Supercars, Sprintcars double firming for Adelaide return

The South Australian Motorsport Board went off-piste with its support categories at last year’s Adelaide 500 most notably with the addition of a temporary speedway.

The short dirt oval, built on a cricket ground inside the circuit precinct, hosted two spectacular nights of Sprintcar action on the Thursday and Friday of the Supercars season finale in front of packed crowds.

Planning for what will be the first Adelaide Grand Final later this year is now underway, part of which is assessing the viability of the speedway and whether it will return.

While no final decision has been made, SAMB boss Mark Warren says fan feedback leaves the speedway well-positioned to return in November.

“We’re going through all the planning right now for this year’s event,” he told Speedcafe. “Being the first Grand Final we want it to be epic.

“What I will say about the Speedway, and also the Australian Supercross Championship that we had at the event last year, both of those were significant things in all our post-event research, mentioned by fans as fantastic features. And it really sets up the whole Grand Final event to be that mecca of motorsport with that combination.

“So I think it’s in a pretty good position to come back. We’ve got to make sure we work through all the details and we want to make it bigger and better. We don’t stand still on these things, so we’re just going through that planning detail.

“But it certainly was a fan favourite.”

Another factor that could affect the immediate future of the Adelaide speedway is a potential appearance from NASCAR champion Kyle Larson.

The Californian has shown interest in a two-pronged wildcard program in Adelaide this year that would see him race a Supercar by day and a Sprintcar by night.

The SAMB was part of the plan to bring Kyle Busch to Adelaide last year, which collapsed at the eleventh hour, with Warren now well and truly open to having Larson at the event.

“We would love to have Kyle Larson come and race here in Adelaide,” he said. “I think it’s going to be interesting having a wildcard in the Grand Final event.

“Obviously there is some detail there to be worked through. Kyle would have to find a drive with one of the teams, and they would have to go through the Supercars process.

“But really the Adelaide event, from a timing point of view, is the only Supercars event that fits the NASCAR calendar to have a NASCAR wildcard.”