And just like that...The GBE UK sponsored National Points Championship Shootout got underway at King's Lynn's Norfolk Arena last Saturday. I am a huge advocate of this Championship, I think it is such a positive for the sport...the engagement for both fans and drivers alike becomes all encompassing, and the racing, well if King's Lynn is anything to go by, do not miss a Round!

As a team we start planning for the Shootout weeks in advance, so many elements to consider and being conscious that we have to be 'as good, if not better' than previous years. There's the Shootout teamwear, the free-handouts, arranging sponsors, the website, planning the live draw, the graphics, ensuring the Race Hub is kitted out to Jonathan's specifications...the list goes on!

An early arrival at King's Lynn for the PR team to set-up for the 'live group draw'. Big thanks to Trackstar for the use of their sponsor lounge. A brilliant space and looked great on screen.

With the exception of Lee Fairhurst who couldn't attend and Kyle Gray who broke down on route, all of this year's qualified drivers were in attendance. A number of invited guests, including 2026 sponsors were with us, as was Lucy Shaw representing headline sponsor GBE UK. Company boss Anthony Flanagan was away on business, but Lucy did a sterling job, and great to hear (via Anthony) how much positivity being headline sponsor last year brought to the business.

Dave Bastock Photos of BSCDA

The 'live' draw is possibly the only time I get nervous 'talking about stock cars'. The reasoning is 'two-fold' - we are live (we can't just do it again!) and there are a lot of people watching. Figures suggest upwards of 12k! Yep...12,000 people watched the Shootout draw, amazing numbers. The second aspect is that this draw could potentially determine the fate of the Silver roof, and the success or not of a driver's season - who you get in your group is a significant factor progressing through the stages. So I am, by default, a bit nervous on behalf of the drivers themselves!

Sophie Clark was a great co-host, obtaining the initial reaction from the drivers, once they were drawn into a group. My take from listening, there are some very confident individuals who believe Shootout 2026 is their championship...bring it on.

The culmination of the draw, sixteen drivers were placed into four groups. Four meetings in Stage 1, the aim to finish in the top two, enabling progression to Stage 2 of the Championship.

The groups can be seen here, and predicting who will 'make it through' is a tough task. One group that caught my eye in particular, Group B. 446 Joe Booth, 138 Dave Polley, 16 Mat Newson and 8 Catherine Harris. The first three are brilliant shale racers, and we have three shale rounds in this stage. Catherine is far stronger on tarmac, if she can remain in contention by the time we get to Round 4 at Buxton...any of these four can progress.

BSCDA Groups A, B, C, D

Round 1, sponsored by Buxton Raceway, got underway shortly after the draw concluded. As it was a 2/3rds format (drivers racing two out of three heats) Shootout wise we had around ten per race. Heat 1 set the tone, it really was brilliant stock car racing. Quite often you see drivers racing a Heat to qualify for the meeting Final. This meeting, there was a real emphasis on scoring as many points in every race...and that brings with it some big hits, and from a spectator perspective just not knowing where to look.

446 Joe Booth was the standout in the aforementioned Heat 1, a big move on the 1 Tom Harris back bumper, taking the World Champ and group rival 138 Dave Polley to the fence was a class move. Joe finished 3rd, but no real advantage earned, as Dave P recovered to 4th, and 16 Mat Newson kept his nose clean to come home 5th.

It is pertinent to explain how cars are gridded in Stage 1 of the championship. So four meetings; meeting 1 it is Group A at the front, then B, C, D. Meeting 2, it is Group B at the front, then C,D, A. And so on.

515 Frankie Wainman Jnr had been drawn into Group D, so he would start at the back of the Shootout drivers in every race. The Silsden Superstar had a great start to his campaign coming home 2nd in Heat 2 behind Group B star 138 Dave Polley. If you recall last season, Frankie struggled in both Stage 1 and 2...clearly setting his stall out; this would not be the case this year. 446 Joe, and 16 Mat finished the race distance 5th and 4th respectively...I told you that Group B is going to be mega interesting.

408 Ant Whorton-Eales debuted his brand new Murray Harrison built Shale machine in this one. Huge plaudits to Ant and team in getting the car completed in such a short time frame; the original plan was for a World Final night debut. But when Shootout qualification came a calling - what do you do! King's Lynn would be Ant's second only appearance on dirt, a big ask to a) debut a car with no testing, b) learn how to race shale competitively and c) score Shootout points. That he did all three was just rewards, some points on the board at close of play and ready to go again in Round 2.

Heat 3 and Frank just couldn't catch the flying World Champion who had an advantageous Group A starting spot. Frankie came home 2nd behind Tom, who made up for his Heat 1 tangle with 212 Danny Wainman. Danny loves the Shootout, nearly as much as me...but he was probably the unluckiest driver Saturday night. The pace was there, in some great scoring positions, but only a single point won. Nobody said Shootout was easy.

The Meeting Final was an epic race. Big word, but justifiable. The headline 1 Tom Harris v 166 Bobby Griffin v 446 Joe Booth. Big hits, nothing silly, all wanting to take the chequered in a no holds-barred approach. You can always sense how good a race is if you can hear the crowd over the noise of the engines - the back straight at KL was loud. Shouts of encouragement for their favourite clear. In the end Tom came out victorious - check out his post race interview via BSCDA TV to see how much he enjoyed it. Joe nearly got the runners up spot, but was beaten to the man who was liking 2nds all night - 515 Frankie Wainman Jnr.

Dave Bastock Winners photo

After a subdued couple of Heats, 418 Niels Tesselaar rediscovered 'how to go quick on shale' and Shootout debutant 120 Casey Englestone followed the Dutchman home to claim 5th spot. 138 Dave Polley had his first DNF of the evening, a big coming together on the back straight with 166 Bobby G had brought the race under caution. Dave, clearly in some discomfort, would not race the Grand National.

The last race of the night and 67 Henry Robson, another driver in his first Shootout was the standout in this one, an 'elbows out' 3rd place was a statement of intent. Niels and Casey also scored well. JB got a 9th...every race he entered he scored points, and as we have seen previously, individuals have not progressed courtesy of a single point. Points are valuable...and I think I get a bonus point for using 'points' five times in two sentences...or I'll settle for a nice coffee delivered to the race hub at Saturday's Scunthorpe session.

In summary, King's Lynn was a super strong start to this year's Shootout. It was competitive, it was entertaining, and most of all enjoyable. How the Groups look after Round 1 can be viewed below, and they are super intriguing already. Far too early for any expert analysis at this stage, but it certainly illustrates what some drivers need to do in Round 2

Groups A, B, C, D Results From Round 1

Looking ahead we have two Shootout meetings this upcoming Bank Holiday Weekend. Saturday night we head to Scunthorpe for Round 2, and a start time of 4pm. Monday it is a trip for many down the M1 to Northampton Shaleway, racing getting underway at 1pm. The rounds are sponsored by MGTastic and Makim Electrical respectively.

The Shootout Race Hub will be in attendance, pop along to pick up your free wall chart, driver postcards and keep up to date with points / results via the big screen. If you can't make it, the BSCDA website will be updated throughout the course of the evening as will our Socials.

Thank you again to Buxton Raceway for their sponsorship of Round 1, thank you for reading and fingers crossed that the rain I am looking at whilst typing this 'does one' before Saturday! See you there....

BSCDA stage 1 Round 2 & 3 adverts