Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on most continents. There is a worldwide tour and national midget tours in the United States, Australia, Argentina and New Zealand.
James Richard Davies was an American racecar driver in Champ cars and midgets. He was the second man to win three USAC National Midget Championships. When Davies won the 100-mile (160 km) AAA Championship race at Del Mar, California on November 6, 1949 – aged 20 years, 2 months, 29 days, he became the youngest driver to win a race in a major U.S. open wheel series, a record not broken until Marco Andretti won the IRL race at Sonoma, California in 2006. Davies raced AAA on a false birth certificate showing him older, and was racing illegally.
Liverpool Speedway was located in Green Valley, Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Liverpool was officially opened by Frank Oliveri and the Oliveri Family, alongside Ald. E. Smith, the mayor of Liverpool at the time, and ran until its sudden and unexpected closure in 1989. Frank Oliveri would later share track management with track announcer and promoter, Channel 7 television sports presenter Mike Raymond.
The Sydney Sports Ground No. 1 was a Stadium and dirt track racing venue in Sydney, New South Wales. The ground was located where the car park of the Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) currently sits. The ground had two main grandstands and was surrounded by a grass covered hill, giving it a capacity of more than 35,000. It was demolished along with the smaller No.2 Ground in 1986 to allow the building of the SFS, which opened in 1988. During its lifespan the sports ground hosted rugby league, rugby union, soccer, motorcycle speedway, and speedway car racing.
The Adelaide Showground holds many of Adelaide's most popular events, including the Royal Adelaide Show.
Tralee Speedway was a dirt track racing venue located in Jerrabomberra on the New South Wales side of the ACT/NSW border near Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The speedway was home to several drivers who went on to become Australian national and state champions. Tralee was a 410 metres dirt surfaced oval raceway.
Shane Andrew Parker is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Australia and a four time South Australian Champion.
John Boulger is a former international motorcycle speedway rider. Boulger won a record nine South Australian Championships, as well as two Australian Solo Championships during his career. As part of the Australian team, Boulger won the 1976 World Team Cup as captain.
Rowley Park Speedway is a former dirt track racing venue that was located on Torrens Road in Brompton, South Australia and supplanted the Kilburn speedway (1946–1951) on Churchill Road, and the earlier Camden motordrome (1935–1941) on the Bay Road. The speedway ran continually during Australia's speedway seasons from its opening meeting on 21 December 1949 until its last meeting on 6 April 1979.
Grenville Anderson was an Australian auto racing driver, considered one of the icons of Australian sedan racing. He was the first driver in Australian speedway history to win four Australian Super Sedan Championships. Anderson began his racing career in a 1957 Vauxhall Velox at the old Surfers Paradise Speedway and steadily progressed to an XU-1 Torana. In 1975, Anderson’s father purchased a stroker motor from Bill Mann and success was instant with wins throughout New South Wales and Queensland. NSW North Coast businessman Peter Croke bought the XU-1 and kept Anderson on as the driver. The combination won the 1976 Australian Title at Rowley Park, placed fourth a year later in Tasmania while also winning the NSW Title at Goulburn and took out features in Newcastle, Uralla, Lismore and Toowoomba.Anderson won his second Australian Title in 1978 at the Claremont Speedway in Perth and finished second in 1979 at Toowoomba bouncing back to claim the 1980 Title at Bagot Park in the Northern Territory. Anderson rolled his Torana while defending his title at Newcastle in 1981 and in 1982 Anderson scaled down his racing commitments, driving the second car out of the Croke stable to second place in the Australian Championship at Brooklyn in Victoria.Croke became disillusioned with the way sedan racing was turning in Australia and it took eight long years before Anderson returned to speedway in 1989. Not long after another successful partnership was formed with car owner Murray Gegg, of Murray’s race parts in Nerang. The Chevrolet Camaro was replaced by a CJ Rayburn Chassis built by Nick Girdlestone with a Holden Commodore body and a Mann engine. The car was fast and set track records at Brisbane, Lismore, Newcastle and Canberra culminating in winning the 1993 Australian Championship at Latrobe in Tasmania and the East Coast Grand National. He died on 31 May 2004 as a consequence of injuries he sustained at the then Archerfield Speedway, now Brisbane International Speedway, on 8 May 1993, some 11 years earlier. Anderson, who was running hot laps in practice for the 1993/94 Australian Championship for which he was the defending champion and favourite to win his fifth title, climbed the concrete wall between turns 1 and 2, and rode along the top of the wall for approximately 30 metres. As the wall ended into the pits his car flipped onto the right hand side and struck a concrete retaining wall on the driver's side with his head striking the wall. Grenville preferred using a motocross style helmet over using the traditional style of racing helmet used at the time.
Speedway City is a Dirt track racing venue located 26 km north of Adelaide in Virginia, South Australia, adjacent to the Adelaide International Raceway.
The Murray Machining & Sheds Murray Bridge Speedway is a Dirt track racing venue that is located in the town of Murray Bridge, South Australia, only 66 km from Adelaide. Racing at the speedway generally takes place between September and April meetings held on Saturday nights. Racing has been held at the venue continuously since opening in 1958.
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.
The Australian Speedcar Championship is a dirt track motor racing championship held in Australia each year to determine the Australian national champion in midget car racing. The single championship meeting, run over two nights in either late January or early February, has been held each year since first being run at the Tracey's Speedway in Melbourne in 1935.
The South Australian Individual Speedway Championship is a Motorcycle speedway championship held annually to determine the South Australian Champion. The event is organised by the Speedway Riders' Association of South Australia Inc (SRA). and is sanctioned by Motorcycling Australia (MA).
Mark Fiora is a former Australian international motorcycle speedway rider. He is a four time South Australian Champion, and winner of the Australian Best Pairs championship in 1988 with Craig Hodgson. Fiora also rode for 13 different teams in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1988.
Peter Cunneen was an Australian speedway driver who competed during the 1950s and 1960s. He won the Australian Speedcar Championship in 1965.
The Australian Formula 500 Championship is an annual dirt track racing championship meeting held in Australia for Formula 500 cars. Formula 500's in Australia evolved from the old TQ's of the 1950s and 1960s.
Sydney Speedway was a dirt track racing venue on the site of the Granville Showgrounds in Sydney.
Raymond Stephen Henry Revell (9 March 1911 – 18 November 1968) is recognized as one of Australia's most respected speedcar (midget) drivers. He was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Speedway Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame in 2016.
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