STOCK CAR racing was once a big draw to Newton Aycliffe with 3,000 people gathering at an ash stadium to see the biggest names of the 1970s crashing around the oval course.
“My uncle, Chris Simpson, ran the biggest roofing firm in the North of England, Simpson's Roofings which was based in Gilesgate, Durham,” says Malcolm Rolling in Durham.
“His family were all car mad and Chris had a Ford V 8 Pilot car which was his stock car. It had huge girders around it and a railway sleeper front and back. Another uncle, Eddie Thornton, who was top mechanic at Adams and Gibbons in the city, was his mechanic.
“The car was a monster and was number N9 and was called the Gilesgate Giant.
“Chris won lots of races, both at both Aycliffe and Brough Park in Newcastle.
“The whole family used to turn out to cheer him on. A guy called Geldart was his arch rival in the races.”
READ THE FULL STORY: THE THRILLING DAYS OF STOCK RACING AT AYCLIFFE
AND: DO YOU REMEMBER STOCK CAR RACING AT AYCLIFFE STADIUM?
And Mason Scarr in Bainbridge, in Wensleydale beyond Leyburn, says: “I have many memories of myself and my late friend Michael Walker going to the stock car racing in the mid to late 1960s,” says Mason Scarr in Bainbridge, beyond Leyburn.
“I well remember Tony Neal. As a world champion, he was a ‘Gold Top' – drivers were graded in skill by the colour of their car tops: white, blue, red and gold. The white tops (the least experienced) headed the grid with the rest behind and the gold tops went last. This made it very exciting racing – I often think if Formula 1 races started this way, they would be much more interesting.
“We found we liked to watch from one of the corners, although you had to make sure the wind was behind you because it was an ash surfaced track. We tried the grandstand one night but it was a bit like watching a tennis match.
“Wandering round the pits between races was another thing we liked to do as we could see the mechanics rolling their cars onto their sides to work on the suspensions and welding frames and so on.
“The Destruction Derbies, especially when the track crossed over in the middle of the course, the Repechage and finally the Grand Final – it was all good fun.
“I took my wife once when we were courting and she still remembers it!”
If you’ve got anything to add, please email chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk
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