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2025-11-17
And with that, the 2025 GBE UK-sponsored National Points Championship Shootout came to an end. 1 Tom Harris defended his title at Odsal Stadium, Bradford, last Saturday night to huge plaudits from race fans and fellow drivers.
Entering Round twelve of twelve, Tom had a 47-point advantage over 2nd placed 217 Lee Fairhurst, and whilst the title wasn't a given, it would be a big ask for his fellow competitors to overturn that deficit.
Pre-meeting, we held our final Shootout Jnr draw, and once again, large numbers watched competition winner Jedd draw the cars out of their allocated box. Jedd was fab, some proper comedy (at the expense of certain drivers) and brilliant engagement from the onlookers. Good start. The six Shootout stars were then taken to the track, where they supported Dave Crosby in his annual remembrance speech. A poignant moment for sure to remember those who we have lost over the past twelve months.
There was a real buzz in the pits before the racing got underway, a really big crowd in attendance. I am invested, and of course, I am going to say this, but 100% the Shootout puts 'bums on seats'. Whilst I appreciate calls in some quarters for a season-long championship to recognise the 'points champion', the sport has moved on. The 'race for Silver' in its current guise works...more than that, it really, really works! Every measurement confirms it...this is a good thing!
On to the racing, which got underway on a dry, and relatively warm (for nearly Winter) evening. Heat 1 featured Tom, Lee and 515 Frankie Wainman Jr. All eyes were on this threesome. If Frank or Lee wanted to claim Silver, they would have to deal with Tom from the outset...and Frankie, to be fair, gave it a good go. A few laps in, bumpers were engaged, and Tom and Frankie were having an epic duel. Disappointingly, this came to an abrupt end coming out of turn 4. The spun car of 259 Paul Hines faced the oncoming traffic. Tom escaped the ensuing melee, but Frankie and Lee did not have similar luck. This was the start of a torrid night for the 217 machine. Lee tried to fire his gladiatorial steed back up after getting caught in the incident. Seconds passed, eventually the car moved, but cut out again. This continued until Lee came to a final stop just past the starter. Yellow flags were called, and typically, Lee then drove to the safety of the infield.
Frankie at the restart was 12th, and set about catching Tom...but misfortune for 515 as he suffered a flat outside rear with five laps to go. Tom raced to 2nd. Frankie and Tom were in the Consolation race.
Heat 2, and the remaining Shootout drivers, 526 Finn Sargent, 368 Callum Thornton and 212 Danny Wainman were in this one. Mathematically, they couldn't claim Silver, but all three were still able to climb to the 2nd spot come meeting's end. In addition to the accolade of 'where they finished' in the championship, big money was against each position; the higher the finish, the more £££ coming their way. A massive thank you at this point to all the sponsors who have supported the Shootout; it really does make a huge difference, and certainly would be nowhere near as good without their involvement.
212 Danny Wainman was a man on a mission in this one, and he had a superb battle with 138 Dave Polley. Some proper stock car racing between the pair, with Danny ultimately getting the advantage and finishing 4th. It didn't help Danny's Shootout standing, however, as rival 526 Finn Sargent took 2nd place behind race winner 345 Jake Harrhy. 368 Callum Thornton recorded a DNF and would join Lee and Frankie in the Consolation race.
So... for Frankie to remain able to claim Silver, he would have to either win or place 2nd in the Consolation. Lee would have to finish in a points-scoring position. Green flag, how would this play out?
Well, it was looking super positive for the pair, at the halfway stage Frankie was leading, with Lee a couple of places behind, only for disaster to befall the 217 machine once again. The undiagnosed car issue caused Lee to come to a halt on the home straight, unable to get moving. Yellow flags were thrown, and the race was brought under caution. Lee was out of the Consolation and out of contention for the Silver roof.
The best Lee could hope for was 2nd now. For Frankie, it was still doable, but you really couldn't script this. With only three laps remaining, he suffered another right rear failure. A clearly deflated (see what I did there) 515 continued, in the hope he could still qualify for the meeting Final. He did, just in 9th. Callum had a better time coming home 4th.
Not how anyone would have liked it to play out, but sitting in the grandstand, 1 Tom Harris became the 2025 National Points Shootout Champion for the 7th time in his racing career. A huge achievement and a clearly delighted Tom shared as much when BSCDA TV sought his immediate reaction back in the pit area. We weren't done, however, with positions two to six still up for grabs.
With Lee F not in the meeting Final, it was looking hopeful for Frank that he would overtake Lee into 2nd spot. It was a cautious drive from Silsden superstar, clearly not wanting to risk a third puncture of the night. It worked; he got 4th behind 526 Finn Sargent, who was having a mega night. Going into the TG Brown & Son-sponsored Final, Finn was still in the hunt for 2nd spot overall, and this performance did not harm his chances one bit! Danny got involved with DP once more, this time coming off significantly worse. A DNF for Danny, and a boatload of damage to go with it.
It was great to see Tom claim P1 in the Final and be able to celebrate his points championship at the same time, in front of the clearly appreciative Odsal crowd. The new Shootout format has run for two years, with Tom winning both times. His challengers in 2026 have to do something different if they have clear designs on wrestling this one way from the multi-champion.
With his result in the meeting Final, Frankie Wainman Jnr moved into 2nd, Lee Fairhurst dropping to 3rd in the standings. In the Grand National, Lee would need Frank to score a DNF and himself a 1st or a 2nd. Still lots to play for. Despite a strong early race pace, Lee once again failed to finish (as did Frankie). You really would not have taken a bet pre-meeting that Lee would score 0 points on the night.
Unfathomable. It must be a bitter pill to swallow for the Fairhurst team...the first two meetings of Shootout Stage 3, 76 points scored. The second two meetings, just 8.
526 Finn Sargent, in his best Shootout meeting of the series, finished 2nd in the GN and delivered a meeting total of 40 points. In the end, Finn finished 4th overall, only 4 points behind Lee. Danny W had a good result in the last race of the night, but it wasn't enough to take 5th place from Callum. The full and finalised points chart can be found below.
A huge thank-you to everyone who has been involved: drivers, fans, promoters and the BSCDA PR Team. All are as important as each other in making this the most talked-about championship of the season.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this weekly e-news. We will continue to send out Ad-hoc updates over the closed season. We have one more meeting until the 'final curtain', and that is the Gala Night on Saturday at Skegness Raceway. This meeting features the Under 25 Championship, and Emily Notman has been working tirelessly behind the scenes in her fundraising efforts. The prize-pot at this stage is over £4k - an amazing figure, and will certainly give all drivers something to race for. If you would like to support, there is still time. Head over to the dedicated Under 25's page on Facebook for all the details
Finally, BSCDA TV has some fab content for you this week. Not only do we have all the stories from the final round, but we also have 'Jack & Joe' with their highly anticipated 3rd episode dissecting Shootout 2025. Enjoy!
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