The American
stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...
category
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
raced in Australia from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. After strong initial interest, particularly in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
at Australia's only purpose-built NASCAR style paved
oval speedway, the
Calder Park Thunderdome, the category collapsed in the early 2000s before returning in the 2010s with OzTruck and Stock Cars Australia.
Bringing NASCAR to Australia was the creation of four-time
Australian Touring Car Championship and
Bathurst 500 winner,
Bob Jane, whose personal
A$54m investment created the Thunderdome at the
Calder Park Raceway, modelled on a scaled-down version of the
Charlotte Motor Speedway. Australian NASCAR racing was sanctioned by Jane's
Australian Stock Car Auto Racing (AUSCAR) authority on behalf of NASCAR in America but the relationship between the two was tenuous and drifted over time. AUSCAR was also the name of the second-tier category with cars based on the Australian made
Holden Commodore and
Ford Falcon running 5.0L
V8 engine
A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
Origins
The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...
s.
In 1987 with the completion of the Calder Park Thunderdome extensions the much delayed first NASCAR race late in the 1987 racing season with the first major event, the
1988 Goodyear NASCAR 500 following on February 28, 1988. Initially
Winston Cup
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States.
The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...
drivers such as
Neil Bonnett,
Bobby Allison,
Michael Waltrip
Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, racing team owner, amateur ballroom dancing competitor and published author. He is the younger brother of three-time NASC ...
,
Dave Marcis and
Kyle Petty
Kyle Eugene Petty (born June 2, 1960) is an American former stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of racer Adam Petty, who was killed in a crash duri ...
visited the Thunderdome but interest waned over time and big-name guest drivers were lured from circuit racing to bolster fields. Star
touring car
Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. The ...
drivers
Allan Grice and
Dick Johnson were both early supporters of the concept, with both travelling to the US to race in the Winston Cup Series, although success was limited. Another touring car star in
Kiwi Jim Richards also raced successfully in NASCAR in Australia.
At the Thunderdome, the top speed for the NASCAR's was around . This compared to the Australian-based AUSCAR's (which while also using smaller V8 engines, ran on road tyres rather than
racing slicks) which had a top speed of approximately ).
Like in the United States, many of the NASCAR drivers in Australia came from the ranks of
dirt track speedway, with drivers such as Barry Graham, Gene Cook, Robin Best, George Elliot, Terry Byers, Neville Lance, Terry Wyhoon, Todd Wanless, and
Max Dumesny all being regulars in the series. NASCAR, like the AUSCAR series, also attracted a number of touring car drivers such as
Charlie O'Brien,
Greg Murphy,
Russell Ingall, and the final ever series champion
Andrew Miedecke. Other drivers included Bob Jane's son Rodney Jane and his nephew Kim Jane (his brother's son) who were also race winners in both AUSCAR and NASCAR, and in the case of Kim Jane a four-time NASCAR series champion. NASCAR in Australia also saw a number of drivers successfully move from AUSCAR, including
Brad Jones who won five straight AUSCAR titles before winning his first series in NASCAR, and
John Faulkner.
As popular V8 powered sedans became less successful in the
Australian Touring Car Championship due to
Group A being dominated by imported turbocharged cars such as the
Ford Sierra RS500 and various
Nissan Skylines, NASCAR arrived in Australia at exactly the right time to exploit a dissatisfaction within Australian race fans and crowds were initially promising, although they faded. The installation of lights at the Thunderdome for night racing in 1991 brought crowds back to peak levels and for the next five years enjoyed success. This success was limited though with only one circuit available.
While most of the cars used were those seen in America at the time such as the
Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Chevrolet Lumina,
Ford Thunderbird,
Oldsmobile Cutlass,
Oldsmobile Delta 88,
Buick LeSabre, and
Pontiac Grand Prix, locally developed
Holden Commodore's and
Ford Falcon's were also raced with Allan Grice notably driving a
VN Commodore to several wins in 1990, while Jim Richards also raced an
EA Falcon with some success.
In 1990 the 1/2-mile (805 metre) Speedway Super Bowl at the eastern end of the Bob Jane owned
Adelaide International Raceway also saw NASCAR racing, giving the category the chance to run on both a high banked speedway and a traditional flat short track. The slower Super Bowl was a welcome addition to the series as it offered a new challenge with its short straights and much tighter turns which unlike the 24° banking at the Dome that allowed for high speed, was only 7° at AIR. When compared to the much faster Thunderdome, the Bowl earned the reputation of a bull-ring (NASCAR's lapped the Thunderdome at over while lapping Adelaide at around ). NASCAR continued to run a single round of the series in Adelaide until the series folded in 2001. In 1992, plans were announced by Bob Jane and
Channel 7 in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
(with help from speedway promoter and Seven's lead motor racing commentator Mike Raymond) to turn the 1/2 mile long
trotting track at the Granville Showground that surrounded Sydney's Parramatta Speedway into a banked paved oval, thus giving a third oval track for the series to use. However, the plans never got past the planning stage.
The Australian NASCARs were supporters of the
Gold Coast Indy 300 run by
CART on the
Surfers Paradise Street Circuit during the early years when CAMS sanctioned categories ignored the race meeting in 1992 giving the category its first run on a road course in Australia. NASCARs only other regular stop became Sydney's
Oran Park Raceway from the mid-1990s, with the cars ran under lights and utilised the shorter 1.96 km road course rather than the 2.6 km Grand Prix circuit. Throughout its run in Australia, NASCAR never ventured west of
Adelaide
Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
and never went off the mainland which limited its audience (though this didn't stop
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
n drivers from competing, such as the winner of the first two Australian championships, Robin Best).
It was at Oran Park in 1995 where
1993 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, American
Kevin Schwantz, made his NASCAR debut. Schwantz won that race at Oran Park driving a
Chevrolet Lumina and later went on to be a regular in the NASCAR
Busch Series in the United States, chose to "cut his teeth" in the more relaxed Australian championship to gain valuable experience rather than jump straight into the cut and thrust of the more professional American series.
Occasional forays onto other circuit began during the 1990s, first to
Eastern Creek Raceway in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
before also racing as a support category at the
Bathurst 1000 with the cars regularly being faster than the
V8 Touring cars on the
Mount Panorama Circuits 1.1 km long Conrod Straight, reaching over , though overall lap times were approximately 10 seconds per lap slower than the made for road racing V8 tourers.
By the end of the 1990s, the popularity of the series had fallen below viability with rounds cancelled in 2000, and with major sponsors favouring the heavily televised
V8 Supercars, the series moved to an exclusively road course calendar in 2001 and was renamed V8 Stock Cars, The 2001 season was a road race series with races at
Mallala,
Queensland Raceway, Oran Park (twice),
Winton, with the final round being held at the Calder Park Raceway.
The 2002 season was abandoned after races were held at Mallala, Oran Park and Queensland Raceway due to the collapse of The Power Tour; Andrew Miedecke was leading the championship after Queensland Raceway.
Revival efforts continued through the 2000s and 2010s, Bob Jane attempted to get things going with the Holden Monaro, the Stockcar Australia Road Series was attempted followed by Historic Stock Car Racing Series Australia and a revival finally gained some traction with the introduction of OzTrucks to Australia before Stock Cars Australia arrived on the scene under the leadership of Brian Walden before Zac O'Hara taken over leadership duties and brought Stock Car racing home to Calder Park Raceway in August 2023.
Stock Cars Australia is currently holding stock car races in Australia, they race at locations such as One Raceway, Sydney Motorsport Park, Winton Raceway and Calder Park Raceway, they use a combination of Cup cars, Xfinity Series cars, AUSCARs, OzTrucks and GTA's, Scott Nind was the 2023 champion in the #16 Ford Mustang and the #34 Ford Mustang.
Champions
References
{{NASCAR
1980s in Australia
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 ...
1990s in Australia
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 ...
2000s in Australia
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 ...
Motorsport categories in Australia