Torque's Cheap

All week, since ANDRA and Palmyra announced that the Pro Stock opening round of the ANDRA Pro Series would be held in Mackay, I’ve been trying to think what to right. And to tell the truth I must have started writing this blog 5 or 6 times, but continued to get a little stuck on what to discuss. So here we go again.

This is not the first time that ANDRA has asked us to run this event, but it is the first time that we have been in a position to accept the invitation. We came close last year, but simply did not have enough time to fit the meet into our racing schedule. So you can imagine how excited I was when the club decided to go for it this year. Apart from the standard bonuses that come with hosting a round of one of the nations top levels of our sport, such as the meet being nationally televised, we will be the opening round of the season. Not bad for a track that sits 1000k’s from the nearest capital city.

It has been said that our track will never be as big as the likes of Willowbank and WSID, but we have something that the larger tracks don’t have. There is that certain atmosphere and character that always surrounds regional tracks, and its something that the locals are very proud of. I was out at the track earlier this week doing a little work on the timing system (that’s another story for another day) when a gentleman pulled in to say hello. From memory, and don’t hold me to this I believe he said his name was Gavin. Now Gavin was up here on business for the week, and is from down Sydney way, but I won’t hold that against him. He was driving past the track for a look, when we saw me opening the gate. So he took the opportunity to stop in, say g’day, and sneak a peak at the track. He mentioned that he use to race in Pro Stock a couple of years ago, and had just seen the announcement that we would be holding a round. We only spoke to about 20 mins, but one of the points he raised was his enjoy of visiting regional tracks for the character they provided.

Not long after that Gavin was on his way, after taking a quick look around the track and thanking me for letting him sneak a peak. But it got me thinking about the benefits of a regional track over one of the capitals. Every year the racers that make the long pilgrimage up this way for the Sunstates Nationals, or the Pro Street meeting and even the exhibition events like the Brays, Jet Cars and Nitro Funny Cars all express how much they enjoy coming here to race. And while our track might not be the best in the country, I for one am very proud that racers enjoy visiting enough to not only express it, but to return year after year.

Well now after all that I really didn’t talk much about the Pro Stocks at all, well I guess I can save that for another day.

Cheers
D