Saturday 7th May 1955

Portsmouth

Most of the 5,000-plus crowd who watched Saturday’s stock car race meeting at Portsmouth Stadium went home with J Muggeridge marked in their programmes as the champion driver. In the exciting confusion of wrecked cars, flying cylinders, and steaming radiators, they had not noticed a change of position towards the end of the 20 lap final. And the lap scorers and announcers had not noticed either. But the drivers made no such mistakes, and a pits discussion after the meeting meant the difference between a £15 second prize and a 30 first prize for N Brown of Southampton. But Muggeridge, who comes from Brighton, was the star of the meeting. In his green and red American tourer, which he drives to work and back every day, finished second in his heat and semi-final by virtue of cool and consistent driving. His car was the only one on track fitted with headlights, and after one collision in the final, a short circuit set them flashing for the remainder of the race. He had got away to a clear lead in the final., but as the field of 19 was reduced to ten and less, the wrecked cars became obstacles. With only two or three laps to go, Muggeridge was caught, and a deft flick sent him spinning into the centre of the track. He soon recovered, but not in time to prevent Brown and A Haines, also of Southampton, getting in front. The only other driver to make a serious challenge in the final was E Salmon, the former Bristol Speedway rider. With skilful cornering and ruthless tactics, he worked his way from the back mark and was challenging for second place when his coil burnt out. Five races tested sturdy cars and tough drivers, and the crowd saved a special cheer for drivers who climbed, always smiling, out of overturned cars. These drivers, back behind the safety fence, then had to watch the rest of the field racing round and sometimes battering their forsaken vehicles. If Salmon was able to employ his speedway knowledge to good effect, C Hamilton did not find his Goodwood tactics so easy to apply. But with typical tenacity, he drove seven laps with most of his car’s bodywork trailing behind to finish sixth in his heat. Another driver showed that having all one’s wheels is not exactly a necessity in stock car racing. He drove for lap after lap without his offside rear wheel and found his broadsides much easier to control. The two heats were both won by cars form the same stable at Swanwick, driven by Haines, and W Davis of Portsmouth. Davis failed to finish in the Senior Semi-Final, which Haines won, but he was given another chance in the final and finished in fourth place. In the first heat, six cars finished out of ten starters, and in the second, six out of nine. Seven out of eleven completed the laps of the Senior Semi-Final, but in the Junior Semi-Final only three of nine starters reached the finish. The Final saw a field of 19 whittled down to 8. The crowd would have no complaints about flying soot at this meeting, or about the thrills of the racing. Each of the five events were fought out relentlessly, but very sportingly, from start to finish. The handshakes and acknowledgements between drivers after races is enough to show the sceptics that stock car racing is not just a stunt or spectacle, but another sport of the modern age. (Portsmouth Evening News, 9th May 1955)

The Junior Semi-Final was for newcomers and novices, the Senior Semi-Final was for more experienced drivers.