3rd | 4 | 8 | 3rd | 6 | 8 | 3rd | 4 | 6 | ||
4th | 3 | 6 | 4th | 5 | 6 | 4th | 3 | 4 | ||
5th | 2 | 4 | 5th | 4 | 4 | 5th | 2 | 2 | ||
6th | 1 | 3 | 6th | 3 | 3 | 6th | 1 | 1 | ||
7th | 2 | 7th | 2 | 2 | ||||||
8th | 1 | 8th | 1 | 1 |
******************************
Saloon Stock cars down a massive 16 cars for the first meeting of the season to 22, Superstox down 7 to 18, & Hot Rods down 6 to 12.
The car averages for the year were also down, however records of car numbers at present only account for less than half of the meetings. Nonetheless based on the records available The Saloon Stocks averaged 26 cars down 7 on 1973, Superstox 20 cars same as 1973 & the Hot Rods at 10 cars down from 13.
The highest attendances for the Saloon Stocks were 33 cars on the 16th June. The Superstox highest 24 cars on the 21st April for the Open Scottish, and on the 19th May. The Hot Rods highest was for the Open Scottish on the 29th September and bizarrely for the end of year meeting on the 29th December, usually the poorest attendance for all formulae.
One of the persistent problems with the roof grading system, had been star drivers missing meetings, or returning to racing during a season & being downgraded at the start of the next points period. Undoubtedly a small minority engineered this situation to a greater or lesser extent, especially when coming up to major championship meetings.
Restrictions as to how far & quickly you can be downgraded were introduced & this was an improvement. However in 1974 an average points system was introduced which very quickly turned into a farce, and devalued the national points system. The charts as we progressed through the season had lists of drivers who had missed meetings, or even worse, points awarded when not racing at all. One result of this was that drivers that turned up every week could be disadvantaged.
As an example at the end of the 3rd points period 222 Fraser Dunlop was holding down 5th in the points table having raced only once in the previous points period, but having average points added.
110 Ashley Reith was holding down 6th }
195 Andy Johnstone was 7th } None of these drivers competed in a single
325 Bill Cunningham was 8th } meeting yet were awarded average points.
330 Robert Bruce was 10th }
More tinkering with the superstox points allocation for races was introduced for 1974. Saloon Stocks & Hot Rods remained as before.
In the programme 11.08.74, Roy Cecil was congratulated on his 10th season of stock car promoting.
Creditable performances away from home this year included the following:-
World Hot Rod Championship at Ipswich - 4th Les Kay
British Hot Rod Championship at Wimbledon - 3rd Kenny Ireland
World Superstox Championship at Wimbledon - 4th Malcolm Paterson
******************************
1974 SUPERSTOX POINTS CHAMPIONSHIP
REDS | BLUES | |||||||||||||
Pos | No | Name | Pts | Pos | No | Name | Pts | |||||||
1st | 107 | Malcolm Paterson | 633 | 10th | 12 | Bob Buchanan | 110 | |||||||
2nd | 9 | John Duncker | 378 | 11th | 221 | Tom Young | 102 | |||||||
3rd | 94 | Vic Russell | 359 | 12th= | 31 | Tennant Douglas | 91 | |||||||
4th | 39 | Les Clark | 337 | 12th= | 38 | Ian Edmiston | 91 | |||||||
5th | 81 | Bill Pullar | 334 | 14th | 49 | Eric Moore | 86 | |||||||
6th | 55 | Bob Morton | 279 | 15th | 109 | Gavin McCreadie | 85 | |||||||
7th | 75 | Bill Crawford | 211 | 16th | 79 | Cecil Denham | 73 | |||||||
8th | 84 | Les Brown | 194 | 17th | 36 | Billy McCourt | 66 | |||||||
9th | 104 | Ronnie Nisbet *** | 172 | 18th | 115 | Dave Morris | 61 | |||||||
retired May *** |
YELLOWS | WHITES | |||||||||||||
Pos | No | Name | Pts | Pos | No | Name | Pts | |||||||
19th | 17 | Mike Jack | 37 | 26th | 76 | Harry Gillespie | 10 | |||||||
20th | 73 | Alex McKellar | 36 | 27th | 96 | Bob Keay | 7 | |||||||
21st | 325 | Bill Cunningham | 32 | 28th= | 14 | Neil Hamilton | 6 | |||||||
22nd= | 47 | Orr Thompson | 27 | 28th= | 22 | Barry Watson | 6 | |||||||
22nd= | 77 | Jim Russell | 27 | 30th= | 24 | Ronnie Burns | 3 | |||||||
24th | 59 | Brian Russell | 25 | 30th= | 92 | William Smith | 3 | |||||||
25th | 322 | Archie Craig | 24 | 32nd= | 26 | James Aitkin | 2 | |||||||
32nd= | 204 | Lauchie Gilchrest | 2 | |||||||||||
34th= | 30 | Brian Allen | 1 | |||||||||||
34th= | 86 | George Livingston | 1 | |||||||||||
34th= | 224 | Gordon Lyle | 1 |
SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP - 16th JUNE OPEN SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP - 29th APRIL
1st | 94 | Vic Russell | 1st | 107 | Malcolm Paterson | |||||||||
2nd | 9 | John Duncker | 2nd | 9 | John Duncker | |||||||||
3rd | 39 | Les Clark | 3rd | E221 | Derek Warwick | |||||||||
4th | 81 | Bill Pullar | 4th | 75 | Bill Crawford | |||||||||
5th | 84 | Les Brown | 5th | 39 | Les Clark | |||||||||
6th | 322 | Archie Craig | 6th | E354 | Keith Goodings | |||||||||
7th | 115 | Davey Morris | 7th | NOI | ||||||||||
8th | 26 | James Aitkin | 8th | NOI |
EAST of SCOTLAND CHAMPIONSHIP - 7th JULY
1st | 107 | Malcolm Paterson | ||||
2nd | 9 | John Duncker | ||||
3rd | 84 | Les Brown | ||||
4th | 39 | Les Clark | ||||
5th | 81 | Bill Pullar | ||||
6th | 109 | Gavin McCreadie | ||||
7th | 55 | Bob Morton | ||||
8th | 38 | Ian Edmiston |
BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP - 12th AUGUST
1st | 107 | Malcolm Paterson | ||||
2nd | 39 | Les Clark | ||||
3rd | E235 | Stu Blythe | ||||
4th | 55 | Bob Morton | ||||
5th | NOI | |||||
6th | NOI | |||||
7th | NOI | |||||
8th | NOI |
"COCK of the NORTH" - 27th OCTOBER
1st | 107 | Malcolm Paterson | ||||
2nd | 75 | Bill Crawford | ||||
3rd | 9 | John Duncker | ||||
4th | 81 | Bill Pullar | ||||
5th | 84 | Les Brown | ||||
6th | 94 | Vic Russell | ||||
7th | 55 | Bob Morton | ||||
8th | NOI |
******************************
Abruptly on 26.05.74 after coming third & second in his two heats the previous week & currently 2nd in the points chart to Malcolm Paterson, Ronnie Nisbet announced his retirement due to medical grounds, though not sure of the exact circumstances relating to his retirement, Ronnie was a very tall man and used a neck & back brace. One of Scotland's great stock car drivers, even though 6 years could be considered as a relatively short career.
Ronnie had commenced his stock car career in 1968, being one of the pioneering Saloon Stock drivers who took part in Scotland's first ever race for the formula in 1968, in which he finished 2nd. He went on to win 4 other races in the class before moving to Superstox 1969 where he won 2 heats that year.
His career in Superstox saw him win a total of 14 finals & 36 heats.
His major honours being:-
East of Scotland Champion in 1970 & 1971.
West of Scotland 1971
Open Scottish 1971
Scottish 1972
He also finished runner up in the points in 1971 & 1973, together with runner up in the British & Scottish in 1971, & the European in Holland in 1973.
All this in an era competing against a contender for Scotland's greatest ever stock car driver Malcolm Paterson.
Top Superstox driver Alan Neilson also retired but said he would back later, he had just taken over a new hotel.
Malcolm Paterson won the Open Scottish Championship for the 1st time in 1974. John Duncker achieved a great 2nd place passing future Grand Prix star & the current World Champion Derek Warwick in the process. Derek finished 3rd.
At the same meeting in the Saloon Stocks newcomer young Keith Jarman achieved 3rd in the final behind Hamish Buchanan 1st & Dougie Farrer 2nd, & ahead of Fraser Dunlop in 4th & dad Howie Jarman in 5th.
NOTE that the UK Challenge Cup is not listed in the results, it was scheduled to take place at Ipswich on the 28th September. It never took place.
The stats for the most wins in 1974 were as follows:-
For these purposes the British, Open Scottish, & "Cock of The North" (Final & Championship winners race) are counted as finals.
Malcolm Paterson totally dominated 1974 with 19 final wins & 20 heat wins, next best was John Duncker with 3 finals & 5 heat wins. You may think that this was just a continuation from the previous season, with Malcolm's total of 18 finals & 23 heats, but at least in 1973, 26 finals were won by other drivers. In 1974 Malcolm beat the total combined by other drivers of 14 by 4.
Naturally he was the Scottish Points Champion but also won the British, Open Scottish, East of Scotland & Cock O The North.
Awesome.
No | Name | Finals | Heats | Pos | No | Name | Finals | Heats | |||||
107 | Malcolm Paterson | 19 | 20 | 10th | 104 | Ronnie Nisbet | 0 | 2 | |||||
9 | John Duncker | 3 | 5 | 11th= | 31 | Tennant Douglas | 0 | 1 | |||||
55 | Bob Morton | 3 | 5 | 11th= | 38 | Ian Edmiston | 0 | 1 | |||||
75 | Bill Crawford | 2 | 5 | 11th= | 115 | Davey Morris | 0 | 1 | |||||
81 | Bill Pullar | 1 | 5 | 11th= | 325 | Bill Cunningham | 0 | 1 | |||||
221 | Tom Young | 2 | 2 | 11th= | E354 | Keith Goodings | 0 | 1 | |||||
94 | Vic Russell | 1 | 12 | ||||||||||
84 | Les Brown | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
39 | Les Clark | 0 | 3 |
******************************
1974 SALOON STOCK POINTS CHAMPIONSHIP
REDS | BLUES | |||||||||||||
Pos | No | Name | Pts | Pos | No | Name | Pts | |||||||
1st | 106 | Hamish Buchanan | 354 | 12th | 248 | Eddy Stevenson | 112 | |||||||
2nd | 40 | Howie Jarman | 332 | 13th | 244 | Jimmy Low | 108 | |||||||
3rd | 171 | Tommy Davidson | 253 | 14th | 241 | Charlie Milne | 89 | |||||||
4th | 131 | Gordon Brown | 246 | 15th | 121 | Pete Malone | 72 | |||||||
5th | 222 | Fraser Dunlop | 234 | 16th | 140 | Graham Wait | 65 | |||||||
6th | 330 | Robert Bruce | 195 | 17th | 219 | Derek Mackie | 64 | |||||||
7th | 23 | Dougie Farrer | 192 | 18th= | 158 | Tom Allison | 57 | |||||||
8th | 316 | Ronald Berry | 174 | 18th= | 255 | Edward Gilfillan | 57 | |||||||
9th | 110 | Ashley Reith | 169 | 20th | 183 | John Brady | 55 | |||||||
10th | 100 | George MacMillan Jnr | 152 | 21st | 144 | Peter Muirhead | 47 | |||||||
11th | 195 | Andy Johnstone | 141 | 22nd | 105 | Bob Smith | 44 | |||||||
12th | 46 | Keith Jarman | 138 | 23rd | 306 | Archie Dewar | 42 | |||||||
13th | 124 | Robin Dowie | 113 | 24th | 117 | James Lumsden | 35 |
YELLOWS | WHITES | |||||||||||||
Pos | No | Name | Pts | Pos | No | Name | Pts | |||||||
26th | 139 | William Shooter | 37 | 35th= | 125 | Dick Owens | 2 | |||||||
27th | 50 | Ian Fraser | 31 | 35th= | 127 | Alex Grant | 2 | |||||||
28th= | 214 | Jimmy McAlpine | 27 | 35th= | 146 | James Hunter | 2 | |||||||
28th= | 114 | Franky Tait | 27 | 35th= | 170 | James Cochrane | 2 | |||||||
30th= | 155 | Bill Gray | 22 | 35th= | 177 | Brian Seago | 2 | |||||||
30th= | 227 | Duggy Brown | 22 | 40th= | 245 | Bernie McConnachie | 2 | |||||||
32nd= | 242 | Bob Malone | 18 | 40th= | 251 | Jack Robertson | 2 | |||||||
32nd= | 182 | Ronnie Dewar | 18 | 42nd= | 142 | Malcolm MacIntyre | 1 | |||||||
34th | 200 | Adrian Armit | 16 | 42nd= | 331 | Ford Ferguson | 1 |
SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP - 1st SEPTEMBER
1st | 40 | Howie Jarman | ||||
2nd | 124 | Robin Dowie | ||||
3rd | 316 | Ronald Berry | ||||
4th | NOI | |||||
5th | NOI | |||||
6th | NOI |
EAST of SCOTLAND CHAMPIONSHIP - 28 th JULY "COCK of the NORTH" - 27th SEPTEMBER
1st | 330 | Robert Bruce | 1st | 106 | Hamish Buchanan | |||||||||
2nd | 222 | Fraser Dunlop | 2nd | 171 | Tommy Davidson | |||||||||
3rd | 46 | Keith Jarman | 3rd | 23 | Dougie Farrer | |||||||||
4th | 255 | Edward Gilfillan | 4th | 140 | Graham Wait | |||||||||
5th | 231 | Richard Roy | 5th | 219 | Derek Mackie | |||||||||
6th | 140 | Graham Wait | 6th | 316 | Ronald Berry |
******************************
The stats for the most wins in 1974 were as follows:-
Pos | No | Name | Finals | Heats | Pos | No | Name | Finals | Heats | |||||
1st | 106 | Hamish Buchanan | 8 | 17 | 11th | 46 | Keith Jarman | 1 | 1 | |||||
2nd | 171 | Tommy Davidson | 6 | 13 | 12th | 110 | Ashley Reith | 1 | 0 | |||||
3rd= | 40 | Howie Jarman | 3 | 7 | 13th | 131 | Gordon Brown | 0 | 4 | |||||
3rd= | 330 | Robert Bruce | 3 | 7 | 14th | 124 | Robin Dowie | 0 | 3 | |||||
5th | 222 | Fraser Dunlop | 2 | 8 | 15th= | 244 | Jimmy Low | 0 | 2 | |||||
6th= | 23 | Dougie Farrer | 2 | 3 | 15th= | 325 | Bill Cunningham | 0 | 2 | |||||
6th= | 248 | Eddy Stevenson | 2 | 3 | 17th= | 100 | George MacMillan J | 0 | 1 | |||||
8th= | 140 | Graham Wait | 1 | 2 | 17th= | 195 | Andy Johnstone | 0 | 1 | |||||
8th= | 219 | Derek Mackie | 1 | 2 | 17th= | 316 | Ronald Berry | 0 | 1 | |||||
8th= | 241 | Charlie Milne | 1 | 2 |
******************************
Top Saloon Stock driver Jack Keeton retired in 1974, getting married , but said he would be back.
*****************************
1974 HOT ROD POINTS CHAMPIONSHIP
REDS | BLUES | |||||||||||||
Pos | No | Name | Pts | Pos | No | Name | Pts | |||||||
1st | 64 | Les Kay | 324 | 8th | 25 | Willie Taylor | 123 | |||||||
2nd | 196 | Kenny Ireland | 315 | 9th | 95 | Axe Butchart | 109 | |||||||
3rd | 21 | "Captain John Kirk" | 256 | 10th | 118 | Johnny Davidson | 103 | |||||||
4th | 130 | Malcolm Watt | 228 | 11th | 165 | Alan Brash | 93 | |||||||
5th | 156 | Ian Ostrau | 187 | 12th | 37 | Ian Simpson | 84 | |||||||
6th | 299 | Davey Philp | 182 | 13th | 116 | Mick Reilly | 51 | |||||||
7th | 58 | James MacGaughay | 159 | 14th | 44 | Andrew Gallacher | 37 |
YELLOWS | ||||||
Pos | No | Name | Pts | |||
15th | 162 | Malcolm Chesher | 17 | |||
16th | 54 | Gerry Moore | 16 | |||
17th | 90 | Rab Train | 13 | |||
18th | 201 | Al Dziennik | 8 | |||
19th | 34 | Ronald McLaren | 3 | |||
20th | 35 | Andrew Porter | 1 |
SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP - 8th SEPTEMBER EAST of SCOTLAND CHAMPIONSHIP - 23rd SEPTEMBER
1st | 299 | Davey Philp | 1st | 58 | James McGaughay | |||||||||
2nd | 196 | Kenny Ireland | 2nd | 21 | John Kirk | |||||||||
3rd | 64 | Les Kay | 3rd | 52 | Alex Nicol | |||||||||
4th | 116 | Mick Reilly | 4th | 162 | Malcolm Chesher | |||||||||
5th | 58 | James McGaughay | 5th | 64 | Les Kay | |||||||||
6th | NOI | 6th | 95 | Alex Butchart |
OPEN SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP - 29th SEPTEMBER "COCK of the NORTH - 27th SEPTEMBER
1st | E19 | Mick Collard | 1st | 196 | Kenny Ireland | |||||||||
2nd | 156 | Ian Ostrau | 2nd | 64 | Les Kay | |||||||||
3rd | 196 | Kenny Ireland | 3rd | 116 | Mike Reilly | |||||||||
4th | E121 | Tom Laffey | 4th | 44 | Drew Gallacher | |||||||||
5th | 58 | James McGaughay | 5th | NOI | ||||||||||
6th | E394 | Roy Sheridon | 6th | NOI | ||||||||||
7th | 64 | Les Kay |
******************************
The stats for the most wins in 1974 were as follows:-
Pos | No | Name | Finals | Heats | ||
1st | 196 | Kenny Ireland | 6 | 10 | ||
2nd | 64 | Les Kay | 4 | 10 | ||
3rd | 58 | Jim McGaughay | 4 | 2 | ||
4th= | 156 | Ian Ostrau | 3 | 7 | ||
4th= | 299 | Davey Philp | 3 | 7 | ||
6th | 21 | John Kirk | 3 | 3 | ||
7th | 130 | Malcolm Watt | 1 | 10 | ||
8th= | 52 | Alex Nicol | 1 | 2 | ||
8th= | E108 | Bob Howe | 1 | 2 | ||
10th | 44 | Drew Gallacher | 1 | 1 | ||
11th | E19 | Mick Collard | 1 | 0 | ||
12th | 118 | Johnny Davidson | 0 | 4 | ||
13th | 116 | Mick Reilly | 0 | 2 | ||
14th | 37 | Ian Simpson | 0 | 1 |
******************************
Kenny Ireland demonstrated to the rest of the country, what Scotland's Hot Rod supporters already new, in the 1974 World Hot Rod Championship at Ipswich, when starting behind Barry Lee around 6 rows back on the grid, in attrocious weather conditions, he followed Barry through to 2nd place, and then with around a third of the race completed, passed him and pulled out around a 50 metre lead.
Unfortunately Kenny got held up by a group of back markers all having their own race and were spread across the track, Kenny gradually picked them off until he got behind fellow Scotsman John Kirk, Kenny spent a couple of valuable laps trying get past and then as he went by on the outside John seemed to drift wide and Kenny brushed the fence, sadly enough to force him out of the race. Barry Lee swept through to win the race.
It has been said that there was a "physical" excahnge of views in the pits after the race, between the two Scottish protaginists. Kenny assures me this is not the case. Some of Kenny's fans may have got a bit excited afterwards & the incineration of a caravan may have been suggested! However nothing came of it all.
This race is available to view on You Tube - it is well worth a watch by clicking on this link.
*****************************
With all this hoopla with regard to Kenny it should be pointed out that Les Kay came home for a brilliant 4th place in the race.
******************************
It was proving difficult to discipline the antics of the Hot Rodders so in a bid to rectify this it was announced in the 28.04.74 programme that the Clerk Of The Course duties for (The Hot Rods only) would be taken over by promoter Roy Cecil & son Nigel Cecil, with the intention of being far more strict with black crosses & disqualification.
A staggered start was introduced for the Hot Rods incorporating standing start for the final.
That is 2 cars, 1 car, 2 cars, 1 car.
Scottish rally champion Drew Gallacher started racing hot rods in 1974 after watching colleague Barry Lee at Ipswich. (Drew the 1973 Scottish Rally Champion went on to win the 1978, 1979 & 1980 Scottish Rally Championships), sadly his Hot Rod career was short and sweet with 1 heat & 1 Final win.
We also lost Hot Rod star Alex Nicol no 52 who emigrated to Australia, Alex had already won a final in 1974 & had finished 3rd in the points in 1973 having won 6 Finals & 7 heats.
Lap record for Cowdenbeath lowered to 15.1 seconds at the Open Scottish Hot Rod Championship. New record holder Mick Collard E19.
*******************************
The British Hot Rod Championship was held on the 3rd August at Wimbledon. Scotland's representatives were Kenny Ireland & Malcolm Watt. Kenny managed to draw pole position on the grid & Malcolm Watt drew 7th. The big threats in the race were of course George Polley who was in 2nd last position on the grid, Barry Lee in 11th. & Duffy Collard in 10th.
Kenny drove brilliantly over the 50 lap race but he just couldn't hold off the battling duo of Duffy Collard & Barry Lee. However 3rd was indeed a great result.
**********