Despite receiving all the pre-race advice as a first-timer, I was not prepared!
What to wear: full-sleeves shirt / tee, polo-neck, closed-toe footwear, a hat, and glasses to cover your eyes. Even so, I was not prepared! The dirt truly flies till no matter how far you’re seated! The closer you are to the track, the more likely you’ll get a whole clod of clay on your head (if you’re lucky!). I got hit by a tiny speck in my neck and that was my painful reminder of why I don’t indulge in things like paintball! And then there were two fist-sized pieces of clay that flew way high into the sky, way above the fencing and landed right at our feet – thankfully!
And the other loose dirt flies like powder and settles on every surface. In my tote bag, on my face, in my shirt, in my hair, it was EVERYWHERE. So, a shower on your return, is something to be planned for.
The crowd was huge and took some time to really fill-in the arena. Lots of fun. Everyone had their own camp chairs or if they found a spot on the grass, they were on the grass. Pretty chill scene.
A handful of food and merch trucks with things like chips and gravy, cinnamon doughnuts, yiros, dim sims, etc. and lots of alcohol, but of course.
I was with Jamie and Elyse, who have been coming to the speedway since they were kids, so I had a lot of helpful information. Prior to coming to my first spring car speedway, I wasn’t sure what the point was – to watch a bunch of cars go round and round on a track. But, I get it now! It was ridiculously FUN! And I would definitely do it again! Probably with shorts and a tee this time because I feel that would be more fun instead of being fully covered up – it’s just dirt anyway AND there’s a shower at the end of night.
This was the first event at the Murray Bridge Speedway, of the Brandt Sprintcar Speedweek from December 26th 2025 to 1st January 2026.
I did not carry my camera with me this time because I wanted to immerse myself in the experience and also get a lay of the land so to speak. Next time? Hell yes!
It was fun being introduced to an Australian tradition.
