Michael Parry appointed new Premier Speedway general manager, excited to lead club into the future

The former racer and now administrator - currently based out of Geelong - was announced by the club on Friday afternoon as the replacement for David Mills, who resigned from the top job after 15 years.

Mr Parry, 43, will begin in the role on June 27.

"It is pretty surreal, I guess I'm a speedway fanatic through-and-through so it probably won't hit home until day one starts," he said.

"I'm very excited and appreciative to be given the opportunity to lead such a prestigious club such as Premier Speedway.

"It's a good time to join, it gives a bit of breathing space until we get into the season proper but we've already had conversations with the team so I'll be hitting the ground running."

Mr Parry will depart Haymes Paint where he has been employed for 25 years, with his current role being as product manager.

"Career wise, I saw this as the next step for me, it gives me more opportunities to showcase my skills and experience and what better position to do that than in a field I'm passionate about," he said.

"Speedway is my number one passion, so it's a dream to fulfil that."

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The incoming general manager has extensive experience within speedway, racing across three divisions spanning over 20 years before progressing into the administration side of the sport in the wingless sprints division and transitioning into executive levels at Victorian level with seven years spent on the executive of the Australian Wingless Sprints - five of those as national president.

"I'd consider myself to have quite a broad knowledge of the sport and how things operate and through my experiences it's given me a lot of exposure and knowledge of how the sport operates," he said.

With the club set to host the 50^th running of the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic next year, Parry said he was excited to bring forward his ideas and skills to the role.

"I wouldn't be sitting here unless I felt like I could contribute to the club - all the foundations are there which is where I think it suits my skill set," he said.

"I'm thinking, 'what else can we do?', 'how can we get more people on the hill?', 'how can we interact with the local community', to ensure the majority of locals in Warrnambool know what Premier Speedway is and what it's about.

"I want to bring families into the race nights and looking towards the new generation and finding strategies to bring new waves of people into the sport."

Premier Speedway president Richard Parkinson said the club was delighted to welcome Mr Parry into the role.

"We're really excited about Michael's appointment, he'll bring so much to the club, with his background in the business, in marketing and his knowledge of speedway," he said.

"He will be a great asset to the club."

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