STOCK CAR RACING
Situated at Streatlam, on the outskirts of Barnard Castle, lies Barford Raceway – a haven to stock car enthusiasts since 1990.
Stock car racing originated in the USA and was first seen in England with greyhound or speedway tracks being the perfect venue. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name “stock car”.
As you can probably imagine with cars going at speed around a tight greyhound track, the sport couldn’t ever be described as “non-contact”.
In fact, they regularly hold “demolition derbies” which does what the name suggests... For the spectator this is all part of the thrill and exciting entertainment.
At Barford they hold events twice a month between March and November, which draw crowds and competitors from a wide area.
Organiser Charlie Whitfield said: “We have competitors travel from all over the country; they may compete somewhere else on the Saturday and then come here to finish the weekend on the Sunday.”
The sport is open to all ages with age groups of 7-11, then 12-16, before heading into the adult classes.
Barford accommodates all those who are keen to get involved.
“At each event we have different categories and it’s great for getting the younger ones involved before they move up into the full class,” said Charlie.
Barford Raceway is a popular destination amongst its core group of supporters and they are keen to attact more.
The track is full member of the British Stockcar Association, The Oval Racing Council International and the British Racing Safety Executive.
“We are obviously weather dependant with everything being outside, but we do really well with crowds as well as competitor numbers which is obviously important,” added Charlie.
“Clearly, as with everything, we strive to get more people in and to get the word out as sometimes people just don’t know about us.”
For me, as a complete novice to the sport, there was a certain thrill to be had watching cars from F1 heritage stockcars to mini F2 stockcars fly round an oval no bigger than a running track, whilst trying their hardest to avoid the other ten cars.
Watching and knowing that at some point the inevitable will happen as it did in most races, and a car is sent into a wild spin, blocking the path of others and the crash, bang and wallop that then ensues.
To experience the excitement of stock car racing for yourself, head along to the next event at Barford Raceway, Streatlam, on Sunday, September 29, 12pm start. Details from barfordraceway.com. Admission on the gate is £12 adults, £8 concessions, £6 kids (U10 free).
