Avalon Raceway is a

dirt track racing Dirt track racing is a form of motorsport held on clay or dirt surfaced banked oval racetracks. Dirt track racing started in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 1930s using both automobiles and motorc ...

venue located in

Lara, Victoria Lara is a town in Victoria, 18 km north-east of the Geelong CBD, inland from the Princes Freeway to Melbourne. Its population at the 2021 census was 19,014. History Lara and its surrounding land was occupied for tens of thousands of y ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The track is based on a clay sand mix, is oval shaped and is in length.

History

The track opened in 1976 thanks to the efforts of brothers Doug and Norm Drew, drivers from the area who like others needed a venue to race at after the closure of Torquay Speedway. Early on the big attraction to the new Speedway were the bikes with such

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

riders as

World Champions A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Ole Olsen,

Ivan Mauger Ivan Gerald Mauger (4 October 1939 – 16 April 2018; last name pronounced "Major") was a New Zealand motorcycle speedway rider. He won a record six World Championships (Finals), a feat equalled only with the inclusion of the Speedway GP Champ ...

and

Barry Briggs Barry Briggs (born 30 December 1934) is a New Zealand former speedway rider. Career He won the World Individual Championship title four times: in 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1966.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway ...

battling Australian riders such as Victorian favourite

Phil Crump Philip John Crump (born 9 February 1952 in Mildura, Victoria) is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider. who attained third place in the 1976 World Championship. He also won the 1976 Speedway World Team Cup with Australia in the same ...

Sidecars A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. The combination of a motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''rig'', ''outfit'', or ''hack''. Hist ...

were also a big draw and the Speedway hosted the 1980 Australian Sidecar Championship as well as numerous Victorian Sidecar title meetings. The introduction of clay to the track surface in the early 1990s saw bike racing off the program at Avalon Raceway.

Sprint car racing Sprint cars are Open-wheel car, open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short Oval track racing, oval, circular dirt track racing, dirt or paved tracks. Historically known simply as "big cars," distinguishing them fr ...

had been the biggest draw in Australian speedway since the late 1970s and the clay surface suited this type of

oval track racing Oval track racing is a form of motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traffic is almost u ...

. Since this time Avalon has been a regular of the

World Series Sprintcars World Series Sprintcars was a dirt track racing series held in Australia for Sprintcars. It was the richest and best known Speedway series in Australia. The series was last run in 2019/20 summer season. The COVID-19 pandemic was the originally ...

and was also the home of the Australian Speedcar Grand Prix from 2003 until 2010. The WSS date is often an international affair, as the event occurs days after Christmas Day and United States-based drivers often participate during their off-season. NASCAR stars Christopher Bell and

Kyle Larson Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. ...

, World of Outlaws star Brad Sweet, and Knoxville Nationals winner Jason Johnson have participated in sprint car races at this circuit during their off-season.2011 ASGP Honor Roll
/ref> The outright lap record is held by

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

n driver Steven Lines from

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with a population of 25,591 as of the 2021 census. The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier (volcano), Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about ...

, with a time of 10.930 seconds, set on 12 November 2011, in a 410 Sprintcar. The track is governed by Speedway Australia, the main governing body for Speedway tracks in Australia. Common classes here include Sprintcars, Speedcars, Formula 500 and Junior Sedans

Lap Records

''As of February 2014. All have a 1 lap rolling start.'' *410

Sprintcars Sprint cars are open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval, circular dirt or paved tracks. Historically known simply as "big cars," distinguishing them from "midget cars," sprint car racing is popular primari ...

: 0:10.930 – Steven Lines – 12 November 2011 *360 Sprintcars: 0:12.54 – M. Reed – 11 January 2014 * Speedcars: 0:13:70 – Michael Pickens – 19 March 2005 *Formula 500: 0:13.98 – L. Williams – 21 February 2009 *Super Sedans: 0:14:90 – Peter Nicola – 1 January 2005 *Super Rods: 0:15:48 – L. Podger – 12 March 2005 *Wingless Sprints: 0:15.60 – L. Weel – 29 March 2014 * GP Midgets: 0:15:83 – D. Meyers – 19 December 2009 *V8 Dirt Modifieds: 0:15:93 – L. Hobson – 23 March 1981 *National Rods: 0:15.93 – L. Hobson – 23 March 1991 *Modified Production: 00:16:01 – J. Drew – 30 March 2007 *Street Stocks: 0:18.09 – M. Dann – 1 April 2006

References

External links

Official web site
Buildings and structures in Geelong Sports venues in Victoria (state) Speedway venues in Australia 1976 establishments in Australia {{Australia-sports-venue-stub