|
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 (for a time also known as Fraser Park Raceway and later the Pepsi Power Dome) was a dirt surfaced oval raceway. ==History== Tralee Speedway opened in 1970 and was a "D" shaped oval made of a dolomite and clay mix. Many types of cars raced at Tralee - super modifieds, Sprintcars, Speedcars, three quarter midgets (TQs, later to be named Formula 500s), stock cars, Solos, Sidecars, and productions sedans. During the 1970s, Tralee Speedway was best known for its high quality production sedan racing, producing several national and state champions in this category including Australian champions David House (2 x Australian champion), Dave Wignall and Brian "Stormin" Norman. The speedway holds the distinction of hosting the first ever Australian Super Sedan Championship in 1971-72, won by Kevin Dalton of Victoria from Alan Butcher of Queensland and David House. In 1974 Tralee staged the Australian Modified Sprintcar Championship. The event was won by Jim Winterbottom (father of V8 Supercars driver Mark Winterbottom) from Victoria's Les Harrower and Ron Smith. By 1979 the title was renamed the Australian Sprintcar Championship and in 1982 was once again held at Tralee Speedway. Legendary Australian Sprintcar driver Garry Rush won the 4th of his 10 national titles from Bob Kelly (Qld) and Ian Samms (NSW). Tralee hosted its final Australian Sprintcar Championship in 1989, With Garry Rush again victorious, winning his 8th national crown from defending champion George Tatnell (NSW) and 1987 national champion Brett Lacey from Victoria. Many well known drivers from the Liverpool Speedway in Sydney also raced at Tralee including sedan aces Peter Graham, Peter Crick, Bruce Maxwell, Brian Callaghan, Rick Hunter, and super modified stars Gary Rush, Dick Britton, Jim Winterbottom, Steve Brazier, George Tatnell and Sid Hopping. Other notable drivers from this era include Peter Taunton, Howard Revell, brothers Bob and Harry Bink, Ron Shepard, Bob Rawlings, Max Kennerly, Ken Barlow, John Lange, Roger Emerton, John Forman, Bill Martin (from Cooma) and Bill Martin (from Goulburn). The USA Sedan teams returned to race for many seasons at Tralee and the "USA vs. Australia" battles were popular with race fans. Another popular visitor was American Sprintcar great Gary Patterson (promoted in Australia as "The Hostile Hippy"), who proved to be unbeatable on nearly every occasion. Other US stars to race at Tralee were Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford, 1975 and 1976 USAC National Midget Champion Ron "Sleepy" Tripp, Larry Rice, and Mel Kenyon. Three time Speedway World Champion Ole Olsen from Denmark was a visitor to the speedway. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tralee Speedway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|