TRAVELLING is part of everyday life for a sprintcar driver.
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Time away from home is about to increase for Queensland competitor Cody Maroske too.
His home track - Brisbane's Archerfield Raceway - will close in June.
"It is going to limit where we can race," Maroske told The Standard before contesting the Victorian sprintcar title in Warrnambool on Monday night.
"It's why we wanted to come down here (to Premier Speedway), it gives us a few more opportunities to learn before maybe committing to down here next year.
"(Car owner) Errol (Cosgrove) has got a depot down in Melbourne so it's not too hard for us to base ourselves in Melbourne and do some car racing."
Maroske, 29, said he would still race in his home state.
"Toowoomba is going to put on a fair few shows and we like racing there but there's probably only also going to be Lismore, Maryborough for a couple, so it will be limited," he said.
Maroske hopes his strong form at home can translate into success at the 50th South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic in late January and Australian title in Western Australia in February.
"A change of scenery is always good," he said.
"We've been good (at home) - until we came down here we hadn't been off the podium, just seconds, thirds and that kind of thing.
"We've had a pretty consistent year but heading down here it's a different race track so we have to learn as it's different competitors to race against.
"But we've done pretty well - we finished tied for eighth in the series for speedweek."
The full-time driver would love to see World Series Sprintcars - a national series - re-start next summer.
Maroske plans to visit America in 2023 too, eager to test himself on its expansive racing scene.
"That's the plan, to get over to America in the (Australian) off-season period, get a few races there and then be on the front foot to race here," he said.
![Cody Maroske in the Premier Speedway pits before the Victorian title. Picture by Sean McKenna Cody Maroske in the Premier Speedway pits before the Victorian title. Picture by Sean McKenna](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/justine.mc%40fairfaxmedia.com.au/d6144720-95ad-4aa3-9c90-59349d74cf31.jpg/r0_0_6000_4000_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Maroske grew up honing his skills on the dirt as a junior sedan driver and has been racing sprintcars for six seasons.
The driver, who likes cycling in his spare time, followed his dad Garry into motorsport.
"I won (the junior sedan) national title in 2010 and then stepped up to a few other classes," he said.
"Dad ultimately is the one who got me going and he's still going racing with me today so it's pretty cool."
Maroske - like many of his peers - competes for the thrill. "The raw speed of these cars (is intense) and you try and win a race every night but you're losing more than you're winning and even the best cars are the same," he said.
"Trying to achieve that (success) every single night just keeps you coming back for more."
It was an early finish for in-form American Chase Randall who was forced to retire from the meeting prior to the time trials.
It ended an impressive start to the teenager's Australian campaign which included finishing top-five in the South Australian-Victorian speedweek series.
Warrnambool's Jamie Veal clocked was the fastest qualifier in flight one, zipping around the circuit in 11.731 seconds. Another Warrnambool competitor - Darren Mollenoyux in Tim Van Ginneken's number 44 - was fastest in fl ight two with 11.997, V8 Supercars ace Cam Waters (11.801) won the third flight and flight four went to Portland's Brock Hallett (11.901).
Flight five winner was experienced competitor Luke Dillon (12.011).
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