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The introduction of greyhound racing in the late 1920s led to a lot of tracks being built, and by 1932 there were 4 rival tracks in Liverpool. Stanley Greyhound Stadium in the Old Swan district opened in 1927 for the dogs, with speedway arriving in 1936, and like many other greyhounds and speedway stadia of the era, 1954 saw the arrival of stock car racing. The opening meeting on 18th June 1954 was won by Oliver Hart Jnr, whose dad Oliver and uncle Ron were the promoters. The Hart brothers were non-identical twins and had been speedway riders in the 1930s and 1940s, and promoted speedway and stock cars at a range of tracks in the north, including Wigan, Bradford, and the ill-fated Preston meeting that landed them in court. But that was nothing compared to their final meeting at Liverpool on 24th September 1954, which was abandoned in Heat 4 when a car went through the fence into the crowd, and an 11 year old boy, there to watch his father race, was tragically killed. Stanley Stadium was reopened for stock cars on 13th May 1955 by Southern Stock Cars Ltd, which was American promoters Buddy Davenport and Lester Vanadore. They had arrived in the country as part of a joint venture with pioneer UK promotoer Digger Pugh. Partly a promotional stunt, and partly a business venture, they shipped some US stock cars and drivers to England to race at various tracks around the country, with everyone getting a share of the prize money. In those days, the prize money on a final would be a couple of grand in today's money, so potentially quite profitable. The team was made up of team managers Vanadore and Davenport, plus drivers Curtis Crider, Bill Irick, Possum Jones, Pete Folse, Bobby Schuyler, Bobby Myers, and Neil Castles, who was a last minute replacement for Speedy Monroe. Speedy was listed in the programme for the team's first UK meeting at Harringay on 8th April 1955, but did not race. Davenport later stepped in as a driver when Crider and Myers bailed out early and went home. The Americans' first impression of the racing at Harringay was less than favourable. According to Neil Castles' autobiography, they were expecting something like the NASCAR races in the States, but it was more like a demolition derby. It started well for the Americans. Experienced racers in properly set up cars were no match for the British novices in stuff they'd bought for peanuts from scrapyards. The England vs USA race was a whitewash, with the visitors claiming all five point scoring places. Possum Jones and Bobby Myers took a one-two in the meeting final. Coincidentally, Heat 2 also went to an American, but nothing to do with the USA team. The winner was Vince W Jones from California, who was a law student at Oxford. As for Liverpool on 13th May, it wasn't a success. Only 19 cars turned out to race, and the first heat was described as very tame. Ex-promoter Oliver Hart (the elder) won Heat 2 and the Final. The England vs America race featured Oliver Hart Jnr racing for the Americans, as they had lost a car earlier on. Folse and Irick crashed out, but Castles and Jones got enough points for America to win. Neil Castles finished as runner-up in the Final.... or did he? The name in the programme was actually Doug Castles from the USA, who was also recorded as the winner of Heat 3 and the Final at Norwich on 21st May 1955. These are the only recorded race appearances of Doug Castles, either in England or anywhere else. The rest of the USA team were all documented as being racers in the states, but there is nothing at all to be found on Doug Castles. On the two occasions that Doug Castles is known to have raced in England, Neil Castles did not race at those meetings. The most likely explanation is that Doug Castles and Neil Castles are the same person. Either he used a different name for some reason, or it was just a mistake. However, in The Story Of Stock Car Racing 1955, the meeting report for Liverpool says that the runner-up was "an unknown Australian driving Neil Castles' car" ! Did he also race at Norwich? Lester Vanadore disappeared back to America with all the money, some of which belonged to Bobby Shuman, who had supplied the cars, and later turned up dead. (with thanks to Steve Daily)

On Saturday 19th March 1955, the third and final meeting took place at Fallowfield Stadium in Manchester. It opened in May 1892 as home to the Manchester Wheelers Cycling Club, and featured a 509 yard concrete velodrome with 30 degree banking, built around an athletics ground and a football/rugby pitch. The stadium was the venue for the 1893 FA Cup Final, and the 1899 and 1900 Rugby League Challenge Cup Finals, plus major cycling events in 1919 and 1934. For this meeting, the perimeter of the sports ground was used as the track, with the concrete velodrome used as a run-off area in place of a fence. It is not clear if this was the case for the 1954 meetings, or if the stock cars ran on the velodrome. This detail is of some historical significance, because if the stock car racing was on the concrete then it would make Fallowfield the first hard surfaced track. The first race was Stretford vs Manchester, with Norman Sutton taking the win for Manchester and Bob Schofield of Stretford the runner-up. Schofield was a prolific traveller and race winner in the inaugural 1954 season. He peaked in August, when he won finals at Wigan on Monday 2nd, Yarmouth on Tuesday 3rd, and Motherwell on Friday 6th. Sutton also won Heat 1. The result of the second heat isn't known. Ray Walster took the final, his only known main event win in his two year career, with Schofield runner up. Fallowfield Stadium - The remains of the concrete track can be seen around the pitch in this photo of a football match in 1985.

This would have been in the Sheffield programme today... Saturday 18th October 1969 The sport originated at New Cross Stadium in London, and after four sell-out meetings, promoter Digger Pugh moved to the much bigger Harringay Stadium, which ran most weekends for the rest of 1954, and the early part of 1955. The first ever World Championship was held at Harringay in June 1955, accompanied by the shock announcement that this would be the last meeting held there! The reasons are lost in history, but stock cars returned in 1960, and ran regularly for over a decade. This particular meeting saw Londoner 274 Dennis Driscoll win Consolation and Final. Coincidentally, another Londoner, 133 Terry Coell, won Consolation and Final at Coventry the same night. Sunday 18th October 1970 George Ansell was known as The King Of Tar, and the vast majority of his 54 Finals came on the hard tracks, including this one at Nothampton. His first Final was at a one-off meeting staged at Stevenage football ground. Heat 1 at Rochdale the same day was won by 23 Eddie Fish, with Stu Smith taking Heat and Final. Saturday 18th October 1975 Heat and Final wins, plus second in the Grand National from the handicap for 199 Mike Close at White City. Mike is one of only six drivers ever to have won all three major titles as well as over 100 meeting finals, and is widely regarded as one of the sport's all-time greatest drivers. At Leicester the same night, the opening heat went to World Champion 252 Dave Chisholm, who had to settle for third in the Final behind runner-up 34 Tony Leicester and winner 391 Stu Smith. Saturday 18th October 1980 Final winner at Leicester was 154 Brian Powles. Known as "The Push", he had been racing since 1970 and this was the 18th of his 29 final wins. A major event at Blackburn the same night was The Champion Of Champions, and taking a convincing win with a heat and final double was 190 Len Wolfenden. This was The Wild Wolf's 31st final victory in a career that began at Aycliffe in 1972. Len's 83rd and last final win was at Aycliffe, in October 1989. Sunday 18th October 1981 Heat 1 at Aycliffe was won by 92 George Braithwaite, fresh from his first ever final win at White City the week before. Not far behind him was 1 Stu Smith, who went on to take the final. Saturday 18th October 1986 Crewe Stadium is fondly remembered by everyone that ever went, and while it wasn't really a stadium at all, just a rough track with only very basic facilities, such as an "al-fresco" gents toilet, it produced some spectacular racing. 89 F1 meetings were held between 1982 and 1993, with this one being won by newly-crowned British Champion 422 Nigel Whorton. Sunday 18th October 1987 A Daily Mirror Grand Prix round at Northampton and all 7 races were won by champions. Heat 1 was won by new World Champion 53 John Lund, Heat 2 went to previous World Champion 33 Peter Falding, and Heat 3 was taken by 1979 World Champion 212 Frankie Wainman. Winner of the Consolation was 1984 European Champion 495 John Cayzer, and the main event was a victory for 1985 European Champion 203 Dan Clarke. The Mirror Masters Trophy and the Grand National were both won by 501 Chris Elwell, who had started the year becoming the first Brit to win the World 240ci Stock Car Championship in New Zealand. Sunday 18th October 1992 The late season Grand Prix Series was now sponsored by the BriSCA Club, and the Northampton round was dominated by two drivers. Heat 1, Heat 2, and the Grand National were won by 422 Nigel Whorton, with 33 Peter Falding winning Heat 3 and the Final. Saturday 18th October 1997 A firm favourite with fans of proper stock car racing, the rough and ready Stoke Stadium served up some proper action packed racing from the opening meeting in 1973 to the last one ever in 2019. This one was a round of the Grand Prix series, and taking the Final on his way to a fourth successive title was 515 Frankie Wainman. Sunday 18th October 1998 Final winner here at Sheffield 22 years ago was 446 Steve Booth. He won 6 in total, 3 of them at Sheffield. Saturday 18th October 2003 Northampton staged a nostalgia themed meeting, complete with retro 1950s style programme cover, but there was nothing retro about new boy 259 Paul Hines taking his first ever F1 final. Saturday 18th October 2008 In hindsight, these were the glory days of tarmac racing, with big car turnouts and plenty of action, such as this Birmingham meeting. Former F2 driver 463 James Morris was only a few months into his F1 career when he took his first final. Sunday 18th October 2009 The first year of the Shoot Out, and it kicked off in Round 6 at Northampton. A hard-hitting Final saw 515 Frankie Wainman emerge as the winner, surviving after a massive do-or-die last bend lunge by 390 Stu Smith. Saturday 18th October 2014 King's Lynn opened with a career first race win for 444 Paul-Jay Lemmons in the White/Yellow Top Race. PJ had looked a promising newcomer, but didn't he didn't race for long. The final went to 318 Rob Speak, his 19th F1 main event win, although of course he won many more in F2. Sunday 18th October 2015 Round 8 of the Shoot Out was at Northampton, with most of the points going to a driver that wasn't in it. Known to banger fans as Alge, 499 Dave Allen was a long time veteran of banger racing, but for a few years he raced F1 with a car prepared by the Murray Harrison team, and this was his best performance. Allen won Heat and Final, and then placed 11th in the GN from the handicap.

🏁 On this day 65 years ago 🏁 Stock Car racing came to King’s Lynn for the very first time – 11th September 1955 – the site of a Greyhound stadium and staging a handful of Speedway meetings prior to the arrival of four wheeled Motorsports. Fewer stadiums have undergone such a drastic transformation since the start than King’s Lynn, virtually un-recognisable today. Very little information or pictures exist from that first meeting, but Local Driver and former World Champion – Bob Reeve of Dereham took the Feature Final that day. The F1 Stock Cars race tomorrow in their 165th Official meeting at the track – will another local driver take the chequered in this Anniversary weekend? BriSCA F2's joining them in a big BriSCA Double Header Photos: First programme cover Bob Reeve's circa late 50’s/ early 60's. (credit unknown)

On this day, 29 July 1984 and its a sunny Sunday afternoon in Greater Manchester, and a good one for Bolton driver Warren Jackson (104). It was this afternoon where Warren recorded 25% of his career victories in BriSCA F1, with a heat and final double, which was also his only ever final win. Warren won heat 1 from Frankie Wainman (212) who was 2nd and Richard Ainsworth (354) 3rd. In his ex Len Wolfenden (190) A1 kits car, he then came out and won the final from 2nd placed George Braithwaite (92) and again Richard Ainsworth 3rd. Photos © Ian Bannister / Howard Murtaugh

Photo ©Ian Bannister On this day, Wednesday 16th June 1982, and world championship qualification points on offer at Skegness, and here is Pete Guinchard (20) out on track in the first heat of this overcast Wednesday on the east coast. The heat was won by Bert Finnikin (55) from Derek Fairhurst (218) 2nd and Brian Tuplin (155) 3rd. Pete didn't finish in the points but did qualify for the final with a 3rd place in the consolation. Photo ©Ian Bannister / Howard Murtaugh Here we can see John Rogers (269) on his way to a 5th place finish in the consolation. The race was won by Len Wolfenden (190) from Frankie Wainman (212) 2nd and Pete Guinchard (20) 3rd. Thanks to Ian Bannister for the above.

There were no race meetings on 11th June 2003, but one thing that did happen that day was that Stoxnet went online to the general public. The internet back then was very different to how it is today. For a start, not everybody had internet access, and many of those that did were still using dial-up (if you don't know what that is, ask your parents!). What follows is a piece I wrote for the sold-out F1stockcars.com 2017 book about the history of stock car racing on the internet. Beyond any shadow of a doubt, well, to my mind at least, the three greatest inventions of the 20th century, if not of all time, are the internet, mobile phones, and stock car racing. It took a while, but they all eventually came together in the form of websites about stock car racing, and ultimately, F1stockcars.com. Let's take a look back at how it all began. As is widely known, stock car racing in the UK started in 1954. A few years later, the first attempts were made at getting computers to talk to each other, and in simple terms, that’s all the internet is. In 2014, the media reported on the 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web, and although Sir Tim Berners-Lee is correctly credited with inventing it, he didn't, as some publications made out, do it entirely from scratch. The underlying internet that it all runs on had been over 30 years in the making, beginning just a few years after that first stock car meeting. While other internet based services such as instant messaging (then known as Internet Relay Chat), email, bulletin boards, file transfer, etc, were already well established, there were no websites as such until Sir Tim invented the web browser in 1989. By the mid-1990s computer networks had begun to emerge from being used primarily by academia and the military, and was starting to draw the attention of the general public. The first website to feature stock car racing was Roger's Oval Racing Pages, which went online in early 1997, and still runs to this day. Roger covered a lot of the southern based formulae, including BriSCA F1 on occasion. It was followed a year later by the similar multi-formulae Rolling Start, which is also still around. The internet gradually worked its way into people's workplaces, and then their homes, and many people in the late 1990s had their evenings punctuated by the shrill "Beeee, boooo, diddly diddly diddly diddly!" noises of their big chunky desktop PC making a painfully slow connection to the outside world through a dial-up modem. The main problem with the fledgling public internet, which soon became fairly obvious, was that there wasn't all that much on it. In a bid to get people interested, and generate some content in the process, websites and web space were given away for nothing, and included as a freebie in internet packages. And so the end of the last millennium saw the emergence of a whole raft of stox-based websites, all put together by enthusiastic fans. At the time, web browsers were barely more sophisticated than Teletext, and to say some of those early sites were "a bit basic" would be an understatement.

Peter Arnold announced in the West Ham programme that of the three new ideas trialled at the start of the 1959 season, one of them had been a definite success and would be made a permanent part of racing. That was the grading system. The grades A, B, C, and Star continue to this day, with Superstar grade added in 1976. The other things on trial were clutch starts, and handicap starts with the cars spread out around the track. The Board of Control decided that the procedures for race starts was up to the individual promoters to decide what worked best for the shape and size of their track. Peter also noted that of the eight meetings so far in 1959, six of them had been won by drivers graded lower than Star. The other two were both won by Doug Wardropper.

Friday 16th April 1954 was Good Friday, and the first ever stock car meeting in the UK took place at New Cross. Situated near Old Kent Road in South East London, New Cross Stadium was built as an athletics ground in the early 1900s. A greyhound track was added in 1933, and the following year a speedway track was built. The track was tiny, and after a few meetings the promotion moved to the much bigger Harringay, although the stock cars returned for one season in 1968 while Harringay was being refurbished. The stadium closed in 1969 and was demolished in 1975. The format for the first ever meeting was 4 heats and a Final. The heats were won by 12 William Camus, 42 Fred Parsons, 28 John Goody, and 38 Tanya Crouch. The Final went to Frenchman 11 Chevalier d'Orgeix. If anyone has the full results for this meeting, please let me know.

Sunday 29th March 1970 Despite beginning in 1954, the first meeting on 29th March wasn't until 1970. It was at Brands Hatch, with George Ansell living up to his "King Of Tar" title with a heat and final double. Saturday 29th March 1975 Finals wins for two of the sport's all-time legends. 391 Stu Smith won at Nelson, whilst at Long Eaton the main event went to 2 Willie Harrison. Willie's first final win came here at Sheffield on Friday 8th April 1955. He retired in 1990, having won 1 World Championship, 2 British Championships, and 120 finals. Thursday 29th March 1979 The Northern Open Championship was staged Blackburn, with 199 Mike Close taking the title. Widely regarded as one of the sport's all-time greatest drivers, Mike Close is one of only six drivers ever to have won over 100 meeting finals as well as all three major titles. Saturday 29th March 1980 The Daily Mirror Grand Prix round White City saw 391 Stu Smith dominate, winning won both his heats and the final. Heat 5 went to 154 Brian Powles, with the other two won by 131 Pete Hodgson. He only raced for five years but in that time he won 42 races, including 6 Finals. Sunday 29th March 1981 The heats at Aycliffe were won by 199 Mike Close and 1 Stu Smith, with 190 Len Wolfenden winning the Consolation, and these were the top three in the Final. Close won, from Wolfenden and Smith. Wolfy then won the GN, with Close second from the lap handicap, and Smith third. Northampton the same day produced a heat and final double for 304 Dave Mellor. Saturday 29th March 1986 In the later stages of his career he was known as a tarmac specialist, but 422 Nigel Whorton was more than capable of winning on shale, as shown with a Consolation and Final double on the rough shale of Crewe. This was Nigel's 17th Final. He would go on to win a total of 59, plus the 1986 British, the 1991 UK Open, and the Supreme in 1985 and 1992. Sunday 29th March 1987 Long distance traveller 354 Richard Ainsworth, from Ulverston, Cumbria, made the trek to Northampton worthwhile by winning heat and final. This was the 11th of his 13 final victories in a career that spanned 1978-1988. He won 27 races at Northampton, including 7 finals. Friday 29th March 1991 Friday night at Scunthorpe saw 3 different winners from 5 races. Heat and GN wins for 515 Frankie Wainman Jnr, a Consolation victory for 64 Kev Smith, and heat and final for 53 John Lund. Sunday 29th March 1992 The opening meeting at Bolton, and in front of a massive crowd, the honour of first ever race win at the North West's newest track went to 172 Steve Hodgson. Heat 2 winner was 422 Nigel Whorton, the Consolation was 33 Peter Falding's, 515 Frankie Wainman Jnr took the first ever Bolton final, and the GN was an impressive flag to flag win for up and coming white top 221 Steve Cooper, who went on to win 3 finals at the track. Sadly, Bolton lasted only 3 seasons. Stringent restrictions on noise and time, coupled with a less than robust fence, led to some meetings being curtailed early, and the 3rd July 1994 turned out to be the last one. Saturday 29th March 1997 Heat and Final at Northampton for 41 Gaz Bott, with only 515 Frankie Wainman Jnr able to match his pace. He first appeared in F1 in 1976 and raced intermittently for a few years, but it was on his return in 1988 that he really started to make an impression. A regular race winner on both surfaces at first, although he concenrated on tarmac in the later years, he was joint top final winner (with FWJ) in 1996, with 8 finals. Friday 29th March 2013 Good Friday was a good day at Skegness for the J Davidson team. Heat 1 was won by 464 Luke Davidson, from 84 Tom Harris and 318 Rob Speak. Tom won the second heat, with Rob third. The final was Luke's, with Rob runner-up and Tom fifth. The GN went to 372 Colin Goodswen. Saturday 29th March 2014 King's Lynn was the venue for a massive points haul for the sport's fastest double-glazing salesman. Heat third, final win, and fourth in the GN for 259 Paul Hines. The meeting opened with the standard Whites & Yellows Race, with 496 Neil Holcroft taking his first ever win.

Wednesday 20th April 1955 The sport had been in the UK for a year when a team of American racers came over to the UK for a couple of months, bringing their car with them. With racing experience and technical know-how far in excess of that of the novice Brits, it was a successful visit, with the Americans winning a total of 8 Finals. Taking heat and final at Belle Vue in a grid made up mainly of local drivers was 122 Curtis "Crawfish" Crider, all the way from Abbeville, South Carolina, USA. Saturday 20th April 1957 One of the pioneer drivers of the inaugural 1954 season, Essex man 138 Allan Briggs raced until 1974 and mainly in the south east. He won 21 finals, including this heat and final double at Ipswich. Sunday 20th April 1958 The King Of The Midlands Trophy was held at Brafield, nowadays known as Northampton International Raceway, with the trophy being won by 61 Ken Freeman, who also won a heat. Winning the other races were 38 Fred Mitchell and 2 Willie Harrison. Thursday 20th April 1961 Aldershot was the setting for the 23rd of Ken Freeman's 43 career finals. Although an accomplished racer, Freeman's biggest claim to fame is that he pioneered the use of Morris LD axles in stock cars. Strong, cheap, and readily available from scrapyards, the Morris LD rear axle would be used in virtually every F1 stock car for the next 40 years. It was eventually eclipsed by the Ford Transit axle around the turn of the millenium. Friday 20th April 1962 One of the greatest drivers of the early days, National Points Champion 68 Trevor Frost won at West Ham. He won the World Championship in 1964, and a total of 56 Finals, making him the 18th highest all-time Final winner. Saturday 20th April 1963 At Brafield, two of the sport's top drivers, 5 Doug Wardropper and his son 245 Alan Wardropped were beaten to the line in the Final by 304 Willie Wanklyn from Stevenage. This was Willie's first ever final, and he went on to win 6 in total. Sunday 20th April 1969 George Ansell was known as The King Of Tar, and the vast majority of his 54 Finals came on the hard tracks, including this one at Cadwell Park. Up in the north east the same afternoon, 141 Arthur Gibson from Darlington won at his local Aycliffe. Gibson raced F1 from 1966 to 1972 and won 9 finals, all of them at Aycliffe. Friday 20th April 1973 His son is known as Mr Box Office, but Mick (probably) wasn't born when 150 Dick Sworder won the Final at Rayleigh. The Rayleigh-Weir Greyhound & Speedway Stadium ran a dozen F1 meetings between 1957 and 1959. Spedeworth had a brief tenure before BriSCA returned in 1968 with a solitary F1 meeting that was abandoned due to weather and the track conditions, and the F2 World Final, which included Dutch, French, and South African entrants. There were a further 4 meetings from 1972-1973. The stadium was demolished shortly after. Saturday 20th April 1974 He did most of his racing on tarmac, so a heat and final double on the shale at Leicester was rather out of character for 8 Pete Webb. This was his sixth and last final. Up north in Rochdale the same night, 293 Gordon Smith took his third final, going on to win 22 in total. He raced from 1970 to 1980 and had a reputation for being a fearsome driver. Sunday 20th April 1975 396 Doug Cronshaw won the final at Aycliffe. World Champion 1971, British Champion 1970 and 1976, and one of only ten drivers to ever win 100 or more finals, Doug's most recent claim to fame is a brief appearance on Channel 4's "Hunted" in 2018. Thursday 20th April 1978 A huge crowd for the opening meeting at Blackburn. The 7 race format saw a win for 41 Pat Byrne in the White/Yellow Top Race, heat wins for 212 Frankie Wainman, 391 Stu Smith, who also won the GN, and 154 Brian Powles, and a Consolation and Final double for 272 Dave Hodgson. The tight and tricky tarmac oval proved popular with fans and 72 meetings were staged before the stadium abruptly closed in June 1984. Like many other perfectly viable venues of the period, the stadium had been sold off so a supermarket could be built. Sunday 20th April 1980 The other race winners at Hartlepool were 260 Dave Berresford and 29 Alex McDade (Heats), 391 Stu Smith (Consolation), and 250 Gerald Taylor (Grand National). The main event went to 175 Glyn Pursey. Known as "The Welsh Dragon", he raced from 1974 to 1984 and won the 1979 European, the 1980 British, and 33 Finals. Monday 20th April 1981 Two meetings on Easter Monday, with Ringwood in the afternoon and Belle Vue in the evening. A Whorton 1-2 in the Ringwood Final, with Nigel winning with dad Brian runner up. A massive entry at Belle Vue meant a 3 heats + 2 consolations format, and taking the main event was 471 Bobby Burns. While his no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners style of racing won him many fans, it sometimes overshadows the fact that apart from being a hard hitting bumper merchant, he was an accomplished racer. Although he did not win any titles, he won 36 finals, making him the 32nd highest final winner of all time. Friday 20th April 1984 Starting to show signs of the domination that was to follow in later years, 53 John Lund won Consolation and Final at Bradford, and then placed fourth in the GN from the lap handicap. To date, Lundy has won 222 Finals - this was his 23rd. Sunday 20th April 1986 107 Pete Bashford from Dagenham won the Final at Northampton. Basher's career ran from 1979 to 1989, during which he won 3 Finals. This was the third, the others coming at Coventy in 1979 and Northampton in 1981. Monday 20th April 1987 One of the sport's underrated drivers, 175 Rob Pearce won the Final at Belle Vue on Easter Monday. He won 20 Finals during his 1979-1999 career plus the Trust Fund trophy, Saturday 20th April 1991 One of the few drivers to fully come to terms with the big, bumpy, and very fast Crewe track was 260 Dave Berresford, and this was a Bezz masterclass. He won Heat and Final, and then placed fourth in the GN from the handicap. Monday 20th April 1992 This meeting at Bradford was the one that catapulted 97 Murray Harrison from yellow grade to superstar. He'd been racing for 11 years at this point and had won a couple of finals, but a new lightweight car fitted with an imported Gaerte small block engine allowed Murray to show what he could do with decent machinery. He won heat and final and placed 6th in the GN, but there was more to come. Before the decade was out, he had won the World, European, and UK Open titles, plus a dozen or so finals. Saturday 20th April 1996 He's now very much in the closing stages of his time as a stock car driver, but when John Lund does eventually hang up his helmet for good, he can reflect upon a racing career that is nothing short of outstanding. This meeting at Stoke was Lund at his spectacular best - second to Andy Smith in the heat, then he turned it up a notch to win the Final and then the GN from the lap handicap. Sunday 20th April 1997 Mick Harris, that's Tom's dad, moved up from F2 to F1 in 1996, and was clearly undergraded at white, as he raced off unchallenged to win both heats and the Final at Sheffield. Saturday 20th April 2002 This was the period when 515 Frankie Wainman was near enough unbeatable on tarmac most weeks, and this meeting at Northampton saw the 515 car win both of his heats and the Final. Sunday 20th April 2008 A rare return to Bristol, with the heats going to 172 Micky Randell, 1 Stuart Smith (the younger!), and 212 Danny Wainman. The Final was 391 Andy Smith and 2 Paul Harrison won the GN. Saturday 20th April 2013 The Final at Birmingham was the 18th to date for 16 Mat Newson. Since he started F1 in 2001, Mat has won 29 so far, the last one at the Shoot Out Final at Belle Vue last November.

Boxing Day over the years.... 1954 Fallowfield & Ringwood Not many meetings were staged at Fallowfield in southern Manchester. The track was a large banked concrete velodrome around a sports field. This one was won by 499 Harry Marshall, who only raced for a few seasons. His son, also Harry and also 499, raced in the early 1960s. The winner at Ringwood was 367A Steve Storm, probably the most successful driver to race under a false name! He was in fact speedway rider Charlie New, whose speedway team had banned him from racing stock cars, so he used another name. 1955 Staines & Long Eaton - Two meetings on Boxing Day 1955. South-west driver 91 Gil Cox made the trip to what was then Staines (now Staines-upon-Thames!) on Boxing Day and won the final. Gil raced from 1954 to 1960, winning 8 finals. Long Eaton was won by 56 HT Rollason. He appears to have only raced in 1955, and only at Long Eaton, where he won 8 races in total, including 2 finals. 1957 Long Eaton - 38 Fred Mitchell won the main event. One of the greatest drivers of his era, Fred was the first driver to win 100 finals. 1958 Long Eaton - It was 71 Tommy Bartorelli's finest hour as he took heat and final in the "Hell Fire Stakes" meeting. He only raced for 2 years and this was the first of two career finals; the second came in June 1959, also at Long Eaton. 1959 Staines - 104 Ted Pankhurst won the final. A regular winner at Staines, Ted raced from 1955 to 1970, winning a total of 28 finals. He was British Champion in 1964. 1968 Belle Vue - 75 Wilf Blundell took the honours, the seventh of his eight final wins. Wilf's first race win was at Sheffield on Thursday 5th May 1955. 1969 Belle Vue - 2 Willie Harrison won the first of 2 Boxing Day finals. Looking at the results, it looks like a slightly different race format was used (or it might just be coincidence, anybody know?). A White Top Race, won by 246 Kev Richardson. The Boxing Day Stampede, won by 40 Jim Aspin, looks like it was yellow and blue tops. The Battle Of The Roses, won by 391 Stu Smith, appears to be blue and red tops - possibly Lancashire vs Yorkshire? 1970 Belle Vue - Business as usual for Stu Smith, with a heat and final double. He had only been racing for 5 years at this point, and this was his 67th final. 1972 Belle Vue - Willie Harrison beat Stu Smith for his second Boxing Day final. Willie's first final was at his local Sheffield, on Friday 8th April 1955. He retired in 1990, having won 1 World Championship, 2 British Championships, and 120 finals. 1973 Belle Vue - Stu Smith won the final again, while the opening heat was won by the best driver to never win a major title. In a career spanning 1963-1993, 306 Mick Noden won 67 finals, putting him at 14th place in the all-time final winners. He also won 2 World Semi-Finals, but the only title he won was the 1977 Supreme. 1974 Belle Vue - Heat 1 was won by 444 Mike Whittaker from Macclesfied. Mike raced from 1966 to 1976, and this was the fourth of his 4 race wins. Oh, and Stu Smith won the final. 1975 Belle Vue - The results read very much like a "who's who" of stock car racing in the north in the mid 1970s. Heats were won by 293 Gordon Smith, 212 Frankie Wainman, and 199 Mike Close, and the Consolation by 260 Dave Berresford. The top three in the final - 391 Stu Smith, 396 Doug Cronshaw, 199 Mike Close. And check this out... the top three in the Helter Skelter - 391 Stu Smith, 199 Mike Close, 396 Doug Cronshaw. 1977 Belle Vue - He started racing in 1971 and was winning races from 1972, but it took 260 Dave Berresford until 1977 to win his first final. The first two were both at Nelson, this was his third. Bezz's racing career spanned 40 years, during which he won 50 finals plus the 1988 British Championship. 1978 Belle Vue - A final win for 156 Graham Blundell, who was a far better driver than his tally of 7 finals suggests. A new top-spec car saw him graded superstar for the 1990 season, but he retired through injury before he could fully realise its potential. 1979 White City - The first of two meetings in under a week at White City, and it was heat and final for 154 Brian Powles. "The Push" had been racing since 1970 and this was the 15th of his 29 final wins. Heat winner and runner-up in both the final and the Helter Skelter was 131 Pete Hodgson, who would go on to win the final at White City on New Year's Day 1980. 1980 Bradford - Taking heat and final was 190 Len Wolfenden. The Wild Wolf won his only world title at Bradford the following year, and went on to win the British two years in succession, making him the first to successfully defend the title. 1982 Belle Vue - Shale specialist 280 Simon Gill won his second final. Simon raced in two stints, 1977-1985, and then 1999-2005. Out of his 52 race wins, only 2 were on tarmac - a Consolation at Blackburn in 1978, and a heat at Bradford in 1981. 1983 Belle Vue - 53 John Lund won the final. Heat 1 was won by 33 Peter Falding, his first win in a full field, although he had won the white-top only Novice Of The Year race at Northampton the previous month. Keeping it in the family, Rod Falding won Heat 2. 1984 Belle Vue - A year after his maiden win, 33 Peter Falding took his second final, having won his first at Northampton the previous month. 1985 Belle Vue - "Mr Beef", 85 Ray Tyldesley took the final, ahead of Peter Falding and Bert Finnikin. All three would go on to be world champions. 1986 Belle Vue - 1986 was the year that John Lund went from being not bad to being not far off brilliant. Boxing Day was his 13th final win of the year, which included victory in the Scottish Championship. The following year he would do even better... 1988 Long Eaton - By now, Lundy was very much at the top of his game, as shown with this Boxing Day result of heat win, final win, and 4th in the HS from the handicap. 1989 Long Eaton - Perhaps a foretelling of what was to come the following September, Bert Finnikin beat John Lund to the chequered in the main event. 1990 Long Eaton - 77 Ian Platts only raced intermittently, but when he did, he was good. Very good. He won 11 finals between 1989 and 1996, this being the fifth. After a stunning semi-final win, much was expected of Platts from his front row start in the 1996 World Final, but he did not feature in the race at all. 1991 Long Eaton - For reasons unkown, just 3 races were run, with 152 Andy Maynard winning the first one. The top 3 in the final were 33 Peter Falding, 515 Frankie Wainman Jnr, and 362 Lionel Shaw. 1992 Bolton - Local man 273 Keith Jones was runner-up to Peter Falding in Heat 1, but beat him to the chequered in the Final. Keith raced from 1978 to 1993, winning 14 races in total. This was his only final. 1993 Bolton - Occasional racer 200 Owen Brown was better known for his distinctive looking cars than race wins, and this was his only final win. 52 Craig Howarth won a heat and the Helter Skelter, with the other heat going to 1994 British Champion, the late 109 Phil Smith. Also in the results was 518 Rob Speak. 2012 Coventry - A good day for the Neachell brothers, as 322 James won Heat 1 and 321 Ed won the final. Ed followed this up with second place in the HS. 2013 Coventry - 21 Mark Gilbank was on top form, taking heat, final, and allcomers race. Mark started racing in 1991 and this was his 22nd final win. Acknowledgements Info from: briscaf1stox.uk by Paul Broderick, The F1 60th Season Final Fact Book by Nigel Anderson & Guy Parker, BriSCA F1 - The First Fifty Years by Keith Barber, and my head

My On This Day posts seemed to go down quite well last year (well, there were hardly any complaints ) so I thought I might do a few more now it's the closed season again. There's only one meeting known to have taken place on 9th December, and that was at Aldershot in 1954. The Final was won by 88 L Thompson from Farnborough. Like many of the drivers from the early days, not much is known about them. If anyone happens to have any more info about him/her, or photos, please send it in my direction. (And 85n525's )

Wednesday 6th October 1954 Perry Barr Stadium in Birmingham has a colourful past. Built as an athletics ground in 1927, it has been host to speedway, cycling, horse jumping, Aston Villa FC's training ground, and during World War 2 it was a POW camp. It also hosted 7 stock car meetings; this one being won by 6 Lionel Watling. Thursday 6th October 1955 The records show a meeting at Aldershot on this day, but no results are known. Sunday 6th October 1957 Lydden Hill was won by pioneer driver 73 Vic Ferriday, who raced from the very beginning of the sport, and in an 11 year career he won 20 Finals plus a World Semi-Final in 1962. Tuesday 6th October 1959 His final win at Southampton was the beginning of a hat-trick for 38 Fred Mitchell. He went on to win at Oxford on Thursday and Staines on Friday. Thursday 6th October 1960 Heat and Final wins at Aldershot for 25 Pat Willis from Eton. His racing career spanned 18 years and he won 18 finals. Saturday 6th October 1962 Ken Freeman was a pioneering car builder in the very early days of the sport, and cars being put together in the late 1990s still showed signs of his influence. But aside from being an innovative engineer, he was also an accomplished driver, and this final at Coventry was just one of the 43 he won, making him the 30th all-time highest final winner. At Belle Vue the same night, Alan Wardropper won the main event. Sunday 6th October 1968 Heat and Final at Northampton for 375 George Ansell. He was known as The King Of Tar, and the vast majority of his 54 Finals came on the hard tracks. Saturday 6th October 1973 A heat win at Coventry for 295 James Thompson, his second race win. His only other came a month earlier, also at Coventry. Taking the Final, and with it the recently introduced Grand National Championship title, was 391 Stu Smith. At White City the same night, 119 Brian Wallace won the main event while the Novice Of The Year title went to 208 Martin "Hoss" Fernihough, whose company MHF Truck & Plant Hire is still on some stock cars to this day. Sunday 6th October 1974 Probably the best points score in his career, 348 Tony Allen won heat and final at Northampton, and then finished third in the GN. Saturday 6th October 1979 It is almost staggering to think it nowadays, but in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the sport was so big that there were enough drivers and fans to be able to run two meetings under 100 miles apart on a Saturday night. That said, there were only a few formulae to go and watch or compete in, compared to the 50+ that there are today. On home ground at Rochdale, 396 Doug Cronshaw placed 5th in his heat before winning the final and then coming through for fourth in the Grand National. Meanwhile, 391 Stu Smith did slightly better after by-passing his local track and travelling to Coventry, where he recorded a heat third, final win, and second in the GN. Saturday 6th October 1984 The second half of the 1984 season saw 100 Harry Smith in top form. Between the beginning of August and the end of the season, he won 10 Finals, including this one at Coventry. Sunday 6th October 1985 Five winners from seven races at Skegness, starting with a White/Yellow Top Race won by 97 Murray Harrison. The Grand National Championship was next, won by 212 Frankie Wainman, who also won Heat 1. Heat 2 was 433 John Thorpe, 190 Len Wolfenden won the Consolation and Helter Skelter, with 304 Dave Mellor winning the Final. This was Big Dave's penultimate main event victory; his 47th and final came at Coventry in June 1989. Saturday 6th October 1990 Now at the very peak of his career, 53 John Lund took the final at Coventry. This was the first of 5 finals for Lund in October 1990. Sunday 6th October 1991 Heat, Final, and 4th in the GN from the handicap at Northampton for 422 Nigel Whorton in the legendary Clive Lintern built "Red Arrow 9" car. Five years later, it was bought by a guy that raced it only 4 times and then dumped it at the bottom of his garden, where it remained for the next 23 years. It has recently been restored by the Lee Fairhurst team, and looks stunning. Sunday 6th October 1996 The second ever F1 meeting at Wimbledon saw 515 Frankie Wainman take a clean sweep of both heats and final. Saturday 6th October 2001 The first of two back-to-back Coventry finals for 21 Mark Gilbank. Eight of Mark's 25 final wins were at Coventry. Sunday 6th October 2002 The heats at Belle Vue were won by 515 Frankie Wainman and 391 Andy Smith, and 180 Ray Witts the Consolation, but come the final, these three battled with each other plus a few more besides, and 383 Dave Johnson got away to take the win. This was his 20th and last final win; the first came at Bradford in June 1989. Saturday 6th October 2007 Victory in Heat 1 at Coventry for 515 Frankie Wainman was the only win of the night for the superstar drivers. The other heats went to 291 Dan Squire and 322 James Neachell, with 35 Neil Shenton winning the Consolation. The final was the fourth, and to date, last, main event for 152 Neil Scothern, and 21 Mark Gilbank won the Grand National. Saturday 6th October 2012 The Trust Fund was staged at Coventry, and in a change from the usual format, the trophy went to the highest placed red top in the final. That was race winner 4 Dan Johnson. Dan won Novice Of The Year in 2006, and has since gone on to win the National Points, European (twice), UK Open, World Of Shale, and Gold Cup titles, plus 24 meeting finals. Sunday 6th October 2013 Day two of a big Coventry weekender and 259 Paul Hines raced to a heat and final double. While the Saturday night had attracted a big turnout of cars and fans, the Sunday afternoon session had considerably fewer punters on the terraces. Sunday 6th October 2019 It should have been Round 3 of the Shoot Out at Sheffield, but after weeks of heavy rain the back straight was under water, and the meeting postponed for a couple of weeks. Had the programme been printed, this piece would have been in it.

Some moments of stox history that took place on 11th June over the years, all courtesy of the superb BriSCA F1 Stox website. Saturday 11th June 1955 A team race event was held at Norwich, where George Foulger (29i) won 3 races, including the final. No other results are known. Saturday 11th June 1960 Fred Mitchell (38) won the final at Long Eaton. Monday 11th June 1962 Back than, as now, Bank Holiday Monday meant Belle Vue, and Johnny King (6) won the final. Saturday 11th June 1966 The race winners at Harringay were Alan Wardropper, Les Mitchell, Alan England, and Ian Ireland in the heats, and Peter Guinchard in the final. This was the days before SCOTA/Spedeworth... Sunday 11th June 1972 Stu Smith won heat and final, and placed third in the GN at Snetterton. Willie Harrison (2) did slightly better at Aycliffe, winning heat, final, and GN. Saturday 11th June 1977 Dave Taylor (30) won the Notts & Derby Trophy at Long Eaton. Sunday 11th June 1978 Yellow top Sam "Fozzie" Frater won the Consolation at Hartlepool, one of four career race wins, all of which were in 1978. Saturday 11th June 1983 Stu Smith won the final at the World Qualifying round at Blackburn. At Long Eaton the same night, Bert Finnikin won heat, final, and the "Half Crown Dash" - whatever that was! Saturday, 11th June 1988 Pat Northcliffe (336) won the final at Long Eaton, his first and only. Sunday 11th June 1989 A "different" meeting format at Hednesford for the European Championship, with John Lund taking the title and Peter Falding winning the meeting final. Saturday 11th June 1994 The Grand Prix Series round at Long Eaton saw a first ever race win for Dave Willis (337), and a heat and final double for Rob Cowley (73). Sunday 11th June 1995 Neil Long (79) was at the very peak of his F1 career, taking two heats and the final at Northampton. Sunday, 11th June 2000 Consolation and final double for Peter Falding at Buxton's World Qualifier. Saturday 11th June 2005 FWJ won the Scottish Championship at Cowdie. And finally, one that's not from that website... Wednesday 11th June 2003 Stoxnet went live. The first ever post was by Stoxnet's creator, Daniel, and just said "A new forum... but will it stay here? Who knows..." That was 13 years ago. Yep, Stoxnet is now a teenager