Rowley Park Speedway

Rowley Park Speedway

The Place Where Champions Gather The Brick Pit The Butter Box
Location	Torrens Road Brompton, South Australia
Coordinates	34°53′37″S 138°34′41″E / 34.89361°S 138.57806°E / -34.89361; 138.57806Coordinates: 34°53′37″S 138°34′41″E / 34.89361°S 138.57806°E / -34.89361; 138.57806
Capacity	10,000
Owner	Soccer Association of South Australia
Operator	Wal Watson (1949-1951) Alf Shields (1951-1954) Kym Bonython (1954-1973) The Consortium consisting of Kevin Fischer, Cec Eichler, Rex Sendy and Ray Skipper(1973/74) Racing Drivers Association of South Australia (1974-1979)
Opened	1949
Closed	1979
Major events	Australian Sprintcar Championship Australian Speedcar Championship Australian Super Sedan Championship Australian Solo Championship Australian Sidecar Championship Rick Harvey Memorial Harry Neale Memorial Golden Fleece 50 Lap Speedcar Derby Various SA Championships
Oval
Surface	Dolomite
Length	0.222 mi (0.358 km)
Lap record	0:14.8 (Jimmy Sills () / Steve brazier (), , , Sprintcar)

Rowley Park Speedway ^[1] is a former dirt track racing venue that was located on Torrens Road in Brompton, South Australia and supplanted the Kilburn speedway (1946–1951) and the earlier Camden motordrome (1935–1941). The speedway ran continually during Australia's summer months from 21 December 1949 until its closure on 6 April 1979.

History

Rowley Park ^[2] was originally conceived in 1948 by a group of Kilburn Speedway Speedcar drivers who were disgruntled with the Melbourne based promotors Kirjon Speedway Pty Ltd. The Soccer Association of South Australia owned the site of a former "pughole" (South Australian term for a clay pit or brick pit)^[3] on Torrens Rd. at Brompton named Rowley Park ^[4]which was located only 5 km from the city and the original plan was for the land to be the home of Soccer in SA. It was purchased by, and named for, Mr Enoch Procter (Ted) Rowley, an English-born dentist who moved to Adelaide from Kalgoorlie in 1908 where he had forged a reputation as being Western Australia's best soccer goalkeeper. However, the Soccer Association had received bad press regarding its failure to grow grass on the site. Rowley Park also had a tendency to flood during winter as the bottom of "The Brick Pit" was below the level of the water table, which made playing soccer virtually impossible.

The Soccer Association then obtained a lease on Hindmarsh Oval from the Hindmarsh Council but as owners of Rowley Park were keen to make money from it. The initial lease for the speedway was £26 per meeting plus a toll of 1 penny per head through the gate based on a minimum of 23 race meetings per season.

The speedway was originally shaped with four distinct corners and the safety fence was almost rectangular in shape and was nicknamed "The Butter Box". The first meeting at Rowley Park took place on 21 December 1949. The original promoter of Rowley Park Speedway was Wal Watson, one of the group of disgruntled drivers who brought about the new speedway. In 1951 Watson sold the lease to former Sydney solo rider and speedcar driver of the 1930s, Alf Shields who had moved his family to Adelaide. Shields ran and gradually improved the speedway until 1954 when he sold the lease to local entrepreneur Kym Bonython.^[5] For the next 20 years Bonython, who had first attended speedway as a young boy in the late 1920s at the Wayville Showgrounds, successfully set about making Rowley Park Speedway the place to be in Adelaide on a Friday night during the summer.

The track surface changed from shell grit and brick pipe clay to dolomite in 1953 which was ideal for both cars and bikes at the time. In 1955 the track was given a more oval shape and its length became 358 metres (392 yards). A safety catch fence was also added on top of the existing safety fence, which was re-shaped to follow the track, in 1955. The catch fencing was upgraded again in 1965 and lasted until the tracks closing in 1979. The chain mesh used in the catch fence was of such a heavy gauge steel that it was then transferred and used at the new Speedway Park track that opened five months later.

Under the promotion of Kym Bonython and his company Speedway Pty Ltd, Rowley Park Speedway began attracting crowds every Friday night upwards of 15,000. This era was aptly named "The golden era of speedway" in Australia with large crowds attending meetings in other cities such as Sydney (Sydney Showground), Brisbane (Ekka) and Perth (Claremont Speedway). "Friday night is Speedway night" was the publicity slogan Bonython used for Rowley Park, as was a cartoon "Almost everybody goes to Rowley Park on Friday nights" which showed everyone from a grandmother to ambulance drivers (complete with a bandaged up patient on a stretcher), and a jockey all making their way into the speedway. In 1965 a reported crowd of 20,000 "Pie Eaters" (Bonython's nickname for the regular speedway crowd) packed into the speedway to see Australia's first Demolition Derby. The Police were called in to handle traffic and hundreds of fans were turned away as the 'House Full' signs went up. The derby itself had 100 entrants and lasted for over 75 minutes.

Another of Bonython's ideas was to import overseas drivers and riders to race full seasons at Rowley Park. In 1957/58 Bonython contracted Bob "Two Gun" Tattersall from Streator, Illinois in the United States, arguably the most popular American driver to race Speedway in Australia, and the winner of the 1969 USAC National Midget Series. Another import was in 1960/61, when a young solo rider from Christchurch in New Zealand named Ivan Mauger, who would go on to win a record six World Championships, would race the Australian season primarily at Rowley Park. "Tats" made his international debut racing at Rowley Park, while Mauger had already competed in the United Kingdom for 2 years. To supplement his income while in Adelaide, Bonython also found Mauger work as a Truck driver.

During the early 1970s, Kym Bonython saw that crowds at the speedway were starting to drop. This was due to there being other attractions such as television. Keen to further his interests in the art world, Bonython sold the lease on Rowley to a consortium of local former race drivers (Kevin Fischer, Cec Eichler, Rex Sendy and Ray Skipper), thus ending a successful 20 years as Rowley Park's promoter. The consortium only ran the show for one season (1973/74) before the running was taken over by the Racing Drivers Association of South Australia. The RDA would run the speedway from 1974 until the track closed in 1979.

Bonython himself wasn't just the promoter and director of Rowley Park Speedway. He was also a speedcar driver who had considerable success winning the South Australian Championship on two occasions. He was also involved in some of the more spectacular crashes seen at the speedway though luckily he didn't suffer any serious injuries at the wheel in an era when driver safety wasn't a major concern and major injuries or even death was accepted as just part of the sport (during the 1960s, an average of 1.9 drivers and riders lost their lives in Australian speedway each season).

In addition to the various state and national championships held at the speedway, it also held two memorial race meetings for the Speedcars. These were the "Harry Neal Memorial" and the "Rick Harvey Memorial", both were popular drivers at Rowley Park during the 1950s. Neal, nicknamed "The Black Prince", was South Australia's most successful driver who won the Australian Speedcar Championship in 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958 and 1959, as well as the Australian Speedcar Grand Prix and Speedcar World Derby in 1958. Neale was killed in a crash at Perth's Claremont Speedway on 6 February 1959 at the age of 39. Harvey, a motorcycle cop with the South Australian Police, was killed in a road accident in 1956 while on duty. Harvey, who was 27 at the time of his death, was killed along with his partner, Constable John Raggatt, and a third motorcyclist, Giovanni Cragnolin. When speedway racing in Adelaide moved to Speedway Park in 1979, the Harry Neale and Rick Harvey Memorials were run there for many years.

Rowley Park Speedway's long-time Clerk of Course was Glen Dix, who would later become internationally famous as the man who waved the checkered flag at the Australian Grand Prix during its years in Adelaide (1985–1995). Dix was first involved at the speedway in 1952/53 when he 'penciled' information for radio station 5KA announcer Bill Evans who broadcast the feature races live. Dix moved to be the Assistant Clerk of Course in 1953/54 before becoming Clerk of Course from 1954/55, a position he would hold for ten years. For the first few years he also controlled the bike races until the Speedway Riders Association selected their own starter. As a flagman, Dix became famous for waving the checkered flag in the same enthusiastic manner for every car that crossed the finish line, no matter if the driver finished in first or last place, a trait he continued with at the Formula One Grand Prix meetings.

Due to complaints from residents about noise and the on-street parking, as well as the track becoming too small for the faster cars appearing on the scene, the speedway was closed after the 23rd meeting of the 1978/79 season, which was held on 6 April 1979. Speedway continued in Adelaide the following season with the opening of the new Speedway Park complex located adjacent to the Adelaide International Raceway in Virginia, approximately 25 km north of Adelaide, while in 1981 a new motorcycle only speedway named North Arm Speedway was opened in the industrial suburb of Gillman. Speedway Park is still in operation as of 2013, now under the name of "Speedway City", while North Arm would continue until 1997 when the Government of South Australia who owned the land the speedway was on, reclaimed the land, leaving Adelaide without an operating motorcycle speedway for the first time since 1926. This would be rectified in 1998 with the opening of what is generally regarded as the best motorcycle only speedway in Australia, Gillman Speedway.

At Rowley Park's final ever meeting, the feature race winners were Graham Mason (Stock Rods), Bill Wigzell (Sprintcar), George Tatnell (Speedcar), Tony Orlando (Saloon Cars), Leigh Wingard (Sidecar stars) and Lou Sansom (Solo). Also on hand to farewell the speedway was former track promoter Kym Bonython, who while sitting in a Speedcar for an interview by Sydney based Channel 10 television compare Steve Raymond, was hit twice in the face with a cream pie by his long time friend George Tatnell. With cream covering his face, race suit and his special helmet complete with drawings of naked ladies, Bonython laughed and said "I didn't know Tatnell was there. I knew he was on the grounds which was dangerous enough."

Rowley Park was unique in Australian speedway in that it was in a city suburb and several houses overlooked the venue. Some of the local residents in neighbouring streets would profit by turning their yards into a makeshift car park and charge speedway patrons to park there. Most of those who's home overlooked the speedway either watched the action for free from their roof tops or would erect small grandstands for friends to also watch for free, something that the people running the speedway never complained about. Not all local residents were fans of the speedway though. At one time Kym Bonython asked a lady who's house overlooked the Speedway if he could paint a sign promoting Rowley Park on the wall of her home which overlooked the speedway (the wall also formed part of the fence of her property). Bonython was told in no uncertain terms that permission would not be granted.

Today

Today the Kym Bonython Housing Estate sits on the site of the former Rowley Park Speedway. A raised plaque sits at the entrance to the estate depicting the Rowley Park Speedway logo*. The plaque reads: Placed by the S.A. speedway supporters, this plaque serves as a reminder that Rowley Park Speedway operated on this site for thirty years. Unveiled jointly by Kym Bonython A.C. D.F.C. A.F.C. and the Mayor of Hindmarsh, Florence Pens. 14 September 1991.

* The plaque was stolen from the site in 2010.

Fatalities

Rowley Park Speedway operated in an era when safety wasn't the main concern of anyone involved. It wasn't until the early 1970s that safety roll cages for the open wheeed cars and seat belts became compulsory. Until the addition of the roll cage to the cars, Speedcar and TQ drivers, plus the bike riders, were most at risk of serious injury or death. If a Speedcar rolled the driver was at risk as his or her head was usually well above the height of the rear roll bar. Also, until seat belts became compulsory in the 1970s, drivers often raced without a seat belt or nothing more than a lap sash, leading to drivers sometimes being thrown from their cars. Bike riders were at risk of hitting the safety fence with no protection but a crash helmet and leathers, as well as being run over by closely following bikes. This unfortunately led to there being nine deaths at the speedway during its 30 year run.

Those who lost their lives at Rowley Park are

• Brian Bennett () - Sidecar (15 November 1957)
• Steve Howman () - Speedcar (2 January 1959)
• Arn Sunstrom () - Speedcar (23 January 1959)
• Gerry Hussey () - TQ (6 March 1959)
• Kon Lang () - TQ (9 November 1962)
• Peter Stirling () - Solo (17 December 1965)
• Harley Dillon () - Speedcar (25 February 1966)
• Harry Denton () - Solo (3 November 1967)
• Jimmy Gavros () - Solo (23 January 1970)

Famous Competitors

Some of the competitors who raced at Rowley Park Speedway between 1949 and 1979 include:

† - Deceased
* Frank "Satan" Brewer was from New Zealand but Australian promoters billed him as being from the United States to bring in bigger crowds

Track Records in 1955-56

• Solo (3 laps clutch start): 49- 4/5 secs - Jack Young ()
• Sidecar (3 laps clutch start): 56- 2/5 secs - Jim Davies ()
• Sidecar (4 laps clutch start): 75 secs - Don Willison ()
• Speedcar (4 laps rolling start): 1 min 10-1/5 secs - Joe Blow (Gordon Schubert) ()
• Speedcar (10 laps rolling start): 2 min 56-3/5 secs - Roy Sands ()
• Stockcar (20 laps rolling start): 7min 23-3/5 sec - Ted Fulgrabe ()

Track Records 1978-79

Final Season

• Sprintcar (1 lap rolling start): 0:14.8 - Jimmy Sills () / Steve Brazier ()
• Solo (3 laps clutch start): 0:45.6 - John Boulger () / Phil Crump () / Gordon Kennett ()
• Sidecar (3 laps clutch start): 0:50.6 - Deane Taylor () / Kevin Taylor ()
• Speedcar (6 laps rolling start): 1:33.8 - Phil Herreen () / Bill Wigzell ()
• Saloon Cars (8 laps rolling start): 2:08.5 - "Big Bad" John Crowhurst () / Tony Orlando ()

References

1. ↑ "South Australian Speedway - A comprehensive website of all Speedways in South Australia and includes ROWLEY PARK". Adrian Menzel. Retrieved 30 September 2012. 
2. ↑ "Rowley Park Speedway 'The place where champions gathered'". Dean Hosking and Stephen Hosking. Retrieved 28 April 2011. 
3. ↑ "New Rowley Park Speedway Spectacular.". The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 22 December 1949. p. 12. Retrieved 4 February 2013. 
4. ↑ http://www.vintagespeedway.com/Rowley.html
5. ↑ http://www.speedway.net.au/release.asp?NewsId=23649

Books

• The History of Rowley Park Speedway 1949-1979 First Edition. PowerPlay Publishing / Oval Express Magazine. 2004. 
• The History of Rowley Park Speedway 1949-1979 Second Edition. PowerPlay Publishing / Oval Express Magazine. 2005. 
• The History of Rowley Park Speedway 1949-1979 Third and Final Edition. PowerPlay Publishing / Oval Express Magazine. 2006.