Speedway Racing - Pride and passion at the heart of Goulburn Valley Auto Club

By Tyler Maher

Aug 10, 2021

Misconceptions about speedway racing can often be held by those not involved in the sport.

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But two of the most recognisable names in the the sport in the Goulburn Valley are happy to explain why they love it so much.

Dennis and Barry Myers have speedway racing in their blood and for decades have been key figures in the Goulburn Valley Auto Club community.

And the club is exactly that — a community, born out of a passion for cars and immense pride in their region and its talents.

“It was enjoyable, I loved competing, I loved being out driving like an idiot legally and in front of people, and it sort of progressed from there,” Barry said of his first experiences with the sport.

“The club was a great family to belong to when it first started.

“We went to a race meeting and there were a couple of people there that I knew from Shepparton who I didn't know were racers, because there were no clubs back then.

“We were sitting talking, four men and a woman, and saying that Shepparton should have its own club, so we had a bit of a talk about it and put an ad in the paper to see if anyone was interested and got a great response and that was the formation, the beginning of the Goulburn Valley Auto Club.

“We named it that because we wanted to encompass the area. At that time it was known as Hot Rod Racing and we didn't like the ‘Hot Rod’ business, it was the wrong image.

“We formed the club on that night, I was elected president for three years. In that period we got a block of land at Murchison East on the recreation reserve. We built a racetrack, now this was 10-15 young people, I was young back then, most of the expenses and stuff came out of our pockets.

“The club grew from 10 members, the last count was 160. We were a family, a group, we had group days out and some of those young blokes are now old blokes and they've all commented on what a great time they had belonging to the Goulburn Valley Auto Club.”

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Pride in the club and the Goulburn Valley itself has always been at the core of the organisation.

“The one thing we insisted was that you put either a GV prefix before your number or GVAC or Shepparton, we come from Shepparton and we were pretty proud,” Barry said.

“I always had both GVAC and Shepparton in a prominent place on all of my race cars. When I raced interstate, in the earlier times, people would say where's Shepparton, they knew about SPC, but didn't know about Shepparton.

“Our club has grown into a club that three times we've won awards for the best speedway in regional Victoria.”

Making an impact in the wider community was also high on the agenda for Barry when the club was first starting out.

“In that time I got to know a man named Senior Constable Eric Montgomery, who was trying to raise money and interest in starting what is now DECA,” Barry said.

“It was the Goulburn Valley driver training complex originally and we were talking and our ideas at that time were to try and get young people — young hoons — off the roads.

“Our road toll I do remember was horrific at that time, 1034 I think was the catchcry, 1034 people killed on Victorian roads in a year, and you've got to remember there was only a 10th of the amount of cars.

“And our idea was if we could get some of these young blokes and get them out in the paddock where they could race a car, cheap, legally and in front of people and get cheered for it or booed for it, whatever, (it might help lower the road toll).

“And that did work to a certain degree. At that time if you had a race car you couldn't really afford to do too much on the streets. You put your money into the race car and you wanted to go out there.

“Eric Montgomery did tell me that it did have some effect, and at that time any effect was a great thing.”

These days speedway racing looks different to how it did in the early years of the GVAC, but its popularity remains strong.

“There's more speedway tracks in Australia than any other form of racing,” Dennis said.

“It's been a hidden sport in a lot of ways. Speedway tracks are an oval shape with a concrete fence, they vary in size and they vary in the surfaces that you race on. There's some that are very sandy, some that are pure clay, some with a lot of banking, a lot of flat ones. There's a lot of work that goes into the car to make it adaptable to race tracks.

“Nothing against the bitumen guys, but it's bitumen. There's big tracks and long tracks and short tracks and I have a lot of appreciation for them, I've got a lot of friends there. Whereas speedway tracks over a long distance race, a 30-lap race, will change from really wet at the start of the race to really dry at the end of the race.

“So being able to adapt your driving style and driving abilities (is crucial). Setting up your car for the last 10 laps where the victory and the glory is, is very much a skill in itself, and it changes from state to state.

“There's different rules you have to adapt to, different strategies. It has become a national body now, so it is a little bit different.

“The cars have changed, the speeds have changed and the safety equipment has gone with it (too).”

Barry agreed.

“My first car we paid 35 pound for and that was ready to race,” he said.

“A modern day sprint car is closer to $200,000.

“The whole sport has changed, not just the tracks and the surfaces, which are brilliant now compared to when I started, they've come a long way, but the technology in the race cars, now these are professional race cars, they're not a car you bought from the wreckers and put some bars in.

“These things are manufactured to do speedway.

“It's not a terribly high profile sport, but it is a great sport and a great thing to belong to, and our club is definitely the best in Victoria.”

● Dennis and Barry Myers will join the ranks of the Greater Shepparton Sports Hall of Fame when the postponed induction ceremony is able to be held.

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Sports Hall of Fame - Dennis and Barry Myers