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Leading Australian Sprintcar driver Jamie Veal is turning his hand to race promoting, helping launch a new event in the summer of speedway.
Veal – a former national champion – is spearheading a group who have formed the Avalon International, which will be run at Avalon Raceway on Friday January 12, the week before the prestigious Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.
It’s date that became free with the untimely closure of Eastern Creek Speedway in Sydney, and is a chance for the former national champion to give back to the sport.
“It came together with a few friends – myself and team owner Mat Eastham and commentator Gavin White,” Veal told Speedcafe. “So we’ve been able to tick off the media side, the car owner side and the driver side to help make this happen
“And it’s a chance to help our sport with a new event that appealed to me, and also to help a venue that’s been very good to me.”
The Avalon International will attract the country’s biggest racers and a host of Americans with a unique format, highlighted by a $10,000 to win purse.
Veal can help bring knowledge gained from decades racing in Australia and abroad to add extra to the one-night show.
“As we’ve seen in the past year with the demise of Brisbane and Sydney, there are now not many other tracks close to a capital city in the country, so Avalon is perfect to sell this event and to sell this sport which we’re trying to do with the International,” Veal said.
“We want to try and put on a very unique show and throw some extra at this. We want this to be memorable for all fans to attend and we hope we can get a bumper crowd.
“And Avalon has been great to me over the years. It’s a family run speedway which does so much for the sport so it’s great to give back to the Drew family and hopefully we can build something we can all be proud of.”
And Veal is promising to look after race teams with the event. There are no nomination fees, all A-main starters are guaranteed a minimum $1,000 payout, and the winner will pocket $10,000.
The Avalon International will kick off the monster speedway festival across the following fortnight, headlined by the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic and Australian Sprintcar Championship, both to be held at Warrnambool’s Premier Speedway in January.
