[Flatrightrear]

Anybody know if any racing tours go to Australia during their racing season? I would love to check that out sometime to see the tracks, the racing and have time for sight-seeing as well. Have been looking at flying into Adelaide on Jan 17---I would leave the 15th as you lose two days in travel--- for wingless 360 and 410's on the 18th at Speedway City, go to Borderline Raceway at Mt Gambier on the 22nd for wings, then 24-26 at Premier Speedway for the Sprint Car Classic at Warmambool which is on the south coast along the "Great Ocean Highway Drive" which I want to do. Then have 5 days to drive along the coast up to Sydney Speedway for two nights of the Wingless Classic Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Would fly home the 2nd or 3rd. Sounds crazy and sounds like fun. Would consider a tour but by myself or with someone would be great for the freedom to just wing it. Wife not interested in flying that far and especially not for racing so if I wanna go I need to go before I turn into a fossil. Any thoughts or ideas? Nothing is set in stone as far as actually going. Just dreaming, maybe.











/

[Andrew S. Quinn]

I've been to all those places,and a word from the wise is this: If you are going to Australia,go for 3 weeks minimum,and longer if you can. It is a very big trip from the USA,and Australia is also a very big country. I'd recommend going for Christmas,then follow World Series Sprintcars then do the big races late in January,The Kings Challenge, The Grand Annual Classic etc. in between the wingless races. I'm going on past memory,as I dont follow the racing scene in Australia as I once did.

In the meantime you can always get in touch with the folks at Global Speedway Tours. http://www.globalspeedwaytours.com.au/ You might have seen them here in the USA at a couple races at Sprintweek,Kings Royal,Knoxville etc.

[Flatrightrear]

Thank you, Andrew. I e-mailed those people and they got back to me real quick with some tips if I go. They wrote there is not much interest in our country to visit Aus. for racing and probably for the reasons you described. Their trips from Aus. to here run about $7,500 but they do a lot of other stuff besides going to races while they're here. It would be nice if a trip from here could go maybe every five years but it would have to cater to retirees for the length and expense required. It just sounds like a blast to me.

[rataz]

Word of warning on your plans. Wingless sprints here in Aus are not 410 or even 360, but are a popular entry level class that run V6 engines. (From memory is the Buick V6 that was used in the local Holden Commodores here for a while.) So while the racing is still quite good, is not quite the same as the wingless racing you get back in the states.

Another option for you to look at is Western Springs Speedway in Auckland which has a number of big midget races over the Christmas/New Year period and attract a lot of American drivers down for it.

Winged 410 sprints are the biggest division down here, and the World Series Sprintcars is the traveling circus. Normally a lot of big name drivers, good car counts, and good racing. Also, Sydney Speedway and Brisbane Speedway (formerly called Archerfield) often have a few big name US drivers racing over the summer.

Most of the biggest races for Sprintcars are held in January to enable the USA drivers to attend.

[Andrew S. Quinn]

I think there is plenty of interest here to go to Australia,but coming up with the money and vacation time (especially for the younger crowd) to go for enough time to make it a worthwhile trip,is beyond the means of many.

I found out the hard way on the amount of time needed to do a trip of this size. The first time I went in 1994/95 I went for 2 1/2 weeks despite many Aussies saying I needed to come for a longer stay. Once I got there,I realized they were right and I should have listened to them. On my other trip to Australia in 98/99 I went for 8 weeks,and I still didnt get to do everything I wanted to do either!

To this day I still see Aussies I have met over the years at the races,and have had many Australian visitors to my house in Indy since I have moved here in 2006. I've been very fortunate to have met so many people from Australia since I met the first one back in 1993.Plenty of good times and a lot of laughs in between.

[KENDALLRACING]

Hi all interested racers AND fans who want to see "OVAL TRACK DIRT RACING" anywhere in the world.
I am a New Zealander who lives on and off NZ, AUSSIE,USA MIDWEST.
If you want some contacts, addresses, phone numbers or advice get a hold of me.
I Raced many divisions and toured worldwide thru out the years.
Raced against many top competitors from and including Jeff Gordon, Steve, Bob, and Randy Kinser, Danny Lasoski, Danny Smith, Jerry Coons JNR and LOTS more.
I still own race cars and have Sons, Relatives, and many friends who race.
Have had Dave Darland, Tony Elliott, Jac Haudenschild, Stan Fox, Brooke Tatnell, and many others race for me over the years.
If I can assist in any way please contact me.
Lyndon Kendall
American Cell 317-600-1800 10 AM THRU 7 PM CST 7 DAYS.
New Zealand Cell +64274808080 BEFORE 2 PM CST 7 DAYS.
Email Anytime lyndon.kendall@hotmail.com
PS: Also go see the "POWRI WORLD SERIES" in New Zeland and Australia.
Don't forget South Africa and Europe/UK.

[Flatrightrear]

Yeah, Peter from Global Tours mentioned the POWRI Midgets at Lismore south of Brisbane in early Feb. Google map shows track as a complete circle. How's the racing on that?