Sydney track closure forces Brock Hallett to change schedule

The Portland-based driver is determined to be a contender for back-to-back track championships too.

He is one of 42 competitors currently entered who will vie for an SRA Series win at the circuit on Saturday, November 4, 2023.

Hallett said he was eager to perform well at the track's 2023-24 season-opener.

"Our main focus for the season is the Classic and the Aussie title, being a week apart (at Premier Speedway in January)," he said.

"That's what we've put our energy into. We'll race as much as we can but we'll be using those races at Warrnambool to prepare for that.

"We also want to defend the track championship we won last season. That pays pretty good and we want to make sure we're still in contention in the final round (at Easter)."

Hallett plans to complete 45 shows across the 2023-24 season and has already run nine in the Northern Territory and Queensland, recording a win, a second and two thirds.

"Graham and Wendy (Erhart) at GW Racing are based in Queensland, so the first part of the season it was all run out of their shed and their operation," he said.

"Now the Victorian speedway season is starting to kick off this weekend."

Drivers' plans were scuttled when Sydney's embattled multi-million dollar Eastern Creek complex shut when lease agreement negotiations broke down.

There is no date for its re-opening.

"You hear reports that it's going to and you hear reports that it's not," Hallett said.

"One day we're going there and the next day it's all shut down for good. Time will tell I guess."

Hallett said he was confident he would only lose a couple of race opportunities because of the Eastern Creek debacle.

"We've had to adjust our schedule to compensate that. We did have a few shows up there and planned to run around Sydney," he said.

"Our calendar is somewhat finalised but we're still picking and choosing what we're able to.

"The weather plays a big part as well - you're not going to drive 10 hours if it looks like it's going to rain if there's a meeting a bit closer.

"We haven't lost any races, we'll just go different places. Generally, there's more than one race every weekend and instead of driving to Sydney we might have to drive to Queensland or Adelaide."

Both of Hallett's major goals - the classic and Australian title - will be run at Premier Speedway.

"I don't see it as anymore pressure. Every race is hard to win," he said of being the defending champion.

"There's always good cars everywhere you go."

The 2024 Flying Horse Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic will pay $40,000 to the winner - up $10,000 on the traditional prize cheque.

Premier Speedway has confirmed there would be more than $110,000 paid out across the 24 Classic A-Main qualifiers.

Hallett, who received a one-off $50,000 winner's cheque for the milestone 50th classic this year, said it was a positive result.

"There's not a lot of big money races here in Australia so it's good it pays more and pays quite well down through the field as well," he said.

"The more money we can race for, it allows for more competitiveness and people are a bit hungrier to win it. It just lifts the whole profile of the event."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: