The Aussies

 Jeff Freeman

The legendary and charismatic Jeff Freeman started racing speedcars at Westmead in the winter of 1959 at the age of 20 in the twin cylinder Alan Verdich-owned car. He was rapidly promoted to "A" grade and then got to grips with the Sydney Showgrounds track. By 1961-62 Jeff had switched to the Max Linklater-owned Holden speedcar. He started in the Herb Elliot Holden in 1962-63 but was soon offered the drive in one of Don Mackay's offenhausers alongside Andy McGavin. He won the West Australian Speedcar Championship in the car and was star of the Australian team (Freeman, McGavin, Peers and Brock) which raced at Western Springs that season. Back in Sydney he ran competitively with American visitors Bob Tattersall and Jimmy Davies. He had a successful 1963-64 season alongside Johnny Harvey who was driving the second Mackay Offy. By the beginning of the 1964-65 season, Freeman had split with Mackay and was racing the Linklater Holden winning two features in the car. He then renewed his friendship with Mackay and took over Harvey's offy. In a one-off appearance in Auckland, Jeff borrowed the Merv Neil Rothmans Offy and beat Tattersall 2:1 in a match race series and then in the invitation handicap drove over Tatt's left rear wheel, over the bonnet and came down on all four on the other side; they both kept racing! Back in Sydney, he was in scintillating form and beat Bob Tattersall in both the Sydney Speedcar Trophy and the Speedcar Grand Prix at the Royale. Eight weeks later on May 9, 1965, Jeff was killed instantly in a crash at Westmead. He tried for an outside pass, lost control out wide in the heavy dirt and flipped violently, cockpit first, into the safety fence. In his all-too-short short, seven year racing career, Jeff scored 34 feature wins across Australia including 19 at the Sydney Royale and was placed second 15 times. He won match races against both Bob Tattersall and Jimmy Davies and held the 6 lap record at Windsor Speedway and the 3, 25 and 30 lap records at the Sydney Showgrounds. In Sydney, Jeff's arch rival was Johnny Stewart. They were pretty evenly matched drivers with Jeff being the more serious, intense person who was totally determined to win.

Unfortunately, by the time Barry B moved to Sydney to live, Jeff had already died. Nonetheless, Barry raced against Jeff in the 1962-63 season at Western Springs and in Sydney in the 64-65 season. In 62-63 Barry was racing the Mintex V8-60 and, along with the other Kiwis, gave the offy-mounted Freeman a run for his money while in 64-65 the Mintex Offy wasn't competitive in all the Sydney races due to motor troubles.

 Bill Goode ("Billy be Goode")

Bill Goode was born in 1929 and first began racing stock cars in Brisbane in 1954 at the Ekka. He had two cars and the second was numbered #5; a number he kept throughout his speedway career. In the winter of 1955 he bought a Model A-powered speedcar in pieces and rebuilt it, powering it with a holden motor. For the 1955-56 season he started in the "B" grade and was promoted to "A" grade by the fifth meeting. He continued driving the car through the 1956-57 and 57-58 seasons becoming a consistent middle marker. During the winter of 1958 he built a new midget #5 and fitted a ford falcon motor. Motor troubles limited the success of the car in the first season but by the 1959-60 season he had fitted a Repco holden motor. Bill got the Mulcahy brothers to look after the motor and this partnership lasted through to his retirement.  He became a back marker and raced the car through the 60-61, 61-62 and 62-63 seasons. In 1963, he and the Mulcahy's purchased the ex-Jimmy Davies Kurtis Kraft Offenhauser. The car was painted light blue and numbered #5. He raced the Mulcahy Offy through 63-64, 64-65, 66-67, 67-68 and 68-69 before retiring. During this period, the car was rebuilt several times, a new offy motor purchased and for the last few seasons it was painted orange. During his career, Bill won 56 features at the Ekka, the Queensland Speedcar Championship in 1965-66 and was second in the Australian Champs in 68-69. Other notable victories included the Golden Fleece 100, the 50 lap World Derby, the quarter-mile Australian Speedcar Championship and twice the Kevin Jefferson Memorial feature. Bill was a fast, hard but fair competitor and was not often involved in big crashes. Throughout most of his "high profile career" in the Mulcahy Offy, Blair Shepherd was his closest rival. Bill kept a much lower profile than Blair and didn't court publicity, but on the track they were very evenly matched.

Bill was very quick on the quarter mile Ekka track and also found the Western Springs track to his liking. In the 1965-66 season at the Springs, Bill was the star import and gave Barry in the F&C Offy a run for his money. However, Barry prevailed in what Bill later described as the greatest display of driving he had ever seen. Bill Goode also toured NZ in the 1967-68 season and aquitted himself very well.

 Blair "the Lair" Shepherd ("the blur")

At the age of 26, Blair Shepherd purchased the ex-Steve Howman Repco Holden speedcar in 1961. He painted it black raced it in Brisbane as #99 for six months and then raced in Sydney for a while. During that time he became friends with Jeff Freeman and Don Mackay who looked after his car. He then returned to racing in Brisbane. It took him about 15 meetings to win a feature and it was appropriately the Steve Howman Memorial feature race. Blair kept racing and gaining experience but was still only a middle marker when in 1963 he purchased the ex-Cascio Offenhauser and renumbered it #99. Jeff Freeman had persuaded him that if he was serious about speedcar racing, he needed an offy! Blair persuaded ace mechanic Billy Moore to look after the car and this led to a long-term partnership between the two of them. The purchase of the first offy in Brisbane gave Blair much media publicity and from then on he deliberately garnered publicity realizing that it was effectively free advertising for his used car yard (which specialized in high performance sports cars). Blair steadily gained experience and became a back marker at the Ekka. In the mean time he purchased the ex-Leroy Warriner Mackay Offy Freeman had been driving in Sydney and for a while had two offys both black and numbered #99. After several crashes he sold the ex-Mackay offy to Ron Wanless and continued driving the Cascio car. He was a great showman and at that time raced in golden satin overalls - you couldn't miss him! In 1967 he travelled to the USA and purchased an Edmunds Offenhauser and shipped it back to Brisbane. It was re-painted black and, of course, renumbered #99. In this car he won the 1968-69 Australian Speedcar Championship. He then bought another offy and recruited Bob Morgan to drive the second car in his team. Bob won the 1969-70 Australian Speedcar Championship in Blair's car and Blair was second that year. In 1970 he sold the Edmunds to Barry Butterworth and then purchased a new four bar Edmunds Offy from the States. Blair later fitted a Sesco motor to the car before retiring in 1972. As well as a National Champion, he was two-time Queensland Champion (1963 and 1964) and held the 20, 25, 30 and 50 lap records at the Ekka. Blair tried his hand at drag racing in 1971 driving a front-engined dragster aptly named "Wheeler Dealer" but retired after only one season.

Blair drove the Cascio Offy in Auckland in 1965-66 but couldn't get to grips with the track and was no match for Barry B in the F&C Offy. He returned in 1969-70 in the Edmunds Offy and was very competitive. However, in the World 30 lap Championship, he flipped the car several times after catching the wheel of local, Brian Yates. He walked away with facial abraisions. Barry was no match for him in the aging Capitol Motors Chevy II. In 1970-71 he raced the four bar car in Auckland and was again competitive. By that time, Barry was driving Blair's old Edmunds renumbered #26 and had the upper hand on his home track.

 Johnny "Super" Stewart ("Stewie")

Born in 1934, Johnny Stewart began racing speedway in Sydney during 1957 in the stockcar division. He drove a Ford Customline #73 at Windsor, Westmead and Bankstown and soon attracted media attention. In the 1957-58 season he had a foray into speedcars driving Eddie Dark's V twin #55. He won a feature but then crashed the car injuring his back and after recovering returned to stockcars. However in 1959 he drove the Spooner Holden and had two feature wins at the Royale before again crashing. In the early 60's he successfully raced Holden-powered speedcars #44 and #45 for his friend Laurie Seidl and became a backmarker. In the winter of 1963 he was in the Eddie Dark-owned big Berco Holden #2 and racing on the half-mile Westmead Speedway he dominated the speedcar division. Johnny held 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10 and 12 lap records at Westmead in #2. By the 1963-64 season Johnny was driving the Max Linklater Holden #55 with great success. Between 1964 and 66 he raced the ex-Aub Cherry McGee Shell Trackburner fuel injected Holden. The car was essentially the McGee Cams house car and exceptionately fast. Johnny won his first Australian Speedcar Championship (65-66) in the car. After a short stint in a Chevy II, he purchased the ex-Hollywood Spring and Axle Offy off Barry Valentina and went on to win the Australian Speedcar title in 1966-67 and again in 67-68. For the 1967-68 and 68-69 season Johnny ran the ex-Kelly, ex-Stroud Offy (#2). The car was owned by Ron Hodgson and the mechanic was John Shephard. For part of the time the car famously had a 2.5 litre Coventry Climax motor out of the Clark/Geoghegan Tasman Lotus open wheeler installed. Johnny went into semi-retirement after 1969 and finally retired in 1972. Johnny had the reputation of being a lovable larrikin and playboy. He drove with little fear, took enormous risks and was the ultimate rim rider. This driving style resulted in him being involved in a number of horrific crashes, most of which he came out of relatively unscathed. His extraordinary ability can be gauged by the fact that his rivalry with Jeff Freeman was legendary yet Jeff mostly ran the Mackay Offy while Johnny competed against him in Holden-powered speedcars. As well as winning three National titles and the 1965 Queensland Speedcar Championship, he also won over 50 feature races including a record 25 at the Sydney Royale. Johnny died in 1966 at the age of only 62 of a brain tumour.

Barry B raced against Stewie in Sydney between 1965 and 69. Driving the Peers Chevy II, Barry beat Johnny in a match race at the Sydney Royale in 66-67. Johnny described Barry as the wildest speedcar driver he had ever seen – but that could have been the pot calling the kettle black! They raced against each other in 67-68 and were also great rivals during the 68-69 season but the unreliability of the Capitol Motors Chevy II meant Stewart held the upper hand.

 Ron Wanless ("Wando") ("Wreckless") ("The Wrecker")

Ron Wanless, born in 1941, began speedway racing in Brisbane at the wheel of a sportsman in 1962. He soon extended his activities to speedcars racing the, ex-Andy McGavin, Dave Leonard Holden, #76. In 1965 he purchased the ex-Mackay (ex-Warriner) offenhauser from Blair Shepherd. He painted it white, renumbered it #76 and persuaded Nev Brennan to look after it. So began the era of the Brennan "White Ghost" Offenhauser! In 1966-67 he purchased the ex-Keith Blicharski supermodified and raced in both classes. Then in 1967, he upgraded to the imported ex-Larry Burton Chev Corvette-powered supermodified. In this, the Rod Farrell Chevy #9, he was top supermodified driver in Brisbane and a leading Australian driver. By 1972, Billy Moore had joined Ron (after Blair Shepherd had retired) and Billy built a new, sleeker, faster supermodified which Ron campaigned up and down the east coast. However, with the change to sprintcars, the car became less competitive and in 1973 Ron purchased the ex-Alf Barbagallo sprintcar. He raced the sprintcar with much success until his retirement in 1980. In the mean time, in 1972 Ron sold the Offy and started running the ex-Garry Patterson sesco-powered speedcar. Ron was very fast and extremely spectacular in the Billy Moore prepared sesco. In the late 70s as the VW revolution swept the speedcar division, Ron purchased a VW. He won the Australian Speedcar Championship on the Ekka in 1977 and won again in 1978 at Claremont. Through the late 70s, Ron had lucrative sponsorship from Winfield and the sprintcar and VW midget were seen throughout Australia. As well as two Australian titles, Ron won the Queensland Speedcar Championship in 1970, 1971, 1975 and 1977, a total of 63 speedcar feature races at the Ekka and many supermodified and sprintcar races. Ron was always a busy man, being a successful amateur boxer in the 60s and, as well as driving speedcars and sprintcars, he raced trotters and piloted the ex- Leland Kolb top-fuel dragster. After speedway, he took up circuit racing driving at Bathurst in 1979, 80 and 82. He is also a well-known owner of thoroughbreds and a great supporter of the sport of polo. Ron is an extremely successful businessman, and millionaire, and founder of the Wanless waste recovery businesses. He is a strong supporter of trotting and speedway in Brisbane (he owns the land Archerfield Speedway is situated on) and Wanless Enviro Services sponsored the 2007-8 World Series Sprintcar events. His two sons run parts of the Wanless business. Dean raced primarily on asphalt with successful stints in both V8 Supercars and Australian NASCAR competition. Todd began in circuit racing but switched to speedway and was 1995-96 Australian Sprintcar Champion and 2003 and 2005 Queensland Speedcar Champion.

Ron Wanless drove in NZ five times (66-67, 71-72, 78-79 and 79-80) in offy, sesco and VW midgets. Ron was a great character and showman at the track and was always happy to tell the crowd that he would "treat them to the greatest exhibition of driving ever seen anywhere in the world!" He once told the Western Springs crowd that "Butterworth couldn't drive a supermarket trolley!" In fact, both were hard-charging, aggressive drivers and Barry certainly respected Ron for that.

 Garry Rush ("the Master Blaster")

Born in 1944, Garry Rush began his racing career on speedway in Sydney as an 18 year old in the ex-Clive Sevenoaks stock rod. For the next season (1964-65) he purchased the ex-Don Fortune supermodified and fitted it with a holden motor. Driving the Suttons Holden # 73 he improved dramatically over the season. He was 1965-66 NSW Supermodified Champion and third in the Australian Championship and second in both the NSW and Australian Supermodified Championship in 66-67. In 1967 he began racing speedcars and rapidly moved from the encourage division up to "A" grade. He raced the McGee Cams Falcon (#13) before switching to the Higgins Brothers Holden #30 in which he had a very successful winter season at Westmead. For the summer season (1967-68) he drove the Eddie Dark-owned little Berco Holden (#65) with great success before switching back to the Higgins Holden for 68-69. Garry then had a short stint in the second Mackay Offenhauser in 1970. However, between 1970 and 1972 he concentrated on circuit racing and finished third in both the 1970 and 71 Australian Formula Ford Championship. He also tried touring cars racing at Bathurst in 1970 and 1972. During the 1971-72 season Garry purchased the ex-Tony Ward corvette supermodified and was immediately competitive. Then in 1972 he purchased the ex-Johnny Anderson sprintcar and led the sprintcar revolution that led to the demise of supermodifieds in Australia. Throughout the 1970s and 80s Garry dominated the sprintcar division and he was still highly competitive through most of the 90s until his retirement at the end of the 1997-98 season. During this period he won the Australian Sprintcar Championship ten times (1976-77, 77-78, 80-81, 81-82, 82-83, 83-84, 85-86, 88-89, 89-90 and 90-91 and finished second three times and third six times. Garry often drove his own cars but also drove for others, notably Jack Maggs between 1978 and 83. In addition to 10 Australian titles, Garry won eight NSW Sprintcar titles, two ACT Championships, five Adelaide Masters, had 13 World Series Round wins, won five Paramatta City Raceway (PCR) track championships and 96 PCR "A main" races. Garry was able to gain lucrative sponsorship for his sprintcar racing having Winfield sponsorship in the late 80s and Castrol sponsorship throughout the 90s. In addition during VW era of speedcar racing in the late 70s he raced a VW providing stiff opposition for George Tatnell and Ron Mackay. Rush is a successful businessman, part owner of PCR and still runs a successful sprintcar team for whom Donny Schatz often drives when he is down under.. Garry's son, Garry Rush Jnr, was also a talented sprintcar driver who's career was unfortunately cut short by cancer. He underwent life-saving throat surgery and is now sometimes seen crewing on the family Pick'N Payless sprintcar.

Garry raced against Barry B in speedcars in Sydney in the 60s, in supermodifieds at West Capital Raceway in Sacremento in 1973 and on Barry's sojourns to Australia racing sprintcars in the mid 80s Garry was the top man to beat. Rush also raced a VW midget in Auckland in the 1979-80 against Barry B in the Lendich VW.

 "Gorgeous" George Tatnell ("GT")

George was born in 1939 and raced stock car (#25) from 1962-65 at Windsor, Westmead and the Royale along with his two brothers Joe and John. In 1965 he purchased the Laurie Parry Ford-powered supermodified and won the 1965-66 NSW supermodified title. In 1966, George purchased the ex-Johnny Stewart Trackburner speedcar. It was renumbered #25 and he made a big impression in his first year in speedcars. George had a stint in the Mackay Offy after Lew Marshall vacated the seat but never really settled in the car. Then, while racing his supermodified at Westmead  in the winter of 1967, he was involved in a spectacular accident in which he broke a vertebrae putting him out of racing for nearly 6 months. During that time he and Joe rebuilt the ex-Stewart speedcar installing new body panels and the latest Repco cross flow head. He raced the car with success through 1967-68, 68-69 and 69-70. For the 1971-72 season, George purchased the ex-Cascio Offenhauser from Gus McClure and by the 1972-73 season he was backmarker in Sydney along with Ron Mackay. He won the 1972-73 and 73-74 Australian Speedcar Championship and finished second to Johnny Fenton in 75-76. As the VW revolution swept through the speedcar division and racing in Sydney was mainly on the pavement at Liverpool, George and Joe built an innovative new car (the Winfield Wedge) powered by an offy. The car was fast but eventually banned by the NSW Speedcar Association and George was then one of the first to purchase a VW-powered car. He was extremely competitive winning the 1976-77 Australian Speedcar Championship and finishing second in 77-78. In a speedcar, George was past holder of the 1 and 25-lap records at the Sydney Showgrounds on dirt and the 1 and 4-lap records at Liverpool on the pavement. He is fourth highest feature race winner at Liverpool with 20 wins and seventh all time feature winner at the Royale with18 victories. In the 80s George turned his attention to sprintcar racing. He won the 1988 Australian Sprintcar Championship and the World Series Sprintcar series in 1987-88 and 88-89 and was runner up in 89-90. He won seven World Series rounds. By the 1990s George's son Brooke had become a force in sprintcars and George scaled back his racing to assist Brooke's career. Brooke has gone on to be four times Australian Sprintcar Champion and eight times World Series Sprintcar Champion. George suffered a stroke in 2006 and that same year was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He underwent chemotherapy but passed away in April 2007. George was always a controversial and colourful personality and he brought Winfield sponsorship to speedway racing in 1979.

George drove in NZ in the ex-Cascio offy in NZ in 1971-72, 72-73 and 73-74 with great success, winning the 71-72 Australasian Championship. He also appeared in a VW midget in 1977-78 and 80-81. Barry B raced against him in NZ as well as in the 60s in Sydney when George was racing the ex-Stewart Trackburner holden-powered speedcar. George was always happy to tell the crowd in Auckland he was going to go out and beat the kiwis-and he sometimes did.

 Ron Mackay

Don Mackay was the most well-known speedcar owner (and ex-driver) in Sydney and he ran a two-car offenhauser team between 1962 and 1967. He contracted the best drivers including Jeff Freeman, Johnny Harvey, Andy McGavin, Nick Collier, Lew Marshall, Ray Oram and Barry Butterworth. His sons, Ronald and Ian, were brought up around speedway and it was not surprising that both wanted to race speedcars. After Barry B vacated the Mackay Offy Garry McLenahan took the controls for a short time before being dropped to make way for teenager, Ron. Johnny Harvey, Ron's brother-in-law, tutored him in the art of speedcar driving and he was a quick learner. About this time, Don purchased the ex-Don Meacham (Myron Caves) Edmunds Offenhauser and it became the #76 black Mackay Offy with Ron as driver. By 1969-70, Ron was already a leading driver in Sydney and by 1970-71 he was a backmarker. Ron won the Australian Speedcar Championship in 1970-71 and 71-72 was second in 74-75 and 76-77 and third in 75-76. In 1974, ex-pat American, Ted Bohlander, built a new speedcar powered by a Chevy II for the Don Mackay stable. The car carried #76 but was painted bright red rather than the usual black livery. The motor was not altogether successful and was sometimes replaced with an offy. By 1976, both Ron and Ian were racing together successfully for their father on the paved Liverpool track. However, the offys and Chevy IIs became uncompetitive towards the end of the 70s and Don purchased a new Scat VW-powered Gardner speedcar which Ron raced successfully throughout the early 80s until an horrific crash at Parramatta in Jan 1984 almost took his life. He suffered serious head injuries and took some considerable time to recover. Ron had a fast but unspectacular driving style but was capable of banging wheels with anyone who wanted to drive that way. As well as twice National Champion, Ron won the 1972 South Australian Championship, the 1975 Victorian Championship, the 1972 and 75 NSW Championship, the 1979 Queensland Championship, the 1971 Australian Speedcar Grand Prix and is equal leader, with Barry Pinchbeck, with a total of 41 feature wins on the Liverpool City Raceway.

Ron raced in NZ in 1971-72 and 72-73 in the offy, 73-74 in the Chevy II and 76-77 in the VW. He was fast and competitive, but never a stand-out and didn't make the impression of his more colourful colleagues such as Ron Wanless and George Tatnell. He was Barry's main opponent in Sydney when Barry took over the ex-Blair Shepherd Edmunds Offy.

(Fabulous) Johnny Fenton

Born in March 1945, Johnny Fenton began racing karts at the age of 14. He was a speedway fan from an early age and moved into in the supermodified hot rod class at Claremont Speedway in Perth (West Australia) in 1964. A year later he built a new Chev-powered supermodified (#65) and raced it with considerable success for two seasons. After selling that car he ran a Holden-powered supermodified before entering the speedcar ranks in 1968-69. By his second season Johnny was a back-marker in his Tony Bartlett-prepared Holden speedcar. His association with mechanic Tony Bartlett continued until 1980 when he retired. By 1970-71 he was West Australian speedcar champion and finished second in the Australian Championship. However at the end of the 1970-71 season, Johnny rolled his midget at Claremont resulting in severe head and facial injuries. He was in a critical condition for a fortnight but recovered rapidly and was back behind the wheel after only three months recuperation. By 1972-73 Johnny was in a Tony Bartlett-prepared Sesco-powered speedcar and was recognized as a top driver at a national level. He won the Australian title on the dirt at Rowley Park in 1974-75 in the Sesco. He then purchased the ex-A J Foyt 3Ks racing Edmunds VW and showed his versatility by winning the 1975-76 Australian Speedcar title on the asphalt at Liverpool Raceway. Johnny not only won two Australian titles but also was runner-up twice and finished third four times. He was West Australian Speedcar Champion seven times (1970-71, 73-74, 74-75, 75-76, 76-77, 77-78 and 79-80) and holds the record for the most speedcar feature wins at Claremont (59) including 10 wins in one season (1975-76). He was also Northern Territory Speedcar champion in 1976. Late in his career he tried sprintcar racing and he won the Northern Territory Sprintcar Championship in 1980. Johnny raced in the USA in 1979 with moderate success in a Gardner Brothers-owned VW-powered midget. Johnny was always a very popular driver with both the crowd and fellow drivers and in 1975-76 he won the Lawson Medal at Claremont for the fairest and best competitor. Johnny retired from racing in 1980 and later promoted Bunbury Speedway as well as motocross events around Australia and he now runs a transport company in WA.

Johnny raced in New Zealand on a number of occasions making his first appearance in 1974-75 in the Sesco. He returned the next season in the ex-Foyt VW and won the 1975-76 Bob Tattersall Memorial feature at Western Springs. In fact, Johnny raced at Western Springs for six straight seasons 1974-75, 75-76, 76-77, 77-78, 78-79 and 79-80. He raced against Barry B at his peak in the Danny Lendich Edmunds VW. Johnny was always competitive in the international events without being a superstar like Kenyon, Vogler or Tripp.