Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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I enjoy visiting SCD every day ...especially the articles and updates down under in Australia. But being an Okie it's a but difficult to understand some of it. I see where there are multiple races at multiple tracks quite often there, but sometimes don't understand which series is where. I see the article about Schatz vs. Kinser..........but didn't see anything about WSS along with it or about Jason Johnson. My question is this: is the series Jason Johnson is running (WSS) the same series Schatz and co. will run?

There are lots of races and I have trouble telling what is a series race and what is like a weekly race at a local track. How many series are there racing there? Like I said I really like the updates and stuff, but just do not know the basics of what is what and where. Please elaborate. Thank you.

CCC

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OKCF WSS is a travelling series which travels Australia wide but does not race at Parramatta due to WSS running 372ci motors and Parramatta running 410 ci .(all will be 410 from next year).Parramatta is the No1track in Australia averaging 50-65 cars weekly and producing 90% of Australian champions through the years.WSS has about 12 contracted drivers and similar to WoO runs against the locals when they come to town.Johnson is a contracted WSS driver.The Victorian SRA series also travels to various tracks but they are a local State series.

What is what,and where is where.

This should help.

http://www.sprintcarworld.com.au/calendar.asp

The different states with racing on at this time of year.

WA=Western Australia

SA=South Australia

Vic=Victoria

Tas= Tasmania

Qld= Queensland

NSW=New South Wales

The above two posts should help, but let me add.

There are five states and three territories in Australia as follows:

New South Wales - Sydney (pop 4.5 million)

PCR is the only Sprintcar track and it is within sight of the city skyscrapers. PCR is the only venue in Oz that run full WoO 410 spec. The vast majority of internationals race here for that reason. The international season starts on Boxing Day and is highlighted by the $50,000 to win on 5,6 January and ODU VI. All up around 25 American drivers will race here.

The weekly car count is massive (around 65) but at the top level there are only about four or five that are of genuine international standard (read would hold their own in WoO). Leading drivers include Kerry Madsen, Trevor Green, Robbie Farr and Troy Little. It is also home to Max Dumesny and Garry Brazier when they are not on tour and expatriates Peter Murphy, Lynton Jeffrey and Brooke Tatnell.

Queensland - Brisbane (pop 1.8 million)

Brisbane International Speedway (BIS) is the main sprintcar track, and their international season is also from Boxing Day onwards. The local Sprint car association is MSAQ. The main series is the Comp Cams Series which all take place at BIS. The term Archerfield and BIS is interchangable.

Shaine Matthews, Jon Allard and Michael Carber races from Boxing Day, to be joined on New Years day by Bud and Brent Kaeding. The local standard is strong, and I am not too sure that the American visitors will necesarrily get the better of the locals.

Weekly car count for club meetings are up to 35. Brisbane is home to Titan Racing (Reeeve Kruck/Darryn Pittman). Competition is very even and they have not had a repeat winner this season!

Victoria - Melbourne (pop 3.9 million)

The state sanctioning body is SRA. Unlike NSW and Queensland, there is no single dominating Speedway venue. The SRA Series (Eureka Garages & Sheds Series) is run at a number of regional Speedways, the main ones being Avalon, Premier, Nyora, Moama and there are a few others.

Weekly car count is very good at 35 to 40. Their top guns are Matt Reed, Mike van Bremen (MvB), David Murcott and Grant Anderson. All will give good account at the highest international level.

Premier Speedway in the regional city of Warrnambool host the most prestigious race on the Aussie calendar, the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.

South Australia - Adelaide (pop 1.2 million)

The main speedway is Speedway City just outside Adelaide. Sprintcars are not as well organized from a state sanction perspective as the other states, but is getting better. Luke Dillon, Phil March and Steven Lines are their top guns.

Other speedways that host sprint cars are Riverview (Murray Bridge) about an hour from Adelaide, as well as Bordeline (Mt Gambier).

Western Australia - Perth (pop 1.8 million)

Home to one of the best speedway/drag racing facilities in the world, Perth Motorplex in Kwinana Beach. Often the speedway is simpy referred to as "Kwinana".

The Sprintcar Entrant Group is the state controlling body, and the series is AHG Series. Kwinana is the hub, but racing also takes place at regional cities eg Bunbury, Kalgoorlie and this year also Esperance and Albany.

Dean Jacobs, Brock Mayes and Wayne Johnson (last season) are their stable of internationals. Ryan Farrell and Ken Sartori are two locals of world class.

The big events in the states are the Krikke Boys Memorial Shootout in Bunbury and the Nanovich King of Wings at the Motorplex.

Shane Krikke is Brooke Tatnell's local car owner. Geoff Kendrick is Mayes car owner, and both are top notch big money operations.

Tasmania - Hobart (pop 0.3 million)

Tasmania is an island of the Victorian coast to the south east of the mainland. Three speedways share the sprint car racing, Latrobe, Carrick and Hobart. The top drivers there are the Redpath brothers, Adrain and Jason.

The Australian title will be held at Latrobe in February

Northern Territory - Darwin (pop 0.2 million)

Due to the nothrern location on the continent, the NT races to the northern racing season, ie in the Australian winter. Extremely good quality, with Danny Reidy, Jamie McFaddin, Ben Atkinson and Warrenne Ekins holding their own in any company.

World Series Sprintcars

It is the only national sanction tour and has been in existence for 21 years. Run on a very similar basis to WoO. Races take place in every state except New South Wales.

WSS has about 14 contracted drivers of which the top ten could compete at any level in the USA (ie WoO). Jason Johnson is currently leading the points, followed by Max Dumesny and Garry Brazier.

General Info

PCR runs 410 and everywhere else it is 372 ci. At the start of next season, the whole country goes 410. Massive opportunities to bring your 410 over here, race for a couple of meetings, and then sell it of the an eager local market, where demand (for 410s) will totally outstrip supply for at least the next three years.

I am going to do a D.I.Y. kit for teams wanting to bring over cars, race and the sell locally. Probably publish it mid 2007.

Hey, I did not really set out to write a "war & peace" novel, but heck I love this stuff! Hope it helps!

www.sprintcardaily.com

372's????? thats the first time I heard of those....guess they are probably equivalent to our 360's but maybe a little bigger?

Why doesn't WSS race in New South Wales? So if I understand correctly.......each state/province has their own weekly-type show ( those you listed above) and WSS is a series that skips through those tracks giving each tracks local contingent a shot at the Australian version of WoO?

In looking at Brooke Tatnell's old website I saw he won many Aussie championships and 1 in particular many times in a row......was that WSS?

Sorry to bug you with all the question's but I've never really known or heard much about Aussie Sprint Car Racing. And it all seems very interesting. Enough so that someday I would like to go down there for a few weeks in January as to not really have an off-season of spectating here in the US and to see what its like down there (maybe someday when i have a lot more $$$ than now). One more thing though......what exactly is Boxing Day? Is it 1 race at 1 track or something else? You guys at SCD have great coverage of ALL sprint car racing. As a fan I do appreciate the work you fellas put in to that site. Also, I think ya'll have done a fine job indeed of covering the accident/recovery of Drew Kruck. The website mentioned an audio interview he did, but I can't find it on the site. Anyhow, absolutely awesome website.......you fellas keep up the good work............... And go Jason Johnson!

How much would could a wouldchuck chuck if a 
wouldchuck could chuck would

i believe boxing day is the day after christmas when they " box " up all the decorations from christmas dont quote me on that but that is what i think as i have quite a few ebay ( huntinfrek is my ebay id ) customers over there and from what i have got from conversations from them

I'm beginning to grasp the overall sprint car situation. This topic has been very helpful. I do have a couple of questions do they ever run 'em without crutches?Are midgets still racing there? I remember as a kid that some Yankees used to go down to race in the offseason, Bob Tattersal used to be the big dog. I never read of midgets down under anymore.

Boxing day was named as it was the day after christmas when everyone used to punch the s**t out of each other.(joking).Midgets in the 1950's through early 70's were the show in Australia but the sprintcars have taken over and the midgets are now a minor division although still having a few very good drivers.In the days of Tattersall midgets raced in front of crowds up to 40,000 at the Sydney and were front page news when fatalities etc occurred.

Just checked boxing day for my own education as we have it but give its origin little thought.I found a number of similar reasons eg.The day after Christmas when the upper class gave gifts to the underclasses.(So all us Speedway bums should get gifts on the 26th:beauty)

372 is a hybrid of the 410 and has been around for ever. Performance wise probably a bit closer to 410 than 360. I am sure there is someone else who can explain it a bit better.

360 is almost non-existent with only a small presence in VIC, SA + WA. So basically all sprintcar teams will go to 410 next year, although no doubt many will continue with their 372s untill they can afford to buy 410 later. In total about 350 to 400 sprintcars in the country.

The Australian Title is determined at one event run over two nights (16 + 17 Feb).

Similarly each state also has their state title held over one night.

Each track has a track champion (exactly the same as USA, ie points gathered over the season).

World Series Sprintcars is like the World of Outlaws.

One significant difference to the USA is that sprint car racing is controlled by a national governing body (Sprintcar Control Council of Australia), and each state has a state level governing body, eg SRA, MSAQ, SANSW, SCAT, SET.

The state bodies set the schedules, the promoters promote/run the events.

www.sprintcardaily.com

Geez Offie you shoulda asked me when we were at Lawrenceburg earlier this year watching the real adventures. I can tell you about most anything in Australia,just better at talking that typing!

Speaking of adventures,you gonna go to East Bay for the non wings the last of Jan. early Feb?? I am thinking of coming down for like 4 or 5 nights. If so it will be 2 nights with,2 nights without.

You dont know how many Australians I asked before they could tell me what Boxing Day stood for.Most of em told me it was a Public Holiday! They had no idea of the meaning. Parra has hit the nail on the head with his explanation.

thanks Andre that solves a lot of it for me. Now I know what to be lookin for or know more about what I'm readin. Sounds like good stuff Down Under. Thanks for the answers and info. Geat site.

How much would could a wouldchuck chuck if a 
wouldchuck could chuck would

wait a second. What general support classes do they have for the sprint cars?

Better yet what else they run there besides open wheel?

How much would could a wouldchuck chuck if a 
wouldchuck could chuck would