Spedeworth International's drivers delivered a night of fittingly good old fashioned, hard, fast and full contact stock car racing in a memorial meeting for one of the sport's greats Aubrey 'Foxy' Dance at Wimbledon Stadium on February 29th.
Foxy, who gained his nickname due to the 'Basil Brush' Fox that always affixed to the roof of his cars raced in a wide variety of formulas and drivers from each of them really put on a great show in his memory on a cold February night.
The awesome V8 Stock Cars got things off to a good start, with the drivers putting the pedal down despite severe dust clouds from the speedway circuit that borders the stock car track. 112, Pete Stevens took the first heat. The Foxy Dance Trophy final saw the V8s slowed considerably by snow that left Plough Lane more akin to a skating rink than a racetrack. 805, Steve Spinks overcame the difficult conditions to take the win ahead of 238, Darren Mitchell and 33, Terry Harris.
The 130cc Stock Cars provided plenty of the kind of action Foxy would have approved of with the bumpers going in at every opportunity and cars spinning out, rolling over and smashing into the safety fence in a shower of sparks all night long. The big final was a typically full-blooded affair, with a complete restart being called as the cars piled into each other before the green flag fell. When the race proper got under way the action came thick and fast until 10, Samantha Holland defeated the pack, with 23, Lee Pearce in second and 414, Neil Peters in third.
The 2.0 Hot Rods made for especially poignant racing on the night as Foxy's son Rob Dance campaigns a car in the formula. Wearing number 70 and still bearing the famous Fox mascot on the roof Rob has inherited a lot of his dad's racing skills and is a firm favourite with the fans as he keeps the racing legend's name alive on the stock car track. While he was in the thick of the action on the night the trophy paying tribute to his father went to 43, Paul Wright with 197, Mickey Pagden in second and 22, Daniel Payne in third.
The Superstox were known as F2 Stock Cars when Foxy raced in the formula, but the high-speed, full-contact racing was the same. The amount of crashes and damage incurred throughout the night saw a reduced field for the final, but a quality race ensued none the less. The win went to 174, Paul Poulter followed by 482, Jason Cooper and 710, Kevin Mallett.It was a great night's racing and a fitting tribute to a true legend of the stock car track. There will be more action on Sunday March 14th when the Young Guns and Stars of the Past Banger racers take to the track at Wimbledon Stadium, Britain's finest oval racing circuit.
