The Australian Sprintcar Championship is a dirt track racing championship held each year to determine the Australian national champion for winged sprint car racing . The single championship meeting runs in either late January or early February and has been held each year since the Windsor RSL Speedway in Sydney hosted the first championship in 1963. After the first nine championship meetings were held in New South Wales , the Sprintcar Control Council of Australia (SCCA) now holds the meeting in a different state on a rotational basis, with 1972 seeing the first championship held outside of NSW at the Premier Speedway in Warrnambool , Victoria . The Australian Sprintcar Title is only open to Australian drivers and is run and sanctioned by the SCCA.
20-596: Because it is restricted to Australian drivers only, the race has a lot prestige for local drivers to become their country's National Champion. The championship has gone by different names over its 52 years as in that time Sprintcars have evolved from crude modified 'hot rods' to the dual winged, 410 cubic inch engined cars of today. The majority of race cars and engines are imported from the US, although some local chassis builders still exist. Sprintcars themselves are modular, with many combinations of chassis and engine possible. Equipment
40-537: A 1 km drag racing track (which runs alongside the main straight of the raceway circuit), the 400 m (440 yd) long Northline Speedway , a dirt track speedway , motocross tracks and a go-kart circuit. Hidden Valley Raceway holds an annual round of the International V8 Supercars Championship . Hidden Valley Raceway is known for its high speeds and fast lap times. It is 2.870 km (1.783 mi) long and has 14 corners, with
60-456: A former Sprintcar driver, in 1992. On 25–28 January 2012 Speedway City in Adelaide hosted the 50th Anniversary Australian Sprintcar Championship. Sydney driver Brooke Tatnell won his 5th Australian championship and repeated the feat of his late father George Tatnell who won his only Australian Sprintcar Title at the track in 1988 (the 1988 meeting was also the younger Tatnell's first appearance in
80-463: A main straight 1.1 km (0.68 mi) in length. In order to win, the race car has to flow well through the sweeping bends and also needs top end horse power for the main straight. In 2021, AIDRA announced the establishment of an annual Australian Drag Racing Championship series, with ASID as one of five venues across the country to host a round in the inaugural season. V8 Supercars races have been held at Hidden Valley Raceway since 1998, with
100-419: A shift into two divisions. This is down to the different cubic capacity of the engines used. The top division runs 410 cui (6.7 Litre) engines while those who use the smaller 360 cui (6.0 Litre) engines race in their own division. While the two divisions mix at regular track meetings, the 360 Sprintcars have their own state and national championships. Robbie Farr and Jamie Veal are the only drivers to have won both
120-619: Is an Australian dirt Sprint car racing meet that takes place at the Sungold Stadium Premier Speedway in Warrnambool , Victoria every year in late January. The classic traditionally takes place one week before the Australian Sprintcar Championship . The event was first run in 1973 and was won by Ian "Zeke" Agars from Adelaide , who drove a Straight-six Holden -powered supermodified to victory in
140-680: Is based in Victoria, became the first Tasmanian driver to win the Australian Sprintcar Championship. The 2015-16 Australian championship was held at the Premier Speedway in Warrnambool, Victoria on 29–31 January 2016. Sydney's Kerry Madsen won his second Australian title (having won his first also in Warrnambool in 2003) from Brooke Tatnell with Jamie Veal finishing 3rd. • There were two races in 1986. The first
160-616: Is highly specialised. Wheels, suspension, wings, drive train and fuel tank all bolt to a chassis. From 1963 to 1964 the title was known as the Australian Sportsman Hot rod Championship . In 1965 this changed to the Australian Hot Rod Championship . This was again changed in 1966 to the National Super Modified Championship but the 1965 name re-appeared in 1967. From 1968 to 1970 the meeting
180-716: Is open to all drivers, not just Australians (as is the rule for the Sprintcar Championship), and is the most important race of the year for Australians because of its all-comers format. Because of its mid-summer date, when the North American season has not started, drivers from the United States will often arrive to race in the December and January races on the Australian Sprintcar Tours. Ten Americans have won
200-484: The 2015 meeting, 107 cars participated, compared to the previous August's Knoxville Nationals , where 105 cars were entered. Hidden Valley Raceway Hidden Valley Raceway is part of the Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex, located at 171 Hidden Valley Road, Hidden Valley, 10 km (6.2 mi) from Darwin, Northern Territory , Australia . The Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex includes
220-455: The 40 lap final. Sydney racer, ten time Australian champion Garry Rush, has the best record in the event claiming seven victories. During the 1980s and early 1990s Rush had a rivalry with American driver Danny Smith who won the Classic six times during roughly the same period. Rush also noted in 1984 that the race has more prestige than the traditional Australian Sprintcar Championship because it
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#1732856102828240-673: The Australian Sprintcar Championship and the Australian Speedcar Championship . They being Sydney drivers George Tatnell and Robert Farr, and Adelaide 's Phil March. Victorian driver Max Dumesny , who won the championship in 1991, 1998 and 2002, was also the Australian Formula 500 Champion in 1981 and 1983, and is the only driver to achieve the Formula 500-Sprintcar double. Dumesny is also the son-in-law of former racer Sid Moore, having married Moore's daughter, Melinda, herself
260-829: The Australian speedway calendar. Another prestigious race is the Australian Sprintcar Grand Prix held annually at the Sydney Speedway . The championship is separate to Australia's national Sprintcar series, the World Series Sprintcars which has been running since 1987. Unique restrictions apply to the Australian Championship. Only Australian residents and citizens are eligible to participate; foreign drivers are not eligible to participate in this event. Retired Sydney based driver Garry Rush holds
280-484: The Grand Annual, including World of Outlaws series champions Danny Lasoski and Donny Schatz . As with the Australian Championship, drivers from New South Wales have dominated the event with 18 wins. The home state of Victoria had to wait until the 20th running of the event to have a home winner with Warrnambool's own Max Dumesny winning in 1992. The race is regarded as the largest car count in sprint car racing. In
300-550: The championship at just 16 years of age). George and Brooke Tatnell are one of only two father-son combinations to win the championship, the other being Sydney's Steve and Garry Brazier The 2014 Australian Champion was former Tasmanian driver David Murcott who won his first national championship after finishing third in 2012 and second in 2013. The 2014 championship was held at the Latrobe Speedway in Latrobe , Tasmania. Murcott, who
320-636: The first event occurring in July that year. The event is usually held in late June or early July as the temperature is cooler and it is in the 'dry season'. The event is currently called the CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown, with the 'Triple Crown' awarded to the driver who is fastest in the top ten shootout and wins both races. The 2008 event was voted as the V8 Supercar Event of the Year. As of July 2024,
340-509: The open and 360 Championships, Farr having won the open championship in 2004 and the 360 championship in 2013 and Veal the 360 championship in 2017 and the open championship in 2020. The current (2017) Australian Champion is Victoria's Jamie Veal who won the title at the Perth Motorplex in Perth , Western Australia. Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic The Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic
360-467: The record with ten Australian championship wins and 18 podium finishes between 1966 and 1998. New South Wales based drivers have dominated the title with 36 wins from 52 championships. Six drivers were from Victoria , three each from South Australia and Western Australia , two winners have been from Queensland , and one from Tasmania . While many successful Australian Sprintcar drivers started out racing Speedcars , only three drivers have ever won both
380-651: Was for the 1985–86 season, held in January. The second was for the 1986–87 season since the Australian Sprintcar Championship was held at Northline Speedway on the grounds of Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin , and held early to avoid the October–April wet season. The 1988 race was for the 1987–88 season. The Australian sprint car racing season is technically 1 July–June 30. Since the early 2000s, Sprintcar racing in Australia has seen
400-688: Was known as the Australian Super Modified Championship while from 1971 to 1978 the title was then called the Australian Modified Sprintcar Championship before changing one more time in 1979 to its current name, the Australian Sprintcar Championship . The Australian championship, along with the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic held exclusively at Warrnambool 's Premier Speedway, are seen the two most prestigious single Sprintcar meetings on
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