Laang Speedway's Wingless Gold Cup

Across the south midwest of Victoria, there are four speedways that dot the landscape. The double layout Darlington Speedway, the home of the Sprintcar Classic; Premier Speedway outside of Warrnambool and the egg-shaped Simpson Speedway.  The fourth is in between both Sprintcar powerhouses of Premier and Simpson; Laang Speedway.

For more than 60 years, Laang Speedway has held race meetings and my first trip to the track would be for the annual Wingless Gold Cup.

F500’s, 1200 Juniours, Standard Saloons and Outlaw Karts would join the 26 car Wingless field for a night of racing.

In recent years, Laang speedway has switched from a clay surface, to sand, then back to clay, with drivers favouring the latter. However, after the first Wingless heats, it was clear that the track was in terrible condition.  It was more like a rally stage, with constant dust making it difficult to photograph the cars.  As Luke Johnson won the first heat, Luke Weel would take victory in the second as there were many spins and subsequent yellow flags.

Jake Warren would have a great start on the outside of Jordan Nicholas in Heat 3 during both attempts to start, as Ray Wallis spun twice before being brought into the infield.  Jarrod Payne wrote that the track went to “breadcrumbs”, as Jake Warren said it was the worst track he’d ever raced on.

Luckily, Laang Speedway has a great bunch of people running the show, meaning that a grader was brought in, to re-prep the track. Even after the almost two-hour delay, all categories got all their races in, and the track evolved to allow for some great racing.

During the time when track was being finalised, the Outlaw Karts would head to the infield for their first heat races.  The shorter infield track the Outlaw Karts raced on was quite impressive.  Other infield tracks I’ve been to (albeit only a few) have all been quite small, with little space for racing leading to plenty of incidents and yellow flags.  The size of Laang’s infield track allowed for plenty of racing room.

The Wingless drivers were the first back on track, with everyone getting some hot laps under their belts as the sun set.

Racing would begin once again with Craig McDonald grabbing the lead in Heat 4 on lap 2 from Jarrod Payne.  Luke Johnson would climb up the field from fifth to battle Luke Weel for the lead as Jarrod Payne spun out of contention in Turn 1.   Luke Johnson would snag his second Heat win of the night as everyone scrapped for position behind.

Wingless Heat 5 would see another battle for first place, this time between Jack Regan and Leigh Estwick.  Unfortunately, Regan would come to a stop with driveshaft issues, leaving Brandon McKay to drive around the outside of Estwick for the victory after starting sixth.

Ricky Bailey would take the win in the final heat race for the Wingless Gold Cup, followed by Shaun Farmsworth and Will Scott.

The top four from the B-Main would advance into the A-Main to contest for the Gold Cup.  Zach Rodgerson, Jarrod Payne, Jayden Lock and James Schneider would all advance as Nathan Williams and Logan Davis had a moment in Turn 2.

With all the support categories completing all their scheduled races, it was finally time for this year’s Victorian Wingless Gold Cup.

Jarrod Payne would be the first to spin as Ricky Bailey suffered damage on the front left of his Wingless.  Out front no one could catch Luke Weel, especially on the restarts as James Schneider and I got a bit too close for comfort.  Luke Weel’s control of the race would come to an abrupt end as he slowed on track with mechanical issues.  

Now it would be a dash for the top positions in the closing laps.  The track grip was widening, and drivers were sending it around the outside to move up.

Luke Johnson would grab the chequered flag, becoming your 2024 Gold Cup champion.  Branden McKay would nab second as Jake Warren would snatch third at the line from the wounded Ricky Bailey.

That night was a great example of how a track can evolve from being like one grit sandpaper to providing great racing.  The crew at Laang Speedway did a fantastic job at fixing the track surface and getting all the racing complete.  Andrew Dorman was also one excited commentator, brilliantly calling all the action.

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