Winding Back The Speedway Clock

Welcome to Timmis Speedway, Mildura’s home for dirt racing.  The speedway was first opened in September of 1964, and its wide and tall banking allows for some fantastic side by side racing.  However, today there would be no racing, instead a demonstration of vintage and classic speedway racers, as they started their engines one more time.​​

This isn’t the first time I’ve planned to photograph a vintage speedway event.  The event at Western Speedway last year was rained out as I was en route, and the meeting at Swan Hill was cancelled.  Each year though, Timmis Speedway holds the final Victorian vintage meeting of the year, dubbed ‘Wind Back the Clock’, featuring all classes from midgets, sedans, heavy rods, Ace of Spades and Sprintcars.

Both previous events I had planned to go to had been Vintage Sprintcar only gatherings, meaning I made a beeline for anything with big tyres and even bigger wings.

First up was David Moore's beautiful Mopar flavoured 1979 Sprintcar powered by a 400hp Chrysler 318ci V8.  During the car’s competitive career, it had journeyed to every speedway in South Australia, including a few in Victoria. ​​

David picked up the car twelve years ago in a wrecked state of bits and pieces, along with three engines.  Over the course of twelve months restored it to its current state and now each year, he travels at least five meetings in South Australia and a few additional vintage demonstrations interstate.​

I cut all the welds out and re-weld the whole chassis, and all the fiberglass panels, I’ve reskinned all them.  Basically, what you see, I’ve renewed all of that.  Some of it’s new material, some of it’s old material, done up.” - David Moore

Underneath, a new crown wheel and pinion has been given to the Winters quick change differential, and the bell housing has been made to fit a starter motor so they can drive away without need for a push.  David drove the car for approximately seven years before handing over driving duties to George, who also owns a winged beast.

Historic race meetings are a good way to discover racing categories that you didn’t know existed.  With a Holden 202 engine, this makes George Stell’s QLD 11 car a Limited Sprinter.  George has had this 1982 Gearhart chassis for eight years now, after bringing the car down from Brisbane, and in that time has rebuilt the motor, the 3-speed synchromesh transmission and the Volvo differential.  The car now also has a new front end after an incident at Murray Bridge.

​When George hops into David's Sprintcar, his son Josh takes the reigns of the quick Limited Sprinter.

Let's talk about the rain, because before cars could take to the track, we got the first of three showers throughout the day.  As I found shelter under some Sprintcar wings, officials and drivers waited for the rain to pass before letting the midgets and F500's on track.  When the Sprintcars were let loose, the rain came down again and it was clear that the track had become too wet.

The track would be graded and when the rain stopped, Sprintcars and Super Modifieds with their big tyres would be let loose again to try and create a racing line.  Jason Wilson and others would impressively slide down the embankment into the river that had formed at the bottom. The track was deemed too slick as more rain hit Mildura.  A few of us tried to walk back up the slick banking, providing just as much entertainment as the Sprintcars.

For the cars, it was mud rather than water that would be a problem, Mark Kuypers however didn't seem phased at all.  His 1974 Supermodified (no relation to the Super Modifieds of Oswego Speedway) had been polished to perfection before the event, but now was the dirtiest racecar I've ever seen.  

Mind you, Mark was sending the car that had been originally built in a shed back in Winchelsea, more sideways than anyone else dared, on the limit of grip.

Another car that was so clean you could eat off it was Michael Millers 1984 SA1 Pontiac Trans Am, built by Stevie Stewart and driven to multiple state title victories.  Under the bonnet is a 350ci Chevrolet V8 making all the right noises.

After changing hands twice, former Super Sedan racer Peter Drew found the car and completely restored it back to its glory days.  Peter Drew sadly passed away last year, but Michael Miller will continue the car's legacy.  After the second dousing of rain, he was sent onto the track and I think we all lost count of how many laps he did, as he tried to create a racing groove in the thick mud.

As the Vintage and Classic Sedans hit the track, the third significant rain shower came down, and the event was deemed cancelled.  The track had become too wet, everyone had grown a couple inches as mud gathered underneath our shoes, and with the cold temperatures, there was no way the track would dry out.  The team at Timmis Speedway certainly gave it a cracking shot, but the rain was just too overwhelming.

Not even half the cars made it on track, and there were a few I was looking forward to seeing take on Timmis Speedway.  The Ford Heavy Rod, Holden Speedcar and Noel Sharrock's Limited Sportsman were all cars that especially caught my eye.  Still, it certainly wasn't a wasted trip to Mildura, as I got to witness track conditions that are very rare when it comes to speedway racing and got to gaze over some amazing vintage metal.  I will certainly be back at a Vintage meeting when the 2024-25 season gets underway.

Bonus Gallery