A CHARITY stock car race night took place recently to raise money in honour of an Alloa woman who passed away.

Michelle Freck, of Alloa, died in November last year after a short battle with illness.

Kevin McQueen, of Hardie Race Promotions, said: "Michelle was a much-loved character in the community.

"She was involved in various roles with us throughout her adult life, most recently with us at Lochgelly Raceway."

Michelle spent the last few weeks of her life at Strathcarron Hospice and the community decided to come together to raise money for Strathcarron and the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH).

A race night was organised for Saturday, November 2 with the sole aim of raising awareness and as much money as possible for the two charities.

A sponsored ladies race was arranged with around 20 drivers taking to the track – many for the first time ever.

As well as raising funds from the event, racing fans were given the opportunity to grace the track as passengers for a minimum donation, entrusting their drivers to take them around the raceway in damp greasy conditions.

Multiple cars took to the track for each race, with 12 events being held across the night.

Each outing served up some great action as the drivers competed to win the inaugural Michelle Freck Memorial Shield.

"The lead changed hands numerous times throughout the race with almost 10 cars challenging for the lead at one point" Kevin added.

"Cars were hitting the barriers, spinning out and colliding with others – it was a super race that Michelle would have been proud of."

On the evening, a fantastic sum of money was raised with the total amount of £7,235.50 to be split between the two charities.

Kevin and everybody at Hardie especially want to thank everyone involved as well as the 1300 Stock Car drivers that loaned out their cars for the ladies race, and the Hot Rod and CC Rod drivers that volunteered their time, cars, safety equipment and fuel to give passengers the experience of a lifetime.