Chequered flag could fall on speedway as result of fire

By Andrew Masterson
Updated November 5 2012 - 10:28am, first published August 18 2003 - 11:16pm

AROUND half a century ago, a couple of diggers returned to Daylesford after World War II and decided, by and by, that what the town lacked was a car racing circuit.
The former soldiers eventually negotiated a lease on some land, down in a forest-lined basin just by Victoria Park, and set up the Daylesford Speedway.
Stock car races, run by the Victorian Independent Speedway Drivers' Association, have been happening there every summer since. It is now the oldest running speedway competition in Victoria.
It's not a flash operation. There are no stands, no corporate sponsors, and (thankfully) no crowds of morons wearing Ferrari caps.
Instead, each meeting attracts a modest crowd of enthusiasts from far and wide, who cheer on the drivers in their battered jalopies, while sitting under trees and enjoying hamburgers, chips and beers.
Even for people such as your correspondent, who in 40-odd years has never quite learned to drive, speedway days are great days.
Over the past couple of years, the speedway has experienced some difficulties. Last year, for instance, the racing season was delayed for two months because of a public liability crisis.
They're nothing if not stubborn, though, the local racing mob, and a last-minute deal eventually allowed the races to resume just before Christmas.
Last week, however, the Daylesford Speedway was dealt another blow, which, sadly, might just turn out to be fatal.
Late on the evening of Saturday, August 9, the local fire brigade received a report of a fire at the track. When they arrived at the scene, they found that one of only two permanent buildings on the site - a combined kiosk, bar and commentary box - well aflame and beyond salvage.
"By the time we got there, the whole canteen structure had utterly collapsed," said Justin Moynihan, one of the firefighters who attended.
The brigade members suspected that the blaze had been deliberately lit, and after extinguishing the flames sealed the area as a crime scene.
Daylesford police then attended, and investigations are continuing.
For Justin, the worst was yet to come.
His mother, Roz, is familiar to many folk in town as the local post mistress, but is also well known as a demon race driver who has fanged an old Torana around the race circuit for the past 13 years.
Now 54, she officially retired from competition at the end of the last season, after a career that was marked by many trophies and almost as many injuries.
On the night of the fire, she and her husband Danny were in Melbourne, attending an Australia Post conference. When she returned home, Justin told her he had some bad news and asked her to sit down.
"It was awful," she said. "The next day I went down to the site and it was so disheartening. I was almost in tears. Everybody works so hard, with no money, to make the speedway happen, and now all that's left are just a few buckled sheets of tin."
The next season of races is due to kick off in late October, but whether that will actually happen now is anybody's guess.
The commentary box was situated on top of the kiosk, affording long-time race caller Dennis Curran an all-important elevated view of the track. With the structure, and the electrical cabling, now completely destroyed there will be little chance for Dennis to provide his highly entertaining accompaniment.
The loss could mean the end of 50 years of racing.
Last year's insurance woes forced the mob to increase the ticket prices for the meets, resulting in a decline in the number of people attending.
With the bar, the soft-drink counter, and the commentary position now gone, not only will crowds shrink still further, but the organisers will find it even harder to raise the funds to keep going.
"I guess we might be able to borrow a caravan to use as the kiosk," said Roz. "But without commentary half the fun will be gone. I think what we need now is a miracle."
Or, perhaps, God being generally not well known for his love of V6 engines, a good Samaritan.
Over the decades thousands of people have enjoyed days at the Daylesford speedway. Indeed, many people still travel to the meetings from as far away as Melbourne and Albury, eager often to re-live childhood memories of watching the races while on holiday, and, in turn, to introduce their own kids to a form of motorsport that is markedly different to the big-ticket slick world of the Grand Prix.
Perhaps among that legion there are some carpenters or builders who might like to help out with labour or materials.
The speedway mob can't offer any payment, but public thanks (and signage) will certainly not be in short supply.
Anybody able to help should give Roz a bell on 5348 2101.

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