About

Midget speedcar racing began in Brisbane on Saturday February 22, 1936, when a couple of Englishmen and some drivers from interstate took to the dirt track at the Exhibition Grounds. It was the start of something that continues today, nine decades later. T he meeting was promoted by Frank Arthur and Bert Pryor along with their associates Vic Huxley and Roy Starfield.

The Englishmen were Jean Reville (actual name Eric Gene Reville) and Bud Stanley whose name was really Stanley Budd with Reville supplying both their cars. The interstate contingent was comprised of many of the pioneers of the sport in Australia including Charlie Spurgeon and Bill Sticpewich. Both of whom had previously raced speedway motorcycles.

The cars were mainly powered by motorcycle engines with some driving the front wheels.and others with a chain driving the rear wheels. The problem with front -wheel drive was they could drive over the car in front or climb the fence. Within a couple of year s, they had been banned.
Midgets, as they were called at the time, first raced in Australia at the Olympic Park track in Melbourne during December 1934. Sydney followed at Wentworth Park in 1935 and Camden Park in Adelaide later the same year. The first ‘official’ Australian Midge t Car Championship was held at Olympic Park on May 3, 1935, with Bob Finlay crowned the first champion. Cars had raced on the dirt speedway track at Davies Park at West End in Brisbane in the late 1920s, but they were small sedans and raced clockwise.

There were only five meetings in the Brisbane season with the motorcycles also racing at some of the shows. Renowned American stuntman Orren ‘Putt’ Mossman and his troupe appeared at the last show on Monday March 23 after rain had postponed the meeting fro m the previous Saturday.

Reville showed that he was a very accomplished driver winning many of his races with Stanley also tasting success. Others to shine were Sticpewich (JAP), Spurgeon (Harley -Davidson), Lance Wilson and Norm French in his Amilcar powered machine. There was only one Brisbane driver during this season with Bill Jeffers in a Rudge powered car from the south. Jeffers owned a motorcycle shop and was a successful sidecar racer. One interesting car was the machine used by Mark Cox. Cox was a blacksmith and had built h is own car utilising a rotary hoe engine. After some fine tuning the car was competitive.
Midget racing was also introduced to Rockhampton in 1936 with the first meeting on Thursday October 22, at the local showground. The promoter was Mr B Kemp who had four midgets and six motorcycles along with some cyclists to entertain the crowd. The carsh ad been built in Sydney by Frank Stewart who took the cars to Rocky and stayed to drive one. Six fortnightly meetings were held with Stewart eventually taking over as promoter.

Today we take visiting American drivers for granted as usually there is at least one at our major Australian meetings. Back in the 1930s it was no different. Paul Swedberg and Beale Simmons ventured here in 1939 and returned the following year. Swedberg br ought the first Offy powered car to Australia in 1940 and eventually sold it to Wally Read in Sydney. Unfortunately, the Yanks didn’t make it to Brisbane, and we would have to wait until post WW II to see any American visitors. Swedberg and Simmons had pas sed by then with the former killed in a racing accident in California in 1946 while the latter was a victim of the war.

What happened to the Englishmen? At the end of the tour Reville sold his cars to a Melbourne buyer. Stanley returned home while Reville settled in Brisbane. He purchased a reasonably large property on the top of the big hill on Cavendish Road Mt Gravatt, o pposite the college, as you travel from Creek Road.

This was the end of speedcar racing in Brisbane for the time being and with Australia involved in the War from 1939, speedway was not run on a regular basis until after the hostilities. There was also a chance that with no local cars that it would be the e nd of it, or would it?
What occurred when speedway resumed in Brisbane in 1946 was extraordinary. The next chapter ‘The 1940s – Boom Time’ will cover what was a very exciting time in Brisbane speedcar racing.

Acknowledgement and thanks Barry Lane

We continue our story about the 90 year journey of speedcar racing in Queensland. Our next chapter covers the tremendous popularity of speedcar racing after World War II. 1940s – BOOM TIME

In early 1946 the hostilities of World War II were winding down and people were getting back to normal life. During the War any kind entertainment was limited so when it was announced that speedway would return to the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds on March 9 , 1946, with a program of speedcar racing, the promoters knew they were guaranteed a big crowd.

However, it wasn’t a big crowd, it was a HUGE crowd! There were so many people they forced the gates open and even though the Police tried to restore order, they were hopelessly outnumbered. The Police wouldn’t allow the crowded trams to stop as they would only add to the problem. The newspapers reported there were between 40 and 50 thousand people on the grounds. They were up the light towers, the trees and on the roof of buildings, anywhere they could see the action.
The program consisted of speedcar racing along with cycling and trotting events. The seven speedcar drivers were Ray Revell, George Bonser, Johnny Read, Jim Cross, Bob Playfair, Belf Jones and Fred Barker, all from Sydney. Promoter Frank Arthur had contrac ted them to stay in Brisbane for a couple of months to establish the sport here.

Another attraction on the first night was the appearance of the ‘Rocket Car’ which was Revell’s car fitted with multiple rockets that looked spectacular when fired as he trave lled around the track at speed. There was no feature race on the opening night with Revell the winner of the first feature race, 10 laps, the following week. Revell had been racing since the late 1930s and was regarded as one of the best in the country. Two New Zealanders also came to Br isbane, Jack Malcolm and Max Hughes, for a couple of international contests and some major races. Revell won the first ever Queensland Championship on April 4 while Hughes won the first World Derby (20 laps) on May 10.

Most drivers of the time were using Ford A engines, a 4 -cylinder side -valve engine of about 200 cu in. with three main bearings and gravity fed oiling system. It was prone to getting hot when used for racing so most feature races at that time were 10 laps. Other engines used included Rugby, Continental Beacon and the Ford V8/60.

When the second season began in September 1946 many local drivers had purchased or built cars including Allan Belcher, John Maxwell, Ron Strong, Fred Allen and Chas Whatmore. Whatmore had done some racing on road circuits prior to the war. Revell dominated the season with 10 feature race victories. Whatmore won the ‘Closed’ Queensland Championship on December 21 that was only open to Queensland resident drivers.

At the end of the year Fred Allen, Lew Murphy, John Maxwell, Jim Cross and Ken Wylie travelled to Perth to kick -off speedcar racing at the Claremont Showground track. They stayed about 6 weeks with Wylie winning the first Western Australian Championship. W ylie sold his car to Chas Lindberg in Perth and Lindberg then travelled to Brisbane via Sydney to race.

Early in 1947 American drivers Cal Niday and Perry Grimm came to Australia to race primarily in Sydney and Brisbane. Both had cars powered by the Ford V8/60 engine fitted with Edelbrock performance equipment. Niday’s car was a Solar while Grimm had one of the new, sleek tube frame Kurtis -Krafts. They cleaned up most nights as the local drivers and cars were no match for the American professionals. The only driver who offered some competition was Ray Revell.
On June 7, 1947, Brisbane held its first 50 -lap race. It was won by Kev Gallaher (NSW), driving a car powered by a modified V -Twin motorcycle engine, with Ron Strong and Chas Whatmore following him across the line. Gallaher would lose his life in a Sydney racing accident in 1949.

In August 1947 a group of Brisbane drivers promoted some meetings at the Lismore Showground featuring speedcar racing. To be able to put on a show they transported cars on one of Ron Strong’s trucks. The meetings were reasonably successful but when the new Brisbane season commenced, they found it very difficult to both race and promote. At the end of the year former driver Doug McDonald took over the promotion which lasted until the early 1950s
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Speedway was also being run at the Ipswich Showground on Friday nights and the speedcars appeared there every couple of weeks throughout the season.

Niday and Grimm returned in 1948 and this time Niday brought the first Offy powered car to Brisbane. It was a very smart looking unit and while here Jim Cross took all the dimensions and built a couple of copies. Grimm returned with the same car but with a new paint scheme. Once again, they were very had to beat and at one point, Niday won six straight including the 50 -lap World Championship. The Americans had encouraged Ray Revell to try his luck in the USA so when they returned home, he soon followed.

Brisbane drivers were now looking to improve their equipment after witnessing the capabilities of the Yank cars. Curly Ryland was one who had a tube frame car built and one of the first times he drove it was on Main Beach at Southport where a race meeting had been organised on the sandy beach. All went well until a large wave swamped Ryland and Ivor Broughton. When Revell retuned in November he had a new car. It was an Offy from the Johnny Balch stable in Los Angeles that had won a lot of big races. He was again based back in his hometown of Sydney as the local scene was now very strong with lots of local drivers and cars.

In 1949 the visiting driver of note was Frank Brewer. He was advertised as an American but, in fact, he was a New Zealander who had been racing on the west coast of America for many years. He drove a very fast Kurtis -Kraft with a Ford V8/60 engine that was fitted with many racing bits from Eddie Meyer. Brewer was known as ‘Satan’ as he raced like the devil.

When Brewer and Revell raced on the same night there was plenty of hard -fought action and they shared the honours between them, but Brewer was the victo r in the Brisbane ‘50’. He was used to the long races in the USA where he had won a 250 -lap event. The last season of the decade had finished on a high riding the crest of a wave of popularity, but could it continue? Look for the next chapter ‘1950s – The Fall and Rise’.

Acknowledgement and thanks Barry Lane

The local speedcar scene was very strong in the 1949-50 season with the local stars Allan Belcher, John Maxwell, Ron Strong and Curly Ryland providing plenty of good racing with Ryland also winning the Queensland Championship that season.

The 1949 Australian Grand Prix was held at Leyburn on the Darling Downs and even though it wasn’t speedway, it did involve many from the speedcar fraternity. Chas Whatmore and Rex Law were entered while ‘Cappy’ Woods Hudson powered speedcar, which was fitted with larger diameter wheels, was also on the start line. The race was won by John Crouch who had raced speedcars in Sydney during the 1930s.

The Exhibition track hosted a ‘Australian Championship’ with Frank Brewer the winner while Ray Revell was too good in the World Championship. It was during this period that Hollywood thought it was a good idea to have movies about racing. Both ‘The Big Wheel’ starring Mickey Rooney and ‘To Please A Lady’ with Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck were about a driver who started in midgets and ended up in the Indianapolis 500. The latter was a better production.

The following season set the local speedway scene back many years. The main arena of the Exhibition Grounds was unavailable as major work was being carried out. It meant no racing took place until well into 1951 and then it was only bikes. One new bike rider was Keith Blicharski who would race speedcars in the late 1960s, early 1970s. The local speedcars were invited to race at the Gatton Showground after some of the members helped build a fence. Only a couple of shows were conducted and after a car went through the fence, racing stopped.

The 1951-52 season proved to be very poor. Competitor numbers in both cars and bikes had fallen and likewise the patronage had dropped. With very little racing the previous season, people had found other things to do such as the movies, football, horse racing and the like.

A new track, Riverview Park, in south Lismore opened for afternoon meetings and the local drivers were joined by some from Brisbane including Steve Howman. Unfortunately, Howman was involved in a nasty accident when he struck a car that had stalled on the track. It was so dusty the drivers couldn’t see. Another driver who raced there was Dave Leonard who lived at Tweed Heads but eventually moved to Brisbane to live and race. Revell again cleaned up the major Brisbane meetings with Brewer following him home on each occasion.

Speedcar racing at the Exhibition the following season, 1952-53, was spasmodic with little interest shown by new drivers. Riverview was struggling and eventually the speedway moved back to the Lismore Showground. During May Frank Brewer won five consecutive feature races including the local ‘Australian Championship.’ Unfortunately, May 2 was a sad day for local racing when the popular Curly (Cecil) Ryland was killed during a heat race when his car rolled and he was thrown onto the track. He was a successful businessman from Maryborough who flew to Brisbane to race while his car stayed in Brisbane and was maintained by John Maxwell. The accident showed how dangerous the sport could be and as a result some of the drivers with families, retired.

The 1953-54 season was dismal for the speedcars. Very few drivers were still involved and consequently there wasn’t a lot of racing. A couple of big shows at the end of the season resulted in wins for Frank Brewer. Another interstate visitor was Kym Bonython (SA) who was not only a good speedcar driver but was also the promoter of the very successful Rowley Park in Adelaide.

The following season was dominated by Steve Howman (8 wins) and Allan Belcher (6 wins). The stockcars were introduced in January 1955 which improved the crowds dramatically and possibly saved speedway in Brisbane. The first local Holden powered speedcar debuted in April 1955 in the hands of Eddie Brennan and won first night out.

Things started to improve in 1955 – 56 with new drivers Lew Marshall, Bill Goode and twins Kevin and Les Jefferson. Promoter, Frank Arthur, introduced speedway at the Toowoomba Showground with meetings being held on Friday nights. Speedcars did run some shows, but drivers had to hurry up the range after work and the road was nothing like the four-lane highway of today. The speedcar association also promoted some shows at the Ipswich Showground on Wednesday nights but were not financially successful. Steve Howman had another great season with 11 wins including a Queensland Championship. Interstate visitors included Ray Revell, Kym Bonython and burly Jack O’Dea (Vic).

The new season again featured an influx of new drivers including Barrie Watt, Wal Tedman, Roy Barker, and Les D’Arcy. Watt would go on to race for 54 years while Wal Tedman had been a prisoner of war who now ran a fruit shop at Mt Gravatt. D’arcy had a short career, retiring after a very spectacular accident. American visitor, Dick ‘Jet’ Brown,’ had a successful stint in Queensland but was beaten by Bill Goode in a 10-lap ‘Australian Championship’ at Toowoomba. The speedcar association negotiated with the Redcliffe Council to run speedway at the local showground, however they had to fix the safety fence which was unsuitable. The members set about building a fence around the track which was a mammoth task as the track was 643 metres on the pole line. It was hoped the track would open during the second half of 1957.

Redcliffe opened on Saturday afternoon, 10 August 1957 with 4000 spectators witnessing the action of the solos, sidecars, gnats and speedcars. Meetings were soon changed to Saturday nights and ran most weeks until the Exhibition season began. Dave Leonard purchased a Holden powered car from Sydney and over the next couple of seasons turned the car into the very smart looking ‘Chromeline Special.’ Steve Howman added another Queensland Championship to his resume while the very tall Harry Neale (SA) won the other major events.

Redcliffe continued the following season with the crowds between 1500-2000. Being so big the track was hard on machinery and some competitors opted not to run there. Howman was now running a Repco-Holden engine which was the grey Holden motor fitted with a crossflow head developed by Repco. It was quite successful, so Howman decided to travel to Adelaide to contest some big races at Rowley Park. He was seriously injured in an accident there on 2 January 1959 and passed away two days later. It was a huge loss for his family and local racing. He had been the man who organised the Redcliffe shows and that role was taken on by Bill Goode. Roll bars were introduced and made compulsory later the same year.

The young Gibb brothers, Barry, Robin and Maurice, who became the Bee Gees, had their first paid performance when they sang on the back of a truck during the Redcliffe meeting on 14.2.1959 and people tossed money over the fence for them to collect.

The decade had seen a major turn around for Brisbane speedcar racing after things looked ominous six years earlier. However, the passing of the very popular Steve Howman was a loss felt for many years to come.

Things were about to get very interesting as the years turned to the next decade so watch out for the chapter - 1960s – A Great Era.

Acknowledgement and thanks Barry Lane

If the 1950s were an up and down period for local speedcar racing, the 1960s would see a huge resurgence in the sport. More drivers, better equipment and visits by many interstate and overseas stars.
Bill Goode, Allan Belcher, Barrie Watt, Kevin Jefferson, Des Kelly, Aub Knowles and Reg Longden were joined by many new drivers including the Finglas brothers, Brian and Ian, Roy Didlock and Blair Shepherd who had purchased the late Steve Howman’s Repco-Holden. Within a couple of seasons Shepherd would be the first to own an Offenhauser powered American built car in Brisbane. Over the years he owned many Offenhausers, and before the decade was over, he would be Queensland’s first national champion.
American Bob Tattersall had his first visit to Brisbane in 1960 and proved to be a real fan favourite, attracting large crowds to see him race. He would visit the River City every year for the next ten years. Frank Arthur and other promoters could see that with imported drivers more big shows could be held that guaranteed financial success. Consequently, Tattersall would often tour with another driver from the land of stars and stripes. Leroy Warriner, 3-time USAC champion Jim Davies, Sherman Cleveland, Mike McGreevy and Merle Bettenhausen were just some that joined Tattersall in Australia.
On many occasions their cars would be sold to local drivers. Bill Goode became the second Brisbane Offy owner when he purchased the car Jim Davies used during his 1964 tour and Barry Valentinna took over the car Tattersall used in 1965. In 1967, Joe James bought McGreevy’s car for Barrie Watt to drive while Des Kelly became the new owner of Tattersall’s car. All the cars had good histories and had been winners in the USA.
Another to join the ranks was a tearaway from the Hot Rod ranks, Ron Wanless. He bought the Dave Leonard Holden and set about making a name for himself. Within a couple of seasons, he also had an Offy and was a backmarker winning races. It is easy to see why Brisbane was known as the Offy capital of Australia.
During the 1960s, the Junior Speedcars (Compacts) were also very strong with lots of cars so it was no surprise that drivers of the smaller cars would move up to the speedcars. Gary Sacre, Bob Morgan, Danny Davidson, Brian Dillon and Keith Lavery are just some that transitioned with ease. Sacre ended up driving an Offy for car dealer Bert Marwood and was a smooth operator while Bob Morgan won many races in the Jim Cross Holden against the Offy brigade. In 1968 he joined Blair Shepherd’s team to drive an Offy.
In 1964, saloon car racing had been introduced in Brisbane and was immediately a big hit with hundreds taking up the relatively inexpensive way of racing. Once again, some joined the ranks of the open wheel speedcars. Eric Mitchell, Jim Holden, Kev Hobson and John Bell were amongst those that tried with varying degrees of success. Mitchell started in Bill Goode’s Offy and within a couple of shows was winning races. Eventually he joined with John and Keith Mulcahy in their Offy and enjoyed a lot of success during the 1970s. Holden only dabbled for a short time, but his best years were ahead of him when he obtained very competitive equipment.
Even though the Offies were purpose built thoroughbred engines that had been developed over a couple of decades there were other engines used in Brisbane that were also successful especially in the first half of the 1960s. The 6-cylinder Holden had also been developed and was a cheaper option for those on a budget. High compression pistons, race cam, better valves, multiple carburettors or fuel injection and if you could afford it, a Repco cross flow head, were all used to make it a competitive engine.
Early in the 1960s Dave Leonard, Barrie Watt and Kevin Jefferson all drove Holden powered cars to Queensland Championship victories. Jefferson had sold his V8/60 powered car to brothers, John and Keith Mulcahy, who fitted a former Steve Howman Studebaker engine before going to a Repco-Holden. Jefferson won the Queensland Title in December 1962 but was tragically killed at the Exhibition the following May.
Blair Shepherd (Offy) was the Queensland titleholder in 1963 and 64. Sydney driver Johnny Stewart (Holden) won in 1965 while Bill Goode (Offy) passed Blair Shepherd late in the race to win his only Qld Title in 1966. Former Solo rider, Stockcar and Hot Rod driver Keith Blicharski surprised everyone, except himself, to claim the win in 1967 driving a Renault powered car of his own construction. Another former Solo, Stockcar and Hot Rod competitor Peter Dykes, originally from New Zealand, closed out the decade with victory in a Holden.
The biggest race of the season was always the ‘World Championship’ as it featured the international drivers and the best from the other states. It was always over 50-laps so favoured cars with Offy engines. John Harvey (NSW) won in 1960 in a Holden, but it was the only victory in the 1960s with a local engine. Harvey had a distinguished speedway career before turning to road racing where he ended up with Peter Brock’s touring car team. The Americans Tattersall, Warriner and Davies won from 1961 to 1964, and it looked like the locals were never destined to win it.
Blair Shepherd had other ideas and drove to an impressive victory in 1965 and then repeated the following season. Tattersall won again in 1967 before Bill Goode continued his dominate season in 1968 and Ron Wanless claimed the last event of the decade. Des Kelly had always wanted an Offy and he managed to buy Tattersall’s car at the end of his tour in 1967. He adapted to the car very quickly but just as he was beginning to match it with the other Offy drivers, he lost his life in a first lap feature race accident in May 1967. In the USA, Bob Tattersall had been chasing the USAC National Midget Championship for many years and finally succeeded in 1969, it was fitting reward for the wily veteran.
In 1961, something new was tried with a 100-lap race. There was good prizemoney plus lap money for the major placegetters. Andy McGavin (NSW), driving Don Mackay’s former Warriner Offy, won the initial event and backed up again the following year. The very popular Jeff Freeman (NSW), also in a Mackay Offy, won in 1963 before Harvey, again in a Mackay Offy, won in 1964. Freeman raced many times in Brisbane and always performed well and proved popular with both his fellow drivers and the fans. Unfortunately, he was killed driving a Mackay Offy at the Westmead track outside Sydney, in May 1965.
Bill Goode liked the longer races and won the marathon race in 1965 and 1966 before capping a brilliant 1967-68 season with another win in 1968. Blair Shepherd was first across the line in 1967 but was eliminated by the officials for changing a tyre during a stoppage. The race went to New Zealander Ron Ross who became the only driver to win the 100-lapper in a Holden powered car. By the end of the 1960s Ron Wanless had developed into an accomplished driver and he enjoyed his only 100-lap victory in 1969.
Speedcar racing in Australia received a huge boost when the cigarette company, WD & HO Wills, inaugurated a true national championship for the 1964-65 season. It was promoted as the Craven Filter National Speedcar Championship, and every driver was eligible for points awarded for their result in feature races. The series ran for about four months before the driver with the most points was crowned the champion.
It wasn’t a perfect formula as some states had two tracks running on different days which gave the drivers in that state an unfair advantage. Rowley Park in Adelaide ran on Friday nights so Victorian and New South Wales would race there, drive through the night and race at their home track on Saturday and Sunday. Over the years the rules were amended to give every driver an equal chance.

The one exception was the State round run in each state which featured bonus points. However, this was done to encourage interstate drivers to travel and create a major race in each state. In accordance with the rules the Grand Final was held at the Sydney Showground.
The first series saw drivers travelling all over, but in the end, it was the very polished Peter Cunneen of Sydney, driving the Don Murray Holden, who was crowned the champion. Lew Marshall, who began his racing career in Brisbane but now lived in Sydney, led late in the competition but was pipped near the end. Brisbane star Blair Shepherd was third and it would not be the last time he would be in the top three.
In 1965-66 Johnny Stewart had to come from the back of the field in the Grand Final to win the title and that is just what he did. It was an amazing drive in his fuel-injected Holden that is still talked about today by people who witnessed it. Len Brock (NSW) finished second while Blair Shepherd was again third. At the end of the season Stewart sold his car and eventually purchased a former Tattersall Offy from Barry Valentinna.
Stewart wanted to repeat his win in 1966-67 but Shepherd was also determined to bring the title to Queensland for the first time. During the season they swapped the points lead many times but at the end of the series Stewart was again the champion with Shepherd a very close second and Bill Goode third. Once again Stewart changed his car buying another former Tattersall car. It was the Offy in which Des Kelly had lost his life in Brisbane.
Stewart was on a roll and made it three in a row with a win in the 1967-68 series finishing ahead of Howard Revell (NSW) and Barrie Watt. Watt had an amazing run of consistent performances not only at home but around the country to keep the flag flying for Queensland.
In 1968-69 Blair Shepherd, Bill Goode and Barrie Watt set out to contest the whole series and on a couple of occasions they filled the major places in the state rounds. Blair Shepherd achieved what he had been chasing, a national speedcar championship. Goode and Watt completed the top three for Queensland with Bob Morgan and Gary Sacre also in the top ten.
Blair Shepherd went about his racing in a very professional manner. He was very polished on the microphone and knew how to work the crowd and always had time for the fans. He had the best equipment available with his cars maintained by Billy Moore whose preparation was meticulous. His cars were known as the WRM Offenhausers. Shepherd enjoyed a big fan following which was also beneficial for his business, Performance Cars. Shepherd was good for speedway and speedway was good for Shepherd.
It had been amazing decade of racing with the only downside being the loss of Kevin Jefferson and Des Kelly. Their passing added impetus for the fitting of roll cages that were already in use in the USA.
With such a great era of racing during the 1960s, what would the 1970s
bring? Watch for the next chapter ‘The Spectacular 70s’.

Acknowledgement and thanks Barry Lane

The 1970s was a decade of change and technical advancement for speedcar racing. The first big change was the introduction of roll cages. Initially it was optional with Robin Hilder the first driver to fit the safety device in Brisbane. The other states were still ‘sitting on the fence’ and this would cause problems during the National Championship state rounds. Eventually common sense prevailed, and they were compulsory country wide in 1971. It was nearly too late for John Fenton. He had been using one while racing in the eastern states but when he returned home to Perth he was forced to remove it. That night he was in a bad accident and suffered serious injuries from which he recovered, but the outcome could have been far worse. The original cages were bolted on to the frame but as new chassis were developed, they became an integral part of it. Other safety features introduced during these years were full face helmets, five-point safety harness, multi layered driving suits and fuel tanks with bladders.
Up to this point most chassis were ‘home-made’ or put together by someone who had fabricating skills. This was unless you were fortunate enough to afford an American Kurtis-Kraft which were factory built. These frames were called tube frames as they utilised round tube instead of the ‘channel rail’ frames used initially. Renowned American chassis builder Don Edmunds developed a space frame design that is still in use today. A lot of Edmunds cars made their way to Australia and were used by many of the top drivers. The Gardner brothers, originally from Adelaide, set up a chassis building business on the Gold Coast and for many years their products raced on tracks all over the country. Other Australian manufacturers included John Sidney Racing, Infinity, Cox, MAC, FiG as well as others who did it as a part time business.
As the years rolled into the 70s, the power plants were also changing. One major development was the use of the VW engine. Some used a car engine with ‘hot bits’ added while others bought the purpose built American Autocraft or Scat. They were just over 2 litres in size, but their big advantage was weight as they were air-cooled and no radiator, water pump or hoses were needed. The horizontally opposed engine also provided a lower centre of gravity which made for better handling. The purists who wanted an inline engine could choose from a Chevy II or Sesco. They were both 4-cylinder with the Chevy used in road cars and marine applications. The Sesco was built by Ron Hoettels in Wisconsin and was a Chevy V8 cut in half length ways. Being Chevy, there were plenty of American racing bits available for both engines.
Up to the end of the 1960s the speedcars primarily raced at the Brisbane Exhibition but during this decade things began to change as more tracks opened. Ipswich had already opened and begun to offer the speedcars additional shows. This was even more so when Blair Shepherd joined Ron Johnson as promoters at Ipswich. He wanted the speedcars at Ipswich most Friday nights and this put him at odds with Bill Goode who was now the manager/promoter at the Ekka. Goode believed that the drivers could not sustain racing two nights in a row week in and week out, and as his shows were on Saturday night, he could end up with depleted fields.
Shepherd was determined and signed a contract with the QSRA for the 1971-72 season which meant the midgets would not be seen in Brisbane. It was, no doubt, a good monetary deal but in the long run the speedcars lost a big fan following in Brisbane. Shepherd sold the Ipswich promotion in October 1971 so the speedcars were back at the Ekka the following February. When negotiations with Goode were taking place for the 1972-73 season, he advised there would be no increase in prizemoney as the speedcars no longer had the crowd pulling power at his track that they once enjoyed. Other tracks that saw speedcar racing during this decade were Toowoomba Showground, Charlton, Surfers Paradise, Lismore, Yandina and Maryborough.
The 70s also saw a big influx of American drivers including the greatest driver of the era, A J Foyt. A four times Indy 500 winner he made it Brisbane in 1976 for his only visit and after attempting and breaking some lap records won the feature race. Bob Tattersall visited for the last time in 1970 and died in October 1971 at the age of 47, from cancer. Second generation drivers Merle Bettenhausen, Johnny Parsons and Rich Vogler were joined by Mel Kenyon, Hank Butcher, Bob Wente, Larry Rice, Ron ‘Sleepy’ Tripp amongst others. Wente, Tripp, Rice, Vogler and Kenyon were all USAC National Midget Champions.
The Craven Filter National Championship would continue until the 1972-73 season. In 1969-70 it was again dominated by Queenslanders with Bob Morgan finishing ahead of his car owner Blair Shepherd with Ron Wanless third. However, after finishing that season Morgan and Shepherd weren’t seen in action all that often. Shepherd became involved with Ipswich and as he was at odds with the Ekka promotion, he only appeared occasionally. If Shepherd wasn’t racing neither was Morgan. Shepherd then suffered a broken leg while racing during March 1971 and was out of action for months.
Neither would contest the National Championship in 1970-71 which was won by Ron Mackay (NSW) who repeated the following season at the Claremont Speedway in Perth. George Tatnell (NSW) won the first of his three titles in 1973 at the Rowley Park track in Adelaide and then scored his second at Redline near Ballarat in 1974. John Fenton (WA) had been knocking ‘on the door’ of a championship for a couple of years and broke through at Rowley in December 1974 and then he too doubled up to win on the pavement at Liverpool in 1976. He was the first driver to win the title on both dirt and pavement. The 1976-77 championship was held over four rounds at the Exhibition, Sydney Showground, Liverpool and Canberra with the last two tracks, paved. It was a real challenge for the teams. When the points were totalled, George Tatnell had his third title.
The 1978 championship was quite controversial. There was a restart late in the race and Ron Wanless swept past George Tatnell to win his maiden title. Tatnell alleged that Wanless had a ‘favourable’ restart that gave him an advantage which turned into a win. The protest and appeal were dismissed. It was back to Perth for the last championship of the decade with Wanless to defend his title. He wasn’t favoured to win as it was believed the locals would shine on the big, wide Claremont track. Never one to doubt his own ability Wanless won convincingly. Ace mechanic Billy Moore now had four Australian Titles as he had prepared the winning Wanless car for both his titles as well as the Shepherd and Morgan cars years earlier.
Ron Wanless won all his four Queensland Championships during the 1970s with saloon car convert Eric Mitchell winning two and proving he was a force in speedcar racing. Danny Davidson, Barrie Watt and Ron Mackay (NSW) all had single wins, Davidson in 1972, Watt in 1978 and Mackay 1979. Davidson was now driving an Offy for Neville Brennan and was a real talent while Watt’s victory came 17 years after his last title win in 1961 which was quite extraordinary, and it wouldn’t be his last. In 1979, the late Ron Mackay won the last Queensland Championship held at the Exhibition.

The 1970 100-lapper was conducted on a different format with twin 50-lappers and a 10-minute work break in between. The cars would start the second 50-lapper the way they finished the first one. It was no problem for Bob Morgan who led all 100 laps to finish ahead of his car owner, Blair Shepherd, and Barry Pinchbeck (NSW). There were no 100-lap races between 1971 and 1974 as it was believed that the tyres now being used would not last the distance. However, after trials with tyres that were retreaded, the race was re-introduced in 1975 as a non-stop event. It was won by Brian Dillon driving the Edmunds/Sesco he bought from visiting American, Dave Strickland. Veteran Barrie Watt beat a star-studded field to win in 1976 and then John Fenton won the enduro in May 1977.
A new event was introduced in April 1971 with a Queensland versus New South Wales competition run over 18 x 3 lap heats. The first encounter produced great racing with a 53 all draw. However, the re-match six weeks later saw a resounding win to NSW 61 – 45 when Shepherd, Wanless and Gary Sacre were unavailable. Sacre would pass away suddenly in January 1972 due to a severe asthma attack. Blair Shepherd had suffered his broken leg in March 1971 and came back to racing the following February to qualify for the World Championship event. The Time Trials were held the Wednesday before the race and after running his lap Shepherd announced his retirement from racing. The race was won by Ron Wanless ahead of Dave Strickland (USA) and Gus McClure.
The 1970s unearthed many new drivers who became very competitive. Former junior speedcar drivers John Boyce, David Jones, Alf Stanaway, Peter Gillespie, Robin Hilder and brothers Ron and John McFarlane all did seat time in the bigger cars. Boyce imported a very nice Edmunds/Sesco from the USA while Jones ended up with Shepherd’s Edmunds/Offy when Gus McClure sold it. Bill Goode’s Offy went through the hands of McClure and another car dealer Henry Cropper before ending up with new driver, Barry Wixted in 1976.
Before Ian Boettcher was known as a Super Sedans team owner, he owned a speedcar. It was driven by Bob Holmes and when a Volvo motor was fitted, the car was very competitive winning a couple of feature races. Unfortunately, Holmes would be killed in a violent accident at the Exhibition in May 1975. New Zealand born Stan Burrow had started racing in the late 60s but when he built a VW powered car in the mid-70s he began to win feature races. Road racer Gordon Clough purchased the Ron Wanless Offy and raced it for a couple of seasons before building a new Gardner car. Initially it was Offy powered and then updated to a VW. The old Offy was then taken over by Gordon’s brother, Peter, a gifted signwriter.
Danny Davidson was a very determined driver and in 1974 he contested a couple of major events at the Sydney Showground. The 1/3-mile showground track was very narrow, fast, and dangerous. On February 16 he won the prestigious Australian Speedcar Grand Prix and then the following week the World Derby. It was quite an achievement, and Davidson would have more success in the southern city in the future.
Jack Berry began speedcar racing in 1974 in a Chevy II machine before moving to a Gardner/VW a few years later. He is credited with winning the first speedcar feature at the new Charlton track in 1978. Another new driver in 1976 was Keith Hutton. His car was Datsun powered and initially owned by Peter Holland. Hutton showed right from the outset that he had a lot of natural ability. He would make steady progression before really making his mark in the 1980s. Ross Kiehne joined the speedcar ranks in 1977 after serving his apprenticeship in 250/260 speedcars. His first mount was Holden powered but by the end of the decade he was in a newer car with a Sesco engine. John Bell made a return to speedcars in 1978 after a stint in Super-Modifieds driving a former Foyt VW and was quite successful.
After his win in the Australian Title in 1979 Ron Wanless cut back on his dirt track racing to concentrate on building the new Archerfield track as well as promoting at the Sydney Showground. He also decided to have a go at road racing and Bathurst in a Falcon. Along with preparing cars, Billy Moore dabbled behind the wheel in a car owned by Bob Morgan. Initially it was Offy powered but as the decade began to turn, he changed to a Chevy II power plant.
The new Archerfield track would be ready for the 1979-80 season and a new chapter in Queensland speedcar racing was about to begin. Watch out for THE EVOLVING 80s.

Acknowledgement and thanks Barry Lane

The first season of the next decade began early as the new track at Archerfield opened on Sunday July 1, 1979. The 400-metre dirt oval was different to the egg-shaped Exhibition as it had two straights and two semi-circle corners and more banking, particularly on the straights. The first feature race being won by Stan Burrow (VW). The opening meeting was a sellout but over the next couple of meetings the crowds dwindled. With the track not being in the centre of town more traveling was required and with only one road in and out, traffic caused major delays exiting the complex.
The lights were soon operational, and meetings were changed to Friday nights with the Exhibition running the following night. Consequently, the speedcars were racing most Friday nights. The Americans ‘Sleepy’ Tripp, Larry Rice and Rich Vogler raced at Archerfield and then at the Exhibition the following week. Vogler won at Archerfield and then Arthur Sollitt claimed the World Derby at the Exhibition where the Yanks had problems. Ron Wanless had sold his championship winning car to Jim Holden who scored his first feature win at Charlton in April 1980. The last 100-lap race run at the Exhibition was held on April 19, 1980, won by Howard Revell (NSW) ahead of Danny Davidson and Jack Berry, all driving VW powered cars. The bulk of the meetings for the season were at Archerfield with three at the Exhibition and a couple away at Lismore and Charlton and only fourteen feature races were contested. The lowest total for years.
The following season, 1980-81, saw more new drivers including Paul Lindberg, Ray Michell and Bob Kelly. Lindberg was the son of 1940s racer Chas and was behind the wheel of a Holden powered car but not for long. After starting in his own car Michell was soon driving a Chevy II for Peter Draney. Kelly was a top ranking super-modified driver who gave speedcars ago behind the wheel of a VW owned by John Weatherall. This season most of the racing was back at the Exhibition with one meeting at Lismore and the Queensland Title at Charlton where Danny Davidson was the winner.
Jack Berry took out the 50-lap World Cup and joined Davidson as the winningest driver of the season with three main event wins each. A couple of drivers scored their first feature wins with Brian Farley, Billy Moore and Bob Kelly tasting victory. Farley came from junior speedcars and litres while Moore was racing more now that he had no other car to look after. Kelly scored his one and only win during the last night of the season and then gave speedcars away to concentrate on sprintcars.
If the last two seasons had been bad with the number of shows, things were about to get worse. The speedcars would only race at seven shows during the 1981-82 season. John Boyce opened it with a win at the Toowoomba Showground, and it would be the last time speedcars raced there before it closed. He then backed up the following week at Archerfield. There were no major events for the season except for the Queensland Championship which was held at Maryborough for the first time on June 13, 1982, and won again by Danny Davidson. At the end of the 1981-82 season, it was announced that speedway was finished at the Exhibition Grounds. There were various reasons offered including the grounds being needed for more horse events.
Car owner Neville Brennan purchased two Cosworth engines from rally and road racer Colin Bond and put one in his own car for Danny Dvaidson and sold the other to new driver, Russell Pointon. Davidson then proceeded to win the New South Wales Championship at Parramatta in December 1981. Parramatta was a clay track that was tricky and required different car set-up and driving skills. Archerfield would also become a clay track.
Things looked up for the 1982-83 season with the Australian Title at Archerfield and won by West Australian Geoff Pilgrim ahead of Ian Lewis (Vic) and Ron Mackay (NSW). Pilgrim enjoyed racing at Archerfield and had more wins ahead of him in Brisbane. A 100-lap race was run, the first at Archerfield and won by Jim Holden ahead of brothers Gordon and Peter Clough. PC was a gifted signwriter and was running one of the last competitive Offenhauser powered cars in Australia. Keith Hutton had forsaken his Datsun and purchased an Edmunds/VW, and this enabled him to win the Queensland Title at Maryborough late in the season.
American Ron ‘Sleepy’ Tripp was back at Archerfield in 1984 and won the Grand Prix ahead of Billy Moore and Maurice Cowling (NZ). Like most New Zealand drivers Cowling was talented and won a feature race at Archerfield before heading home. Geoff Pilgrim returned to Brisbane in February ‘84 and won the 50-lap World Derby ahead of John Pearson (USA) and Peter Clough. Pearson normally drove Late Models in Australia but was a guest driver in Russell Pointon’s Cosworth. Pilgrim would return later in the season to win the 100-lap enduro with the Clough brothers again in the minor places.
The Queensland Title was held in Rockhampton for the first time, and it was North Queensland driver Tom Casey who came away with the win. At the time speedcar racing in the north was very strong and Casey showed he could mix it with the best. Following him home were Keith Hutton and sprintcar driver Bruce Sutherland in Pointon’s car. Sutherland was a talented driver who only raced a speedcar the one night and came away with a championship podium. During the season racing was also seen at Lismore and Surfers Paradise which was a ¼ mile track inside the motor racing circuit.
Keith Hutton was a very good machinist and innovator. He had heard about the V4 Chev engine that was being used in the USA and went about building his own by cutting a Chev V8 in half. It would become a race winner.
Jim Holden had become a force in speedcar racing in recent years, both locally and interstate, and he had a burning ambition to win the Australian Championship. In January 1985 that’s exactly what he did winning at the Melbourne Speedbowl. Local Ray Bishop was second and Jack Porritt, who was now living in Brisbane, was third. No Queensland driver has won this title since Holden in 1985. Holden continued his good run with a Victorian Championship in February and a Queensland Title at Charlton over Easter. American Gene Gennetten won the 50-lap World Cup with Russell Pointon second and Holden third. The last 100-lap race to be run in Brisbane was on April 20, 1985 with the Clough brothers again in the mix. This time Gordon was the victor ahead of Jim Holden and his brother Peter Clough was third.
The 1985-86 season only saw racing at Archerfield with just over a dozen shows. Sprintcar racer, Gary White, purchased a former Keith Mann Murphy/Sesco and won a couple of feature races before returning to the winged wonders. During those years a driver had to have raced a set number of feature races during that season to be eligible for travel money for the Australian Title. The last meeting prior to the Title and eligibility was at Archerfield on November 30,1985 but rain struck early in the night, and the clay track was unusable. The answer was to run the feature race on the 285-metre infield bike track. The surface was dirt and the corners tight, but the drivers adapted well with Col McMahon the winner.

The Australian Title was run at Speedway Park in Adelaide the following January with local driver Phil March, using a twin-cam Nissan engine, the winner. Veteran Barrie Watt had fitted an Australian built Duggan engine to his Gardner frame the previous season and it finally produced the goods to convincingly win the local Grand Prix from Col McMahon and Jack Porritt. The following week he looked to be repeating the performance with a commanding lead in the World Cup only for a spark plug wire to dislodge. Paul Lindberg in Max Farrow’s ex Foyt VW won the race ahead of Jack Berry and Gordon Clough. The Queensland Title saw a popular win to Jack Porritt from McMahon and Ross Kiehne. During this night Eric Mitchell survived a sickening accident when his car went straight into the fence. Fortunately, he was uninjured, but the car was extensively damaged, and it would curtail his racing until the following season.
The new season saw racing at many tracks including Rockhampton, Carina Speedway outside Bundaberg and the Gladstone Showground. It also saw racing back at the Exhibition after it was revived for some major bike shows. The Exhibition was different to what the newer drivers had become accustomed to as it was very slick, for the bikes, and therefore very difficult to pass. Keith Hutton mastered the conditions to win the only Ekka feature this season. Danny Davidson won both the Carina shows and Paul Lindberg scored in Gladstone.
American ‘Sleepy’ Tripp was back in town in February ‘87 and cleaned up winning both the Grand Prix and the World Cup. The Eric Mitchell driven, Keith Pendle owned Gardner/VW had been completely rebuilt, and it was ironic that he would win the Queensland Championship, his third, at Archerfield in March. Regular Sydney visitor John Church was second in the state title with Ross Kiehne third. Both Kiehne and Paul Lindberg’s car owner Max Farrow were looking to improve their equipment for the following season. Both would end up with American Challenger chassis fitted with the latest Cosworth engines.
The speedcars could not reach an agreement with the Archerfield promotion for the 1987-88 season and consequently there would be no racing there for the time being. The Exhibition was only running a handful of big shows but gave the speedcars some opportunities and backed it up with some interesting guest drivers. Initially it was road race motorcycle ace now sedan racer Gregg Hansford in the Holden Edmunds/VW and then John Andretti, nephew of Mario Andretti, who did a couple of shows in Max Farrow’s VW. Two of the three feature races at the Ekka were taken out by Fred Kiehne, youngest of the Kiehne brothers, including the World Derby.
After some bad accidents on the clay tracks in Sydney and Adelaide there had been a push by those states to have wings fitted to speedcars. It was a controversial issue and would end up with those states using wings at their local shows for a couple of seasons. Eventually cars were altered to make them more user friendly on clay tracks. The Australian Title was held at Parramatta, without wings, and won by former motocross ace Stephen Gall (NSW) from Paul Lindberg and future Australian Champion Phil Herreen (SA). The Queensland Title was due to be held at Rockhampton, but rain intervened, and it would be run as the first meeting of the following season.
Despite the fact the Australian Title was going to be held in Rockhampton in 1989 the racing calendar for the season was dismal. Only nine shows including the two title nights at Rocky plus the Queensland title which was also there and two nights each at the Exhibition, Yandina and Archerfield. This season had two Queensland Championships with Rockhampton in August ’88 and Yandina in April 1989. It didn’t matter as both events were won by Ross Kiehne. He was driving a VW at Rockhampton but used his new Challenger/Cosworth at Yandina. The Rockhampton event had a strange ending when Kiehne got caught up with a lapped car and rolled. However, the time curfew had been reached so the race could not be restarted so Kiehne was declared the winner.
The Australian Title was run over Easter ’89 with around 70 nominations, it was huge. In the 40-lap final Paul Lindberg led the way for about 30 laps before Graham Jones (WA), driving a 4 coil Edmunds/Cosworth, took control and ran away with the win. Lindberg was second for the second year in a row while Ray ‘Noddy’ Bishop (Vic) was third. Max Farrow had already sold Lindberg’s car, as they were going sprintcar racing, and it was taken from the track by the new owner.
The decade had seen many changes with the introduction of clay tracks and its challenges, Cosworth engines, bigger tyres with new technology and as the decade began to change, high-bar chassis. Evolution would continue.
Look for the next instalment – THE 1990S, HORSEPOWER, HORSEPOWER, HORSEPOWER

Acknowledgement and thanks Barry Lane

Part 1
The late 1980s and early 1990s saw major advancements not only in chassis construction but also in engines as drivers searched for more power and speed. Obviously, this was led by the Americans where there was the biggest demand and therefore the bulk of the engine manufacturers. With the need for new engines the cost of racing increased. The engines were being revved a lot harder and consequently required regular changes of valve springs and valve train components. This increased maintenance costs.
Fontana, Gaerte and Pontiac led the way with the Fontana proving to be the most affordable. It was based on the Chevy II engine, but the block and head were cast in aluminium and therefore making it lighter. The Chev V8 had been highly developed for sprintcar racing and a lot of this technology was applied to midget engines. The Ford Esslinger engine was released early in the decade and based on the Ford SOHC engine. Once again it was of all aluminium construction and with an overhead cam the engine could rev harder.
Cosworth also came out with an updated DOHC engine that was being used in road racing and adapted for speedcar racing. If you wanted something different you could use a Scat V4. Scat built their own blocks, so you didn’t have to cut a V8 in half and as they already built crankshafts, they made the transition to a V 4 quite simple.
Local racing for the new decade was centred around Archerfield with away meetings at Maryborough, Lismore and the Vic Butler promoted tracks at the Exhibition and Yandina. Col McMahon won a couple of feature races in 1989-90 including the Queensland Championship at Maryborough. David Grose and Keith Hutton also had multiple wins, but McMahon would be the Club Champion for the season. Grose, McMahon and Michael Meyer were now all using Cosworth engines. The latter was originally from Sydney but now resided in Brisbane.
The following season Archerfield was not on the racing calendar, with the bulk of the local racing at the Exhibition and Yandina with some other shows at Charlton, Maryborough and Rockhampton. Jack Berry (4) and Danny Davidson (3) were the winningest drivers of the season with Berry using a flat 6 Porsche motor. Berry also captured the Club Championship while Davidson won his fourth Queensland Championship at Maryborough driving his son, Michael’s, VW. Gary Mulchay, son of QSRA stalwart John Mulcahy, had commenced his racing career in go karts and came into speedcars after building an Edmunds/Mitsubishi. It was becoming painfully obvious that car numbers were on the wane but one family trying to help the situation was the Stanaways. Father Alf had been joined by son Ken and daughter Julie in a three-car team.
The racing roster for 1991-92 season was very scarce compared to the previous season with just ten shows. Most were at country tracks and just one at Archerfield as the club tried to rebuild their relationship with the promoter. Former road racer, David Grose initially began in an older VW but over the last couple of seasons had improved his equipment and now had a new Gardner/Cosworth combination. He won five feature races during the season, all at different tracks. Carina at Bundaberg, Charlton, Archerfield, Gladstone and the Queensland Title at Maryborough. Eric Mitchell won a pair of mains, including a first up win in the Tony Eales owned Beast/Gaerte.
A new name was Barrie Valentino, son of 60s speedcar star, Barry Valentinna. His father used ‘Valentinna’ as his racing name. Barrie began in an older Gardner/Alfa but soon updated to a Beast/Pontiac that Ross Kiehne had brought into the country. Greg Clough and Warren Marquis were also second-generation drivers who joined in the action while Anthony Vanderreyden was in an older Edmunds chassis with a supercharged Fiat engine.
The new season began full of promise. Plans for a series organised by David Grose and sponsored by Brisbane FM radio station, Triple M, at Archerfield were in place with very good money on offer and it was hoped it would attract interstate drivers. However, there was a problem on the horizon. The Archerfield track was no longer providing an ambulance at their meetings believing the first aid people they had on site were sufficient. The QSRA overcame this by paying for a doctor to be at the track for their events.
Gary Mulcahy was the most successful driver of the season with wins at Lismore, Maryborough (2) and Archerfield (2) but Keith Hutton with three wins and many consistent performances was the Club Champion. Mulcahy had built a new Gardner car with a Cosworth engine. David Grose won the first round of the MMM series with Bob Woods of Sydney taking out rounds 2 & 3. The final round was set for May 8 but without Grose who had endured a major accident at Adelaide and retired.
The feature for the final round wasn’t run due to a very serious accident involving Super Sedan star, Grenville Anderson (NSW). His car had rolled and landed upside down against the fence in the pit/track entrance. The doctor that QSRA had engaged went into action and helped extricate the seriously injured driver and travelled with him in the ambulance. Unfortunately, he would never fully recover from his injuries. The popular Bob Woods was crowned winner of the MMM series.
For the first time the Queensland Championship was based on points and held over two rounds at Gladstone and Maryborough. Stan Burrow won the opening round, and Gary Mulcahy was first home at Maryborough but after totalling the points Stan Burrow was the new Queensland Champion. The momentum of the season dropped off badly towards the end and car numbers became a real concern. One bright light was a tearaway from Darwin, John Davidson. He did a couple of shows in south-east Queensland before moving to Brisbane to continue his racing career. Keith Hutton made the decision at the end of the season to move to Knoxville in the USA to work and live and hopefully participate in some racing at the Sprintcar Capital of the World. His Gardner/V4 had been sold to relatively new driver, Ken Stanway.
The season had been marred by tragedy with four drivers losing their lives. Rodney Day, Steven Thode and Joe Farrugia succumbed to injuries suffered at Parramatta while former solo star Tony Boyle lost his life at Speedway Park near Adelaide. This further enhanced the push for wings on speedcars.
The following season, 1993-94, only had ten meetings on the calendar with again no racing at Archerfield. Sean Burrows had been making steady progress over the last couple of seasons and really came to the fore this season with two wins and the Club Championship. Sydney’s Rod Bowen was a real hard charger with good equipment and when he ventured to Queensland he came away with wins at Maryborough and Charlton. The Queensland Championship at Charlton resulted in a surprise win for John Davidson, his first feature win. He had started deep in the field and worked his way forward catching early pacesetter Gary Mulcahy with 10 laps to go and took control with a couple of laps remaining. Car counts were still a problem with many complaining that prizemoney was insufficient, Promoters wouldn’t pay more money as the car counts were down. We were chasing our tail!
The Australian Title was scheduled for Easter 1995 at Charlton, so it hosted many shows leading up to that event as well as several meetings at the Exhibition and Yandina. To this point of the decade the Northern Territory’s Warrenne Ekins had won four Aussie titles with Phil Herreen winning the other at his home track in Adelaide. Now Ekins was looking for his fifth to match the great Ray Revell (NSW). There were over 60 cars entered from all over the country and the racing was action packed. Ekins found the front and looked headed for victory until Michael Figliomeni (WA) made his move coming out of the final turn and won right on the line.

Former Mini saloon car pilot John Lennon had built up a Beast/Fontana for the title but handed over the car to Gavin Leer (NSW) who drove the wheels off it to get fourth. Gary Mulcahy had also built a new car for his assault on the title using a Murphy frame with the latest spec Cosworth motor while Sean Burrows also had a new Cosworth motor.
The Queensland Championship was at Charlton in March and as practice for the Australian title it was run over 40 laps instead of the normal 30. Veteran Barrie Watt already held 5 titles but wanted another. He made the most of a handy starting position to lead many laps. He lost the lead to Ross Kiehne but quickly fought his way back to the front. Steven Graham (NSW) came on strong in the last couple of laps to capture the title ahead of Watt and Kiehne. Feature race wins were shared around with Ken Stanaway obtaining the most with three. After 40 years of racing, Barrie Watt capped off a good season with the Club Championship while John Lennon was awarded Rookie of the Year. Two Toowoomba drivers joined the ranks with Darryl Bonell and Peter Lack coming from the very competitive Toowoomba Sprint Sedan ranks.
Look out for Part 2 of
1990s - HORSEPOWER, HORSEPOWER, HORSEPOWER

Acknowledgement and thanks Barry Lane

Part 2
The 1995-96 season featured meetings at Charlton (3), the Exhibition (5) and Yandina (4) as well as single shows at Gunnedah (NSW), Maryborough and Gladstone. The Exhibition shows included appearances by noted American drivers Tony Stewart and Lealand McSpadden. Stewart had just completed an amazing season winning the championships in the USAC midget, sprintcar and Silver Crown divisions in the same year. The first person to do so. McSpadden came from Arizona and was a standout in non-winged sprintcars but had also won the indoor Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in 1991. Stewart was very impressive on the slick Exhibition track driving the Bob Woods Fontana but unfortunately, he was an innocent victim in an accident during the feature which sidelined him. McSpadden had been engaged by Bruce and Gavin Leer to drive one of their midgets and came away with a win at the Ekka.
Barrie Valentino won the feature at Gunnedah during the opening meeting of the season and then scored again before coming from behind to win the Queensland Championship. His consistency earned him the Club Championship. One special event on the calendar was the 50th anniversary race marking 50 years since speedcars really took off in Brisbane in 1946. Michael Davidson, driving Gary Mulcahy’s Gardner/Cosworth, dominated the race to win from Doug Cavell and Grant Draney. Draney had been making steady progress in cars he assembled and prepared himself. The two Toowoomba drivers did well in their maiden season with Darryl Bonell winning two feature races and Peter Lack collecting the Rookie of the Year trophy. The Australian Championship was held on the big, wide Claremont track in Perth with Michael Figliomeni again getting the better of Warrenne Ekins with Joe Little (WA) third. Long time official, administrator and car owner John Mulcahy passed away on May 28 after a hard-fought battle with cancer.
Archerfield was again the home track of the QSRA for 1996-97 with shows also at the Exhibition, Charlton, Yandina, Maryborough, Carina (Bundaberg) and Gladstone for a total of nineteen. Although Michael Meyer hadn’t raced for a few years, he had lost none of his ability and collected two feature wins during the season. John Davidson again showed great form winning three features including the Queensland Championship at Charlton. The Toowoomba duo of Bonell and Lack were again consistent with two wins each while Rod Bowen (NSW) also collected two, one apiece at Archerfield and Maryborough. Grant Draney only scored one win but with many minor places was crowned Club Champion. Barry Wixted had come back to racing the previous season after a hiatus of about 10 years teaming up with Neville Brennan and driving the team’s Cosworth. After becoming re-acclimatised he showed that he was still very competitive.
The Australian title was held in Newcastle after Adelaide backed out earlier in the season with Craig Brady (NSW) taking the win after early leader Graham Standring (NZ) succumbed to an electrical fault. The outspoken Kiwi created a real controversy with the car he was driving. It had an unusual rear suspension set-up and used a driveline with universal joints at each end. Many believed if this idea was allowed to progress it would quickly make the existing cars obsolete. When USAC banned the car in America the Australian Speedcar Control Council soon followed.
Leading up to the season there was a lot of updating by many teams. Second-season driver Chad Wheeler had fitted a Honda V6 engine which was now allowed under the new rules for production car-based engines. Ken Stanaway had built a new Gardner with a Scat V4 while Anthony Vanderreyden had imported a rare Gambler midget chassis and fitted his self-built Chev V4. Danny Palmer came from the Litre ranks and drove a new Gardner with a Wilson V4 for car owner Trevor Evans. The season also saw the first occasion that sprintcar champion Todd Wanless raced a speedcar. He drove Ross Kiehne’s Beast/V4 a couple of times and would make his mark in the smaller cars in the years ahead.
The 1997-98 season began with great expectations, but things didn’t work out as planned. The Exhibition had new promoters with the Robertson brothers taking over the reins with the idea of promoting ‘pure’ speedway. Also, a new series, Speedcar Super Series, was in the planning with rounds in the three eastern states. Gary Mulcahy won the first race of the Exhibition season but from that point things began to go pear shaped at the Brisbane venue. At their next show, the feature race wasn’t completed as the ambulance left with an injured kart driver and didn’t return until after curfew was reached. Regardless, the feature race was started but when there was an early stoppage, the race was cancelled.
The first Queensland round of the SSS was on January 17 at Yandina but was washed out after some preliminary races. The following week the speedcars would be back at the Ekka. In front of a poor crowd and on a very slick track due to extremely hot weather, Phil Holliday won his only feature race in speedcars. This would be the last speedcar feature held at this venue and over 60 years of history had now come to an end. John Lennon suffered a back injury at Archerfield in February, and his Stealth/Gaerte was soon for sale as he would be out of racing for a couple of years but not before Ken Stanaway won a feature in the rebuilt car.
The Australian Title was held at the Avalon track near Geelong in Victoria and ended with a not so surprising winner. Despite limited time in a speedcar Sydney sprintcar star Robbie Farr, driving the Bob Woods car, won the 40-lap affair from Troy Jenkins (NSW) and Mark Brown (Vic).
Adam Clarke (NSW) won the Archerfield round of the SSS and Rod Bowen (NSW) took out the Queensland Title at Charlton a month later. Darryl Bonell had bought the Lennon Stealth/Gaerte for the Qld Title and finished behind Bowen the first night in the car. Bonell finished the season on a high with four straight wins and joined Barrie Valentino as co-winners of the Club Championship. Rod Bowen went into the history books as the winner of the first Speedcar Super Series. Interesting side note is that our current QSRA President, David Palmer, received the Rookie of the Year trophy that season.
The 1998-99 season included a couple of drivers who would be race winners before the season was over. John Kelly had dabbled a couple of times in speedcars in recent years but this season he was the regular driver for New Zealand car owner, Danny Lendich, who now had a car based in Brisbane. Scott Jenkin lived in Sydney, but his father lived on the Gold Coast where his Pontiac powered car was based. The first six meetings of the season were dominated by Jenkin and Darryl Bonell. Jenkin won at Archerfield on October 3 and then Bonell won the next two before Jenkin repeated on October 31 and then Bonell won another two.
Bonell had a handle on the former Lennon Stealth/Gaerte and used it to win many races as well as contesting some of the interstate SSS rounds. Consequently, he was invited to race in New Zealand for their big international series over the Christmas/New Year period. Unfortunately, he was involved in a horrific accident that wrecked his car. He was temporarily knocked unconscious and taken to hospital to be checked over but was soon released. It took many months for him to get over the bouts of dizziness caused by the injury.

Archerfield was to hold two rounds of the Super Series, but the January 2 round was lost to rain. Troy Jenkins (NSW) was too good for the opposition on February 20 at Charlton while Steven Graham (NSW) took out the March 6 round at Archerfield after being sent ROF when he stopped because of a collision with a lapped car. Graham won three rounds in total and was crowned winner of the series. The Queensland Championship was again held at Charlton and John Kelly added a speedcar title to his four Queensland Sprintcar Titles leading home Craig Brady (NSW) and Grant Draney. Prior to this season Neville Brennan had put together a Beast car with a Volvo DOHC engine for Barry Wixted. They were rewarded with a feature win and many minor places that gave them the Club Championship at the presentation night.
The 1999 Australian Championship was held late in the season as it was at the Northline Speedway near Darwin as their season ran during the winter months. Due to the cost involved and the timing of the event there was a low car count for an event of this magnitude. The favourite was Steven Graham (NSW) with Neville Lance (WA), Dave Lambert (NSW) together with locals Warrenne Ekins and Bob Holt expected to supply plenty of competition.
There were a couple of incidents early in the race that sidelined Graham and Lance while Ekins had ongoing engine problems. Dave Lambert led the way and looked the likely winner until his engine broke a rocker with about 10 laps remaining, but he carried on regardless. Bob Holt had surged to second and was catching the leader every lap until he was on his tail with just over a lap to go. He went to the front only for Lambert to come back. However, Holt was on a mission and ran out a very popular winner. He announced his retirement in Victory Lane but still dabbled for a few more years. He had begun his racing career in Sydney 40 years earlier.
Look out for the next chapter – RACING INTO THE 21st CENTURY

Acknowledgement and thanks Barry Lane

Part 1
The next decade of Brisbane speedcar racing was full of challenges and at one point there weren’t enough cars showing up to put on a good show. Through the continued support of long-term drivers, some new faces and the return to action by a couple of retired drivers that the sport was kept alive. When this decade started to run out things had begun to turn around.
There had been moves to form a national speedway body and NASR (National Association of Speedway Racing) was the result. There was a lot of unknown factors about the responsibilities of the body and many of the competitor groups felt it gave too much power to the promoters or too much power to one group over another. It took a couple of years for things to settle down with the body licensing competitors, officials and pit crew members with insurance being part of the license. They also produced a ‘rulebook’ covering general items that were applicable to all divisions. Eventually they would offer training courses for officials to try and have some standardization. The body would be recognized by the government and other motorsport bodies.
The 1999-2000 season was based around Archerfield with some shows at Charlton and Yandina. Danny Palmer was now aboard a Stealth/V4 that owner Trevor Evans had built and they had a good start to the season with a couple of wins. John Kelly was still driving Danny Lendich’s car and he also enjoyed a couple of wins. Ron ‘Sleepy’ Tripp made a return visit to Brisbane in January and driving the Lendich car finished behind Palmer in the feature. Another driver who returned was Darryl Bonell who was recovered from his injuries and driving a car he built in Toowoomba and using his Gaerte engine. Peter Lack and Michael Harders had stints in Terry Holland’s Volvo while Michael Davidson had some drives in Gordon Clough’s Beast/Pontiac.
The Speedcar Super Series wasn’t run this season so NASR put together a short series culminating at Archerfield. John Kelly was racing against Brett Morris (NSW) in the final of the Pole Shuffle when the cars contacted and Kelly was sent on a wild ride of flips and end for enders. He received a serious neck injury that required surgery. He did recover but decided to hang up the helmet as he had something in the planning that would require his full attention.
The Queensland Title was slated for Yandina but it was washed out and not run. The Australian Title was run at a new track at Bacchus Marsh outside Melbourne, but the track was very rough and caused a lot of accidents. Michael Figliomeni (WA) overcame all the obstacles and won his third title ahead of Michael Kendall (NZ), Shayne Alach (NZ) and Neville Lance (WA). However, the balance of the prizemoney was not forthcoming, and this would set off a chain of events that would see speedcar racing split in Australia. Danny Palmer was crowned Club Champion for the season and then announced he was retiring as car owner Trevor Evans was selling his car because of health issues. There was no Rookie of the Year award for this season.
The big news for the next season was that John Kelly was the new promoter at Archerfield. He initially had two partners, but they eventually went their own ways. Kelly was keen to support the speedcars and programmed them nearly every fortnight. Before the season began Danny Davidson passed away at the young age of 58 due to cancer related issues. The season didn’t kick off until November and after a rainout Barry Wixted claimed the first win of the season. In the following meetings Grant Draney, Todd Wanless, Barrie Valentino and Mark Cooper also had wins. Draney was in a new Stealth/Fontana while Cooper was a New Zealander now living in Sydney. Vic Butler the successful promoter of the Exhibition and Yandina tracks, passed away on Australia Day at just 52 years of age. He had been a big supporter of speedcars.
The Australian Title was held at Speedway City with New South Wales drivers dominating. Adam Clarke, Darren Jenkins and Craig Brady finished 1,2,3 with Clarke scoring his first national championship victory. Brady took out the Queensland Championship from Dave Lambert (NSW) and Draney after Wanless withdrew while in contention. Fred Cooper, Mark’s father, had put together a plan to bring a team of Kiwis to Australia, with their cars, to race in a couple of Australia versus New Zealand contests. The Kiwi team was loaded with talent including Kevin Hyde, Matt Thompson, Shaun Insley and Cooper while Australia’s strong team included Adam Clarke, Craig Brady, Mark Brown and Brett Morris. The local team was too strong at Archerfield winning with 132 points to 95 with Clarke taking out the loaded feature. At Charlton the following night the Kiwis came out on top 128 to 106 with Mark Brown victorious in the feature.
Todd Wanless was Club Champion for the season with the Rookie of the Year award again not presented. The politics of the sport was hotting up with the formation of the Australian Speedcar Management Board now recognized by NASR instead of the long standing Australian Speedcar Control Council. Things would get worse before they improved.
The 2001-02 season was going to be a big season at Archerfield with 18 shows including the ASCC Australian Championship over the Australia Day weekend. This caused a furor as the ASMB had slated an Australian Championship in Adelaide, but John Kelly was determined his event would go ahead. Ross Kiehne and Todd Wanless put together a strong team in an endeavor to win the national championship and be the first since Jim Holden in 1985. Many drivers from around the country still supported the ASCC and had indicated their intention to support the event.
The first five shows saw five different winners with Stan Burrow, Grant Draney, Ken Stanaway, Todd Wanless and Barry Wixted the victors. Stanaway and John Lennon had put together a car with an Esslinger engine, the first in Brisbane. Many drivers were keen to contest the big event with Clayton Walker, Mark George, Michael Davidson, Andrew Barr, John Shipway joined by Compact racer Julie Vine in a supercharged Nissan machine. Gordon Clough also made a comeback to try and bolster the fields. An event held the week prior to the title was the Ray Revell Memorial, the first time it had been held in Brisbane. The race was won by Michael Figliomeni (WA) from Todd Wanless and Warrenne Ekins (NT) with Howard Revell leading the field in his father’s Offy.
Scott Jenkin had retired from racing but decided to contest the title as it was at Archerfield where he had enjoyed a lot of success. 33 cars from all states fronted for the Australian Title with plenty of drivers capable of winning. Jenkin’s title did not start well when there was a scrimmage at the start of a heat and unbeknown to him the right front shock had broken. When he turned the car into turn 3, the frame dug in, and he went end of end landing on top of the fence. He suffered a broken collarbone and other injuries which put him back into retirement. Figliomeni, Wanless, Ekins and Neville Lance being the best the first night.
Wanless and Figliomeni fought out the 3-round Pole Shuffle final that saw some great racing. Wanless won two which gave him pole for the 40-lap final with Figliomeni to his right. Wanless took command from the green and despite a couple of yellows was still in front as the race headed into the last quarter. However, Figliomeni had been staying close and mounted a challenge and drove away to win from Wanless, Ekins and Dene McAllan (WA). The Perth driver now had four titles to his credit. The ASMB title was run with Clarke collecting his second ahead of Brett Morris and Joe Little (WA).
night. Quick work by Brad Hilder and the team saw the car ready for the Wednesday night practice but bad luck struck again when the motor blew in a big way, and it l

Perth’s Scott Glazebrook had a very busy week in Brisbane. Driving Wayne Cover’s Chev V6 he had a big rollover during the Ray Revell night. Quick work by Brad Hilder and the team saw the car ready for the Wednesday night practice but bad luck struck again when the motor blew in a big way, and it looked like his title was over. Undaunted Cover jumped on the phone and organised for his spare motor to be flown to Brisbane. The motor was fitted in time for the second night, and he qualified through the repechage into the final where he finished. His crew had better luck winning the major money in the Calcutta.
Nathan Smee (NSW) won his first Queensland Title at Charlton with Mark Brown (NSW) and Wanless following him home. American Keith Rauch, driving the Ross Kiehne car that Wanless had been racing, took out the last feature of the season. The Club Championship went to Grant Draney with Andrew Barr the recipient of the Rookie of the Year award.
To try and settle the problems associated with two national associations and two national championships, a meeting was held with both parties involved. Consequently, Speedcars Australia was formed with their aim to improve the sport of speedcar racing in Australia. It was also agreed that both Australian Champions in 2002, Michael Figliomeni and Adam Clarke would be recognised as official champions.
After running a national title, everybody thought that the 2002-03 season would be better with anticipation that new drivers would join the division. Things couldn’t have been worse. Many feature races were run over 12-laps or less as there were insufficient cars to make up a good field. John Kelly told the QSRA that if numbers didn’t improve, he would be forced to drop the section from some meetings. There were still the regulars with Grant Draney, Ken Stanaway, Stan Burrow, Barrie Watt and Michael Harders contesting the bulk of the 12-meeting calendar. Stan Burrow had decided to move away from the VW type engines and updated his car to a Stealth/Fontana. Andrew Barr had also updated fitting a Pontiac/Ford motor to his car being a Pontiac block with a Ford head and won the first night. The following week Brad Hilder fronted for his first night in a speedcar, in Barr’s car, and repeated the win. The first and only time in Brisbane a first-night driver had won the feature.
The Australian Championship in Adelaide saw American Corey Kruseman run out the winner, the first time an American had won it since Jim Davies in 1963. Kruseman hailed from the west coast of the USA and had won the Chili Bowl in 2000 and would repeat in 2004. He was also a standout in non-winged sprintcar competition. Craig Brady and Adam Clarke would follow the American to the chequered.
The Queensland Title was held over two nights at Archerfield with Todd Wanless the winner ahead of Ken Stanaway and Warrenne Ekins (NT) who was now driving Ross Kiehne’s car. Compact racer Craig Smith had bought John Davidson’s Stealth/Fontana and progressed to the bigger cars and would be an asset to the section in the years ahead. Another Trans-Tasman contest was held at Charlton in March with Australia the winners 92 to the Kiwis 64.
Grant Draney was the dominant driver of the season with four wins, but Ken Stanaway secured the Club Championship. Compact turned speedcar driver Brad Sloan received the Rookie of the Year award. Sloan had been driving a Clark/DOHC Volvo that Neville Brennan had built and was maintaining. At the presentation night Stan Burrow announced he was retiring from racing but would retain his car for someone else to drive.
During August the Brisbane speedway fraternity was saddened to hear that Keith Hutton had been killed in a sprintcar accident at Oskaloosa in Iowa. He had been living at nearby Knoxville for about 10 years and after a funeral service at the Knoxville track was buried in the local cemetery.
The 2003-04 season looked promising with some additions to the ranks. Peter Green bought Ross Kiehne’s Ellis/Buick and put Brad Hilder in the driver’s seat while Chris Foreman had built a car using an upright 4-cylinder Porsche with Mark George given the driving duties. Bill Foreman, Chris Foreman’s uncle, also had a Porsche and fitted it to the former Vanderreyden Gambler. Stan Burrow didn’t take long to find a driver with multiple Australian Compact Champion Darren Vine to take the wheel of # 8. Barry Wixted was back in Neville Brennan’s Volvo while Warrenne Ekins (NT) would make some appearances in a Ross Kiehne car.
Ken Stanaway won four of the first five feature races with Mark Geoge taking out the other, the initial running of the Danny Davidson Memorial. Ekins, Todd Wanless, Grant Draney and Andrew Barr also had wins, but the Queensland Title again went to a southerner with Mark Brown (NSW) taking it out for the first time. The Australian Title was held in Adelaide with American Tony Elliott taking the coveted trophy ahead of Brett Morris (NSW) and Lance Beale (NZ). Elliott drove a Fontana powered car for Sydney owners Bruce and Gavin Leer. There was no Super Series this season but there was a possibility it would run again in the future while locally things were definitely on the improve. Ken Stanaway recovered from a wrecked car to win his second consecutive Club Championship while Rookie of the Year honours went to Darren Vine.
Keep an eye out for Part 2 Racing Into the 21st Century that will be posted in a couple of days.

Acknowledgement and thanks Barry Lane