The Caged Open meeting has seen many differing formats and various venues over the years, as we like to give a little back to the racing scene. The event originated at Standlake back in 2018 with 7 Aaron Charles winning the Under 1800 Non-Mondeo title and 364 Nathan Olden taking the honours for the Unlimiteds, and it remained under that format with an introduction of a Back to Basics title also. The meeting shifted to Mendips for a couple of years and now finds itself here at the Adrian Flux Arena, which is fitting given that it is the home of the Caged! Promotion of the Year for the past 4 years.
This year sees the return of the 2 Litre Bangers. Current title holder 186 Lewis Fasey is not set to compete, which is understandable given he is set to compete at St Day on Sunday and it’s a hefty commute between the two venues, so a new champion is set to be crowned. 51 James Licquorice and 69 Brad Bartram took place in their first Unlimited World Championship at Ipswich last weekend representing Trackstar, and both gave strong accounts of themselves. They’ll both be keen to get their names on this trophy, although both will also look to try and claim one of the entertainer awards that available on the day. There are numerous drivers set to feature that regularly display the page on their cars, and it would be great to see one of them take the title. 178 ‘Slim’ Kieran Bowman is one of the most loyal supporters of the page, and he’s proved on many occasion how he can get a Mondeo around the Adrian Flux Arena. 830 ‘Stretch’ Lee White is another very quick driver, whilst 552 ‘Blacknuts’ Karl Douglas has somehow managed to find himself downgraded to the blue grade and he will be a threat from there. 59 Tom Greenstreet came close to taking the 2L Shale World Final here last time the class was here, and will be looking to put that behind him and make a challenge here. There’s a surprise entrant in the form of 1300 Stock Car English Champion 137 Curtis Tebbenham. ‘Tebbz’ has had a banger outing already this year taking part in the 1600 Bangers at Ipswich earlier in the year and had some strong results and will be looking to get amongst the places again. Curtis has garnered a big following through his TebbzRacing YouTube blogs, and has commented previously about his admiration for banger drivers and pages like Caged, so it’s great to see him have a go. We have a host of stellar names including 12 Troy Cobbett, 28 Mac Bell, 212 Jack Maryon, 248 Jamie Blything, 312 Brad White, 337 Ashley Garrod, 370 Johnny Cobbold, 687 Mark Cross and 699 Aaron Nelson to name just a few. 908 David Brown makes another welcomed visit from the South West and there’s several Scrapyard Screamers to mix up the action as well as Aftermath entertainer 23 Sonny Parsons and the always entertaining 910 Jack Rookard.
If that’s not enough, we also have an impressive 60+ 1600 Bangers set to feature for their Caged Open. 12 Troy Cobbett, 69 Brad Bartram and 337 Ashley Garrod are on double duties and will be among early favourites for the title, as will 608 Lenny Murkin. Lenny is one of the best Unders pilots in the scene, and showcases his driving ability on a frequent basis here at the Adrian Flux Arena. He also has an air of unpredictability about him that keeps you wondering whether he’s going to keep racing or go for a kamikaze big hit. 60 Dan Croskell, 340 Wes Freestone, 356 Sam Hildon, 440 Lennon Phillips, 566 Tony Pallett and 713 Oscar Preston are others that spring out as strong contenders for the title. We will be joined by more stock car names, although an array of banger experience between them both, with Saloon Stock Car star men 525 Wes Starmer and 730 Deane Mayes among the bookings. There are numerous members of Team Blue & Black booked in and you can expect them to look towards having a crash – 177 Ashley Neal has been particularly entertaining on the Spedeworth 1600 scene this year. Add in the likes of 39 Ryan Knibbs, 51 James Licquorice, 232 Levi James, 644 Alfie Sime and 910 Jack Rookard – it’s set to be a corker.
The stars of the future in the Classic Cars R Us Junior Bangers with over 40 youngsters booked in. 920 Rhys Medley, 556 Lincoln Douglas, 08 Taylor Morton and 517 Rylee Taylor have all had top seasons so far and will be looking for more silverware. They’ll have to content with some top visiting drivers too, with 113 Beau Jeanes, 516 Callum Gould, 591 Murray Hall and 618 Stanley Gill set to make rare appearances here on the Norfolk shaleway, as well as an appearance from 428 Hayden Sampson who is usually seen in the Micro Stock Cars. Last time out saw a good night for the Garrod’s, with 339 Jack Jnr and 389 Aiden heat winners alongside 70 Manson Arnold and they’ll all be hoping for more of the same tonight.
One driver that will making the step up from the Junior Bangers for the first time is 455 Lexi Finney. She will be competing in the Unlimited Lady Bangers who will be competing for their gold roof final tonight. 841 Sharon Jennings and 885 Ellie Burt share the front row of the grid after strong seasons, but it’s 110 Stacey Lightfoot that has had the most prolific having taken the most amount of wins and she tops the points standings too. You can never rule out the big guns either. 85 Danielle Ellis is a 4-time winner of the gold roof, and 477 Amy Steele has marked her stamp on the title too taking the honours twice. 28 Chloe Bricknell, 419 Laura Quadling and 502 Becca Bitson will also look to make an impression.
We’re excited to bring the Caged! Open to Kings Lynn and look forward to an all-Banger affair. We thank everything for joining us – drivers, teams, fans, staff and all that’s in between.
