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This weekend will see the curtain come down one final time at Archerfield Speedway, in the southwest suburbs of Brisbane, after forty-four years of operation.
Known as Brisbane’s home of dirt track speedway, the venue has hosted National and International level events including the Australian Sprintcar Open, World Series Sprintcars and numerous others over its illustrious history.
Archerfield will close its doors with a two-night affair, culminating in the ‘Last Race’; a $15,000 to win the Sprintcar 50-lap feature race with and additional $100 per lap led – meaning that a total of $35,000 is up for grabs in front of an already sold-out crowd on Saturday night.
Competitors from across Australia will flock to the suburban speedway for the last time, with a substantial field of 70 Sprintcars nominated and more than 200 entries across all divisions over the two nights.
Reigning Australian Champion Jock Goodyer (A1) will be a headliner, with past Australian Champions Jamie Veal (V25) and Robbie Farr (T20) also paying homage to Archerfield one more time.
The current Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic champion Brock Hallett (Q5) will also be on show, with Repco Supercars star Cam Waters set to make his one and only appearance at Archerfield driving the number V6 Sprintcar for Chief Racing.
Reigning Track Champion (and current points leader) Luke Oldfield will be looking to make a statement after dominating this season – having never finished off the Archerfield so far this season.
“This place is pretty special to me,” Oldfield told Speedcafe. “I grew up here, was pushed around the place in a pram. I’ve been racing here 21 years and now my kids have grown up here as well – it’s going to leave a big hole to fill”.
“The local car counts over the last few seasons have shown that John and Kathy Kelly have done an amazing job with the track, not just in Sprintcars but across all divisions”, the driver of the Q17 Sprintcar continued.
“The sport in Brisbane will survive and go on, but without a track in Brisbane it’s going to be tough for it to thrive.”
Sprintcar Competitors from South Australia, the Northern Territory, Victoria and New South Wales are making the pilgrimage, with the event tipped to be one of the most competitive in the long and storied history of the venue.
In addition to the Sprintcars, the support categories will see a 50-lap feature race for speedcars on Saturday night.
More than 30 drivers have been nominated including New Zealand ace Michael Pickens (driving the N70 that Brady Bacon drove to the Australian Title in Sydney earlier this year), former Australian Champs Nathan Smee and Kaidon Brown.
With contenders also including Alan Day, DJ Raw, Braydan Wilmington, NSW Speedcar Champion Michael Stewart and Queensland Speedcar Champion Dylan Menz, it will be a hard-fought battle for the final Midget race at Archerfield.
Although competitors and fans alike have lobbied the Queensland Government to assist with finding a suitable replacement for the privately owned Archerfield, the calls have fallen upon deaf ears with no realistic alternatives on the table so far.
The closure of Archerfield Speedway is the second suburban speedway in recent years to close its doors due to the urban sprawl, with Sydney’s Parramatta City Raceway (Valvoline Raceway) falling victim to the same fate in 2020.
