This season the NSW Compact Speedcar Club celebrates its 50th year of continuous competition, which will culminate with the running of the 2009/10 Australian Compact Speedcar Champioship at Gilgandra during Easter.

This venue is the geographical centre of Compact Speedcar racing in Australia and is expected to draw one of the largest fields in many seasons. It will also offer a true neutral ground for the best drivers from the three eastern states to do battle.

The solid foundations of the club have remained consistence through name changes and the evolution of the cars themselves.

Prior to February 1959 both rear and front engine TQ Midgets raced together however as the dramatically different handling front engine ranks grew, so did the need for a new club. In August of 1959 the TQ Midget Association of NSW was born. Father and son team of Wal and Ray Platt were instrumental in the formation of the club, along with Alan Streader who is still actively involved today.

The cars raced under the TQ banner for many years primarily at Windsor Speedway on the smaller ¼ mile track inside the main circuit. They also raced at Westmead, Kembla Grange, Morriset, Tralee, Heddon Greta, Newcastle and the Sydney Showground.

During this time many of the big names of the Speedcar ranks, such as Peter Cunneen and Sid Middlemass, jumped into a TQ and raced both machines at the same meeting.

When the TQ division was offered regular appearances at the famous Sydney Showground a name change to Junior Speedcars aligned them more to the star billing – Speedcars.

Junior Speedcars continued to race at the major city and provincial tracks throughout New South Wales during the seventies and eighties.

As the cars continued to evolve Mike Raymond from the Liverpool Speedway requested a name change to Compact Speedcars and they began to produce extremely exciting racing on the high-banked paved oval. Compacts had a somewhat of a cult following with 30 to 40 cars trying to qualify for the feature event or the eagerly and fiercely contested Dirty Dozen, twelve cars over twelve laps where 3 or 4 wide racing was the norm.

When the black top was ripped up at Liverpool the Compacts continued to field strong numbers across NSW and the category was becoming a real breading ground for future speedway stars. Names such as Rod Bowen, Skip Jackson, Peter Murphy, Steve Brady, Rob Worthington, Brett Morris, Tony Abson all raced through the Compact Speedcar ranks with many others using them as a stepping stone or just as importantly, an opportunity to race for those without the budget for a Sprintcar or Speedcar.

Today Compact Speedcars have a maximum width of 1448mm, a maximum length of
3000mm and a minimum car weight of 320kgs (less driver and fuel). The chassis are constructed of either mild steel or chrome molly tube to stringent safety specifications.

A wide variety of power plants are allowed with the more popular engines being the reliable Datsun and Suzuki Swift in car engines. Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki are the choice in the motorcycle engines. Engines are limited to 1430cc for push rod production car engines and 1060cc for multi valve production motorcycle engines. Forced induction engines are permitted but are limited to no more than 857cc.

The NSW Compact Speedcar Club has close to 40 registered cars with up to 25 regularly participating in the season long point. Recently a very successful driver education day was held at Goulburn Speedway. The club aim to use the celebrations to enjoy a successful season of racing and lay the foundations for the following 50 years.

2009/10 Compact Speedcar Calendar
September
5th Brisbane QLD Practice
19th Brisbane QLD Practice
19th Cranebrook NSW Scrutineering
26th T.B.A QLD Scrutineering
26th Cullen Bullen NSW Colleen Collinge Memorial
October    
3rd Brisbane QLD Practice
17th Brisbane QLD Club Show
17th Goulburn NSW
24th Nowra Speedway NSW Practice
31st Brisbane QLD Club Show
November
7th Nowra Speedway NSW
14th Gatton QLD
22nd National Capital Speedway ACT
28th Brisbane QLD Club Show
December
5th Lismore NSW Club Show
12th Goulburn NSW New South Wales Championship
19th Gatton QLD
20th National Capital Speedway ACT Christmas Cup
January
2nd Brisbane QLD Club Show
9th Nowra NSW
16th Brisbane QLD Club Show
23rd Lismore NSW Queensland Championship
24th Lismore NSW Queensland Championship
30th Gilgandra NSW Aust. Title Showdown
February
13th Gatton QLD
27th Brisbane QLD Club Show
27th Goulburn NSW
March
6th Nowra NSW Wal Platt Memorial
20th Brisbane QLD Club Show/Messer Memorial
20th Goulburn NSW
April
3rd Gilgandra NSW Aust Title
4th Gilgandra NSW Aust Title
17th Nowra NSW
17th Brisbane QLD Club Show
May
2nd Cullen Bullen NSW Presidents Cup
8th Brisbane QLD Club Show
15th Gatton QLD T.B.A
20th Cullen Bullen NSW Rain Date or a Fun Day (whichever is required)

Victorian Dates Coming Soon.

Subject to change with out notice. Although care has been taken in gathering these dates NASR does not accept any responsibility for incorrect information. Please visit the NASR Track Directory on www.nasr.com.au to confirm dates with the relevant tracks.

For more information:

Donna Eyeington
Secretary - For and on behalf of:
NSW Compact Speedcar Club Inc.
PO BOX 3142,
ROSEMEADOW NSW 2560
Email: nswcompacts@gmail.com
NSW Website: www.nswcompacts.com.au
National Website: www.compactspeedcars.com.au
Club Mobile Ph: 0402 595195 Email scanned by the NetBox at Ian Boettcher Motors.