It is the 52nd time Darren Smith and Garry O’Brien have had the opportunity to corner someone, in this case it is a genuine grassroots racer.
From HQ Holdens, Historic Touring Cars, Saloon Cars, enduros at Bathurst and more, Keven Stoopman has been a mainstay of the grassroots motorsport scene in Australia.
Keven raced HQs at state and national level from the turn of this century for over 10 years on a regular basis and part time for nearly another decade. In that time, he won the Victorian Championship, recorded a fourth in the Nationals and won the HQRA National Challenge Series in 2008.
He also took on Historic Touring Cars, initially in a Holden Torana XU-1 and later in V8 Holdens. There were a couple of races in Excels, an Improved Production Nissan Pulsar and an indecently quick turbocharged Datsun 120Y.
Keven also dabbled in V8 Utes aboard a Ford FG Falcon XR8 and competed in the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst for the Class C victory with Andrew Williams and Gavin Ross in a Subaru Impreza WRX. In recent times he has raced a Mitsubishi Evo 7 RS across Sports Sedans, Improved Production and Super TT.
For a period, he took on a management role at Winton Motor Raceway during which time he was asked to race a V8 SuperUte in the supports at a Winton Supercar round. Unfortunately, that did not go quite to plan. Take a listen to find out how that went and other great stories about his career in motor sport.
Also catch up on the other 51 grassroots racing podcasts from those who started there and talk through their racing careers.